M-Phenomenology

Recent developments involving strongly coupled superstrings are discussed from a phenomenological point of view. In particular, strongly coupled $E_8\times E'_8$ is described as an appropriate long-wavelength limit of M-theory, and some generic phenomenological implications are analyzed, including a long sought downward shift of the string unification scale and a novel way to break supersymmetry. A specific scenario is presented that leads to a rather light, and thus presently experimentally testable, sparticle spectrum.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure

Some Physical Aspects of Liouville String Dynamics

We discuss some physical aspects of our Liouville approach to non-critical strings, including the emergence of a microscopic arrow of time, effective field theories as classical ``pointer'' states in theory space, $CPT$ violation and the possible apparent non-conservation of angular momentum. We also review the application of a phenomenological parametrization of this formalism to the neutral kaon system.Comment: CERN-TH.7269/94, 37 pages, 2 figures (not included), latex. Direct inquiries to: [email protected]

A Liouville String Approach to Microscopic Time and Cosmology

In the non-critical string framework that we have proposed recently, the time $t$ is identified with a dynamical local renormalization group scale, the Liouville mode, and behaves as a statistical evolution parameter, flowing irreversibly from an infrared fixed point - which we conjecture to be a topological string phase - to an ultraviolet one - which corresponds to a static critical string vacuum. When applied to a toy two-dimensional model of space-time singularities, this formalism yields an apparent renormalization of the velocity of light, and a $t$-dependent form of the uncertainty relation for position and momentum of a test string. We speculate within this framework on a stringy alternative to conventional field-theoretical inflation, and the decay towards zero of the cosmological constant in a maximally-symmetric space.Comment: Latex 23 pages, no figures, CERN-TH.7000/93, CTP-TAMU-66/9

The SuperWorlds of SU(5) and SU(5)xU(1): A Critical Assessment and Overview

We present an overview of the simplest supergravity models which enforce radiative breaking of the electroweak symmetry, namely the minimal $SU(5)$ supergravity model and the class of string-inspired/derived supergravity models based on the flipped $SU(5)\times U(1)$ structure supplemented by a minimal set of additional matter representations such that unification occurs at the string scale (\sim10^{18}\GeV). These models can be fully parametrized in terms of the top-quark mass, the ratio $\tan\beta=v_2/v_1$, and three supersymmetry breaking parameters ($m_{1/2},m_0,A$). The latter are chosen in the minimal $SU(5)$ model such that the stringent constraints from proton decay and cosmology are satisfied. In the flipped $SU(5)$ case we consider two string-inspired supersymmetry breaking scenaria: $SU(N,1)$ no-scale supergravity and a dilaton-induced supersymmetry breaking scenario. Both imply universal soft supersymmetry breaking parameters: $m_0=A=0$ and m_0=\coeff{1}{\sqrt{3}}m_{1/2}, A=-m_{1/2} respectively. We present a comparative study of the sparticle and Higgs spectra of both flipped $SU(5)$ models and the minimal $SU(5)$ model and conclude that all can be partially probed at the Tevatron and LEPII (and the flipped models at HERA too). In both flipped $SU(5)$ cases there is a more constrained version which allows to determine $\tan\beta$ in terms of $m_t,m_{\tilde g}$ and which leads to much sharper and readily accessible experimental predictions. We also discuss the prospects for indirect experimental detection: a non-trivial fraction of the parameter space of the flipped $SU(5)$ models is in conflict with the present experimental allowed range for the $b\to s\gamma$ rare decay mode, and the one-loop electroweak radiative corrections imply the 90\% CL upper boundComment: CERN-TH.6934/93, CTP-TAMU-34/93, LaTeX, 58 pages, 20 embedded figures. Complete ps file (~12000 blocks, 5.24MB) available via anonymous ftp from site tamsun.tamu.edu in directory incoming, filename: CTP-TAMU-34-93.p

On a possible connection of non-critical strings to certain aspects of quantum brain function

We review certain aspects of brain function which could be associated with non-critical (Liouville) string theory. In particular we simulate the physics of brain microtubules (MT) by using a (completely integrable) non-critical string, we discuss the collapse of the wave function as a result of quantum gravity effects due to abrupt conformational changes of the MT protein dimers, and we propose a new mechanism for memory coding.Comment: Invited talk by D.V. Nanopoulos at the `four-seas conference', Trieste (Italy), 25 June-1 July 1995; latex file, 9 pages, one macro: 4seas95.sty, available from archive

A supergravity explanation of the CDF eeγγee\gamma\gamma event

We present a unified no-scale supergravity model with a light gravitino that can naturally explain the observed $ee\gamma\gamma$ event at CDF via right-handed selectron pair-production. The full spectrum of our model can be described in terms of a single parameter and can be distinguished from alternative proposals in the literature. Ongoing and future runs at LEP 2 should be able to probe the full allowed parameter space via acoplanar diphoton events from $e^+e^-\to\chi^0_1\chi^0_1$ production.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures (included