Fit to Electroweak Precision Data

A brief review of electroweak precision data from LEP, SLC, the Tevatron, and low energies is presented. The global fit to all data including the most recent results on the masses of the top quark and the W boson reinforces the preference for a relatively light Higgs boson. I will also give an outlook on future developments at the Tevatron Run II, CEBAF, the LHC, and the ILC.Comment: 4 pages, presented at the 2006 Conference on the Intersections of Particle and Nuclear Physics (CIPANP 2006), Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, May 30 -- June 3, 200

Energy from the gauge invariant observables

For a classical solution |Psi> in Witten's cubic string field theory, the gauge invariant observable is conjectured to be equal to the difference of the one-point functions of the closed string state corresponding to V, between the trivial vacuum and the one described by |Psi>. For a static solution |Psi>, if V is taken to be the graviton vertex operator with vanishing momentum, the gauge invariant observable is expected to be proportional to the energy of |Psi>. We prove this relation assuming that |Psi> satisfies equation of motion and some regularity conditions. We discuss how this relation can be applied to various solutions obtained recently.Comment: 27 pages; v5: minor revision in section 2, results unchange

Winding Number in String Field Theory

Motivated by the similarity between cubic string field theory (CSFT) and the Chern-Simons theory in three dimensions, we study the possibility of interpreting N=(\pi^2/3)\int(U Q_B U^{-1})^3 as a kind of winding number in CSFT taking quantized values. In particular, we focus on the expression of N as the integration of a BRST-exact quantity, N=\int Q_B A, which vanishes identically in naive treatments. For realizing non-trivial N, we need a regularization for divergences from the zero eigenvalue of the operator K in the KBc algebra. This regularization must at same time violate the BRST-exactness of the integrand of N. By adopting the regularization of shifting K by a positive infinitesimal, we obtain the desired value N[(U_tv)^{\pm 1}]=\mp 1 for U_tv corresponding to the tachyon vacuum. However, we find that N[(U_tv)^{\pm 2}] differs from \mp 2, the value expected from the additive law of N. This result may be understood from the fact that \Psi=U Q_B U^{-1} with U=(U_tv)^{\pm 2} does not satisfy the CSFT EOM in the strong sense and hence is not truly a pure-gauge in our regularization.Comment: 20 pages, no figures; v2: references added, minor change

The boundary state for a class of analytic solutions in open string field theory

We construct a boundary state for a class of analytic solutions in the Witten's open string field theory. The result is consistent with the property of the zero limit of a propagator's length, which was claimed in [19]. And we show that our boundary state becomes expected one for the perturbative vacuum solution and the tachyon vacuum solution. We also comment on possible presence of multi-brane solutions and ghost brane solutions from our boundary state.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure

Generating Erler-Schnabl-type Solution for Tachyon Vacuum in Cubic Superstring Field Theory

We study a new set of identity-based solutions to analyze the problem of tachyon condensation in open bosonic string field theory and cubic superstring field theory. Even though these identity-based solutions seem to be trivial, it turns out that after performing a suitable gauge transformation, we are left with the known Erler-Schnabl-type solutions which correctly reproduce the value of the D-brane tension. This result shows explicitly that how a seemingly trivial solution can generate a non-trivial configuration which precisely represents to the tachyon vacuum.Comment: 22 pages, references added, appendix added, 2 subsections adde

Boundary State from Ellwood Invariants

Boundary states are given by appropriate linear combinations of Ishibashi states. Starting from any OSFT solution and assuming Ellwood conjecture we show that every coefficient of such a linear combination is given by an Ellwood invariant, computed in a slightly modified theory where it does not trivially vanish by the on-shell condition. Unlike the previous construction of Kiermaier, Okawa and Zwiebach, ours is linear in the string field, it is manifestly gauge invariant and it is also suitable for solutions known only numerically. The correct boundary state is readily reproduced in the case of known analytic solutions and, as an example, we compute the energy momentum tensor of the rolling tachyon from the generalized invariants of the corresponding solution. We also compute the energy density profile of Siegel-gauge multiple lump solutions and show that, as the level increases, it correctly approaches a sum of delta functions. This provides a gauge invariant way of computing the separations between the lower dimensional D-branes.Comment: v2: 63 pages, 14 figures. Major improvements in section 2. Version published in JHE

Relevant Deformations in Open String Field Theory: a Simple Solution for Lumps

We propose a remarkably simple solution of cubic open string field theory which describes inhomogeneous tachyon condensation. The solution is in one-to-one correspondence with the IR fixed point of the RG-flow generated in the two--dimensional world-sheet theory by integrating a relevant operator with mild enough OPE on the boundary. It is shown how the closed string overlap correctly captures the shift in the closed string one point function between the UV and the IR limits of the flow. Examples of lumps in non-compact and compact transverse directions are given.Comment: 45 pages. v2: typos and minor improvements. v3: submitted to jhe

Breit Interaction and Parity Non-conservation in Many-Electron Atoms

We present accurate {\em ab initio} non-perturbative calculations of the Breit correction to the parity non-conserving (PNC) amplitudes of the $6s-7s$ and $6s-5d_{3/2}$ transitions in Cs, $7s-8s$ and $7s-6d_{3/2}$ transitions in Fr, $6s-5d_{3/2}$ transition in Ba$^+$, $7s-6d_{3/2}$ transition in Ra$^+$, and $6p_{1/2} - 6p_{3/2}$ transition in Tl. The results for the $6s-7s$ transition in Cs and $7s-8s$ transition in Fr are in good agreement with other calculations while calculations for other atoms/transitions are presented for the first time. We demonstrate that higher-orders many-body corrections to the Breit interaction are especially important for the $s-d$ PNC amplitudes. We confirm good agreement of the PNC measurements for cesium and thallium with the standard model .Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

The off-shell Veneziano amplitude in Schnabl gauge

We give a careful definition of the open string propagator in Schnabl gauge and present its worldsheet interpretation. The propagator requires two Schwinger parameters and contains the BRST operator. It builds surfaces by gluing strips of variable width to the left and to the right of off-shell states with contracted or expanded local frames. We evaluate explicitly the four-point amplitude of off-shell tachyons. The computation involves a subtle boundary term, crucial to enforce the correct exchange symmetries. Interestingly, the familiar on-shell physics emerges even though string diagrams produce Riemann surfaces more than once. Off-shell, the amplitudes do not factorize over intermediate on-shell states.Comment: 48 pages, 10 figures. v2:acknowledgments adde