Strong Magnetic Limit of String Theory

We show that there exists a certain limit in type I and type II superstring theory in the presence of a suitable configuration of magnetic U(1) fields where all string excitations get an infinite mass, except for the neutral massless sector and for the boson and fermion string states lying on the leading Regge trajectory. For a supersymmetric configuration of magnetic fields in internal directions, the resulting theory after the limit is a 3+1 Lorentz invariant supersymmetric theory. Supersymmetry can be broken by introducing extra components of the magnetic field or else by finite temperature. In both cases we compute the one-loop partition function for the type I string model after taking the limit, which turns out to be different from the Yang-Mills result that arises by a direct $\alpha'\to 0$ limit. In the case of finite temperature, no Hagedorn transition appears, in consistency with the reduction of the string spectrum. In type II superstring theory, the analogous limit is constructed by starting with a configuration of Melvin twists in two or more complex planes. The resulting theory contains gravitation plus an infinite number of states of the leading Regge trajectory.Comment: 10 pages. Minor correction

Naked and Thunderbolt Singularities in Black Hole Evaporation

If an evaporating black hole does not settle down to a non radiating remnant, a description by a semi classical Lorentz metric must contain either a naked singularity or what we call a thunderbolt, a singularity that spreads out to infinity on a spacelike or null path. We investigate this question in the context of various two dimensional models that have been proposed. We find that if the semi classical equations have an extra symmetry that make them solvable in closed form, they seem to predict naked singularities but numerical calculations indicate that more general semi classical equations, such as the original CGHS ones give rise to thunderbolts. We therefore expect that the semi classical approximation in four dimensions will lead to thunderbolts. We interpret the prediction of thunderbolts as indicating that the semi classical approximation breaks down at the end point of black hole evaporation, and we would expect that a full quantum treatment would replace the thunderbolt with a burst of high energy particles. The energy in such a burst would be too small to account for the observed gamma ray bursts.Comment: 21 pages (10 diagrams available on request

Lines on projective varieties and applications

The first part of this note contains a review of basic properties of the variety of lines contained in an embedded projective variety and passing through a general point. In particular we provide a detailed proof that for varieties defined by quadratic equations the base locus of the projective second fundamental form at a general point coincides, as a scheme, with the variety of lines. The second part concerns the problem of extending embedded projective manifolds, using the geometry of the variety of lines. Some applications to the case of homogeneous manifolds are included.Comment: 15 pages. One example removed; one remark and some references added; typos correcte

A Proof of the Generalized Second Law for Two-Dimensional Black Holes

We investigate the generalized second law for two-dimensional black holes in equilibrium (Hartle-Hawking) and nonequilibrium (Unruh) with the heat bath surrounding the black holes. We obtain a simple expression for the change of total entropy in terms of covariant thermodynamic variables, which is valid not only for the Hartle-Hawking state but also for the Unruh state up to leading order, without assuming a quasi-stationary evolution of the black holes. Using this expression, it is shown that the rate of local entropy production is non-negative in the two-dimensional black hole systems.Comment: 15 pages, boundary condition of static black hole is added to clarify the situation, abstract and section 4 (concluding remarks) is rewritten, and minor corrections, references adde

PP-Wave / CFT_2 Duality

We investigate the pp-wave limit of the AdS_3\times S^3\times K3 compactification of Type IIB string theory from the point of view of the dual Sym_N(K3) CFT. It is proposed that a fundamental string in this pp-wave geometry is dual to the c=6 effective string of the Sym_N(K3) CFT, with the string bits of the latter being composed of twist operators. The massive fundamental string oscillators correspond to certain twisted Virasoro generators in the effective string. It is shown that both the ground states and the genus expansion parameter (at least in the orbifold limit of the CFT) coincide. Surprisingly the latter scales like J^2/N rather than the J^4/N^2 which might have been expected. We demonstrate a leading-order agreement between the pp-wave and CFT particle spectra. For a degenerate special case (one NS 5-brane) an intriguing complete agreement is found.Comment: JHEP3 LaTeX, 20 pages; discussion of WZW levels clarified, reference adde

Superstrings in type IIB R-R plane-wave in semi-light-cone gauge and conformal invariance

We reconsider the analysis done by Kazama and Yokoi in arXiv:0801.1561 (hep-th). We find that although the right vacuum of the theory is the one associated to massless normal ordering (MNO), phase space normal ordering (PNO) plays crucial role in the analysis in the following way. While defining the quantum energy-momentum (EM) tensor one needs to take into account the field redefinition relating the space-time field and the corresponding world-sheet coupling. We argue that for a simple off-shell ansatz for the background this field redefinition can be taken to be identity if the interaction term is ordered according to PNO. This definition reproduces the correct physical spectrum when the background is on-shell. We further show that the right way to extract the effective equation of motion from the Virasoro anomaly is to first order the anomaly terms according to PNO at a finite regularization parameter \eps and then take the \eps \to 0 limit. This prescription fixes an ambiguity in taking the limit for certain bosonic and fermionic contributions to the Virasoro anomaly and is the natural one to consider given the above definition of the EM tensor.Comment: 22 page

Non-renormalization conditions for four-gluon scattering in supersymmetric string and field theory

The constraints imposed by maximal supersymmetry on multi-loop contributions to the scattering of four open superstrings in the U(N) theory are examined by use of the pure spinor formalism. The double-trace term k^2 t_8(tr F^2)^2 (where k represents an external momentum and F the Yang--Mills field strength) only receives contributions from L<=2 (where L is the loop number) while the single-trace term k^2 t_8(tr F^4) receives contributions from all L. We verified these statements up to L=5, but arguments based on supersymmetry suggest they extend to all L. This explains why the single-trace contributions to low energy maximally supersymmetric Yang--Mills field theory are more divergent in the ultraviolet than the double-trace contributions. We also comment further on the constraints on closed string amplitudes and their implications for ultraviolet divergences in N=8 supergravity.Comment: 25 pages. 2 eps figures. Harvmac format. v2 qualifications regarding comments on closed strings. References adde

N=2 Sigma Models for Ramond-Ramond Backgrounds

Using the U(4) hybrid formalism, manifestly N=(2,2) worldsheet supersymmetric sigma models are constructed for the Type IIB superstring in Ramond-Ramond backgrounds. The Kahler potential in these N=2 sigma models depends on four chiral and antichiral bosonic superfields and two chiral and antichiral fermionic superfields. When the Kahler potential is quadratic, the model is a free conformal field theory which describes a flat ten-dimensional target space with Ramond-Ramond flux and non-constant dilaton. For more general Kahler potentials, the model describes curved target spaces with Ramond-Ramond flux that are not plane-wave backgrounds. Ricci-flatness of the Kahler metric implies the on-shell conditions for the background up to the usual four-loop conformal anomaly.Comment: 19 pages harvma

On solvable models of type IIB superstring in NS-NS and R-R plane wave backgrounds

We consider type IIB string in the two plane-wave backgrounds which may be interpreted as special limits of the AdS_3 x S^3 metric supported by either the NS-NS or R-R 3-form field. The NS-NS plane-wave string model is equivalent to a direct generalization of the Nappi-Witten model, with its spectrum being similar to that of strings in constant magnetic field. The R-R model can be solved in the light-cone gauge, where the Green-Schwarz action describes 4 massive and 4 massless copies of free bosons and fermions. We find the spectra of the two string models and study the asymptotic density of states. We also discuss a more general class of exactly solvable plane-wave models with reduced supersymmetry which is obtained by adding twists in two spatial 2-planes.Comment: 36 pages, harvmac. v2: discussion of equivalence of the supergravity parts of the spectra of the NS-NS and R-R models added in sect.5.3; v3: added remark on periodicity of the NS-NS spectrum; v4: minor correction in sect.6.

Rotating Strings in Confining AdS/CFT Backgrounds

We study semiclassical rotating strings in AdS/CFT backgrounds that exhibit both confinement and finite-size effects. The energy versus spin dispersion relation for short strings is the expected Regge trajectory behaviour, with the same string tension as is measured by the Wilson loop. Long strings probe the interplay between confinement and finite-size effects. In particular, the dispersion relation for long strings shows a characteristic dependence on the string tension and the finite-size scale.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures. v2: minor changes, refs. adde