Unitarity of supersymmetric SL(2,R)/U(1) and no-ghost theorem for fermionic strings in AdS(3) x N

The unitarity of the NS supersymmetric coset SL(2,R)/U(1) is studied for the discrete representations. The results are applied to the proof of the no-ghost theorem for fermionic strings in AdS(3) x N in the NS sector. A no-ghost theorem is proved for states in flowed discrete representations.Comment: LaTeX in JHEP style, 16 pages, typos correcte

Type 0 Strings in a 2-d Black Hole

We study some aspects of type 0 strings propagating in the two dimensional black hole geometry, corresponding to the exact SL(2)/U(1) SCFT background.Comment: 33 pages, harvmac. v2: minor clarification adde

Towards Mirror Symmetry as Duality for Two-Dimensional Abelian Gauge Theories

Superconformal sigma models with Calabi--Yau target spaces described as complete intersection subvarieties in toric varieties can be obtained as the low-energy limit of certain abelian gauge theories in two dimensions. We formulate mirror symmetry for this class of Calabi--Yau spaces as a duality in the abelian gauge theory, giving the explicit mapping relating the two Lagrangians. The duality relates inequivalent theories which lead to isomorphic theories in the low-energy limit. This formulation suggests that mirror symmetry could be derived using abelian duality. The application of duality in this context is complicated by the presence of nontrivial dynamics and the absence of a global symmetry. We propose a way to overcome these obstacles, leading to a more symmetric Lagrangian. The argument, however, fails to produce a derivation of the conjecture.Comment: 14 pages, latex, no figure

More on Superstrings in AdS(3) x N

We study superstring theories on AdS(3) x N backgrounds yielding N=2,3,4 extended superconformal symmetries in the dual boundary CFT. In each case the necessary constraints on the internal worldsheet theory N are found.Comment: JHEP style, 22 pages; v2: new references and a couple of sentences on N=1 are adde

Beyond the Singularity of the 2-D Charged Black Hole

Two dimensional charged black holes in string theory can be obtained as exact (SL(2,R)xU(1))/U(1) quotient CFTs. The geometry of the quotient is induced from that of the group, and in particular includes regions beyond the black hole singularities. Moreover, wavefunctions in such black holes are obtained from gauge invariant vertex operators in the SL(2,R) CFT, hence their behavior beyond the singularity is determined. When the black hole is charged we find that the wavefunctions are smooth at the singularities. Unlike the uncharged case, scattering waves prepared beyond the singularity are not fully reflected; part of the wave is transmitted through the singularity. Hence, the physics outside the horizon of a charged black hole is sensitive to conditions set behind the past singularity.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures; v2: refs added, minor typos corrected; v3: references on the infinite blue shift at the inner horizon and minor corrections adde

Free field realization of superstring theory on AdS3

The Coulomb gas representation of expectation values in SU(2) conformal field theory developed by Dotsenko is extended to the SL(2,R) WZW model and applied to bosonic string theory on AdS3 and to Type II superstrings on AdS3 x N. The spectral flow symmetry is included in the free field realization of vertex operators creating superstring states of both Ramond and Neveu-Schwarz sectors. Conjugate representations for these operators are constructed and a background charge prescription is designed to compute correlation functions. Two and three point functions of bosonic and fermionic string states in arbitrary winding sectors are calculated. Scattering amplitudes that violate winding number conservation are also discussed.Comment: 40 pages, typos corrected, references added, minor changes in presentation and details completed in the calculation of the R sector 2-point function. Version to appear in JHE

Duality in cosmological perturbation theory

Cosmological perturbation equations derived from low-energy effective actions are shown to be invariant under a duality transformation reminiscent of electric-magnetic, strong-weak coupling, S-duality. A manifestly duality-invariant approximation for perturbations far outside the horizon is introduced, and it is argued to be useful even during a high curvature epoch. Duality manifests itself through a remnant symmetry acting on the classical moduli of cosmological models, and implying lower bounds on the number and energy density of produced particles.Comment: 14 pages, LATEX, no figure

Worldsheet correlators in AdS(3)/CFT(2)

The AdS_3/CFT_2 correspondence is checked beyond the supergravity approximation by comparing correlation functions. To this end we calculate 2- and 3-point functions on the sphere of certain chiral primary operators for strings on AdS_3 x S^3 x T^4. These results are then compared with the corresponding amplitudes in the dual 2-dimensional conformal field theory. In the limit of small string coupling, where the sphere diagrams dominate the string perturbation series, beautiful agreement is found.Comment: 23 page

Space-time filling branes in non critical (super) string theories

We consider solutions of (super) gravities associated to non-critical (super) string theories in arbitrary space-time dimension D=p+3, that describe generically non extremal black p-branes charged under NSNS or RR gauge fields, embedded in some non critical vacuum. In the case of vacuum (uncharged) backgrounds, we solve completely the problem obtaining all the possible solutions, that consist of the (p+1)-dimensional Minkowski space times a linear dilaton times a S^1, and a three parameter family of solutions that include (p+1)-dimensional Minkowski space times the cigar, and its T-dual (p+1)-dimensional Minkowski space times the trumpet. For NSNS charged solutions, we also solve in closed form the problem, obtaining several families of solutions, that include in particular the fundamental non-critical string solution embedded in the cigar vacuum, recently found in hep-th/0604202, a solution that we interpret as a fundamental non-critical string embedded in the linear dilaton vacuum, and a two-parameter family of regular curvature solutions asymptotic to AdS_{1,2}\times S^1. In the case of RR charged Dp-branes solutions, an ansatz allows us to find a non conformal, constant curvature, asymptotically AdS_{1,p+1} space, T-dual to AdS_{1,p+2}, together with a two-parameter family of solutions that includes the non conformal, AdS black hole like solution associated with the earlier space. The solutions obtained by T-duality are Einstein spaces consisting of a two-parameter family of conformal, constant dilaton solutions, that include, in particular, the AdS black hole of hep-th/0403254. We speculate about the possible applications of some of them in the framework of the gauge-gravity correspondence.Comment: 34 pages, 10 figures, to be published by Nuclear Physics

Surveying Pseudomoduli: the Good, the Bad and the Incalculable

We classify possible types of pseudomoduli which arise when supersymmetry is dynamically broken in infrared-free low-energy theories. We show that, even if the pseudomoduli potential is generated only at higher loops, there is a regime where the potential can be simply determined from a combination of one-loop running data. In this regime, we compute whether the potential for the various types of pseudomoduli is safe, has a dangerous runaway to the UV cutoff of the low-energy theory, or is incalculable. Our results are applicable to building new models of supersymmetry breaking. We apply the results to survey large classes of models.Comment: 34 page