String Theory and Quark Confinement

This article is based on a talk given at the ``Strings'97'' conference. It discusses the search for the universality class of confining strings. The key ingredients include the loop equations, the zigzag symmetry, the non-linear renormalization group. Some new tests for the equivalence between gauge fields and strings are proposed.Comment: 13 pages, latex; talk at STRINGS'9

Notes on exotic anti-decuplet of baryons

We emphasize the importance of identifying non-exotic SU(3) partners of the Theta^+ pentaquark, and indicate possible ways how to do it. We also use the soliton picture of baryons to relate Reggeon couplings of various baryons. These relations are used to estimate the Theta^+ production cross section in high energy processes. We show that the corresponding cross sections are significantly suppressed relative to the production cross sections of usual baryons. Finally, we present spin non-flip form factors of the anti-decuplet baryons in the framework of the chiral quark soliton model.Comment: Contribution to the Workshop On The Physics Of Excited Nucleons (NSTAR 2004) 24-27 Mar 2004, Grenoble, Franc

Supermagnets and Sigma models

We discuss new methods for non-compact sigma models with and without RR fluxes. The methods include reduction to one dimensional supermagnets, supercoset constructions and supertwistors. This work is a first step towards the solution of these models, which are important in several areas of physics. I dedicate it to the memory of Volodya Gribov.Comment: 22 page

The wall of the cave

In this article old and new relations between gauge fields and strings are discussed. We add new arguments that the Yang Mills theories must be described by the non-critical strings in the five dimensional curved space. The physical meaning of the fifth dimension is that of the renormalization scale represented by the Liouville field. We analyze the meaning of the zigzag symmetry and show that it is likely to be present if there is a minimal supersymmetry on the world sheet. We also present the new string backgrounds which may be relevant for the description of the ordinary bosonic Yang-Mills theories. The article is written on the occasion of the 40-th anniversary of the IHES.Comment: 18 pages, Late