E(lementary) Strings in Six-Dimensional Heterotic F-Theory

Using E-strings, we can analyze not only six-dimensional superconformal field theories but also probe vacua of non-perturabative heterotic string. We study strings made of D3-branes wrapped on various two-cycles in the global F-theory setup. We claim that E-strings are elementary in the sense that various combinations of E-strings can form M-strings as well as heterotic strings and new kind of strings, called G-strings. Using them, we show that emissions and combinations of heterotic small instantons generate most of known six-dimensional superconformal theories, their affinizations and little string theories. Taking account of global structure of compact internal geometry, we also show that special combinations of E-strings play an important role in constructing six-dimensional theories of $D$- and $E$-types. We check global consistency conditions from anomaly cancellation conditions, both from five-branes and strings, and show that they are given in terms of elementary E-string combinations.Comment: 58 pages, 16 figures; v2. version to appear in JHE

k-Strings as Fundamental Strings

It has been noticed that the k-string observables can be expressed in terms of the fundamental string ones. We identify a sufficient condition for a generic gravity dual background which when satisfied the mapping can be done. The condition is naturally related to a preserved quantity under the T-dualities acting on the Dp-brane describing the high representation Wilson loops. We also find the explicit relation between the observables of the heavy k-quark and the single quark states. As an application to our generic study and motivated by the fact that the anisotropic theories satisfy our condition, we compute the width of the k-string in these theories to find that the logarithmic broadening is still present, but the total result is affected by the anisotropy of the space.Comment: 1+21 page

Exceptional groups from open strings

We consider type IIB theory compactified on a two-sphere in the presence of mutually nonlocal 7-branes. The BPS states associated with the gauge vectors of exceptional groups are seen to arise from open strings connecting the 7-branes, and multi-pronged open strings capable of ending on more than two 7-branes. These multi-pronged strings are built from open string junctions that arise naturally when strings cross 7-branes. The different string configurations can be multiplied as traditional open strings, and are shown to generate the structure of exceptional groups.Comment: 25 pages, LATEX, 9 figures; minor changes, two references adde

The (p,q) String Tension in a Warped Deformed Conifold

We find the tension spectrum of the bound states of p fundamental strings and q D-strings at the bottom of a warped deformed conifold. We show that it can be obtained from a D3-brane wrapping a 2-cycle that is stabilized by both electric and magnetic fluxes. Because the F-strings are Z_M-charged with non-zero binding energy, binding can take place even if (p,q) are not coprime. Implications for cosmic strings are briefly discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur

Cosmic F- and D-strings

Macroscopic fundamental and Dirichlet strings have several potential instabilities: breakage, tachyon decays, and confinement by axion domain walls. We investigate the conditions under which metastable strings can exist, and we find that such strings are present in many models. There are various possibilities, the most notable being a network of (p,q) strings. Cosmic strings give a potentially large window into string physics.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures; v. 5: JHEP style, added comments in section 2.

Reconnection of Colliding Cosmic Strings

For vortex strings in the Abelian Higgs model and D-strings in superstring theory, both of which can be regarded as cosmic strings, we give analytical study of reconnection (recombination, inter-commutation) when they collide, by using effective field theories on the strings. First, for the vortex strings, via a string sigma model, we verify analytically that the reconnection is classically inevitable for small collision velocity and small relative angle. Evolution of the shape of the reconnected strings provides an upper bound on the collision velocity in order for the reconnection to occur. These analytical results are in agreement with previous numerical results. On the other hand, reconnection of the D-strings is not classical but probabilistic. We show that a quantum calculation of the reconnection probability using a D-string action reproduces the nonperturbative nature of the worldsheet results by Jackson, Jones and Polchinski. The difference on the reconnection -- classically inevitable for the vortex strings while quantum mechanical for the D-strings -- is suggested to originate from the difference between the effective field theories on the strings.Comment: 29 pages, 14 eps figures, JHEP style; references added, typos correcte

Entanglement branes in a two-dimensional string theory

What is the meaning of entanglement in a theory of extended objects such as strings? To address this question we consider the spatial entanglement between two intervals in the Gross-Taylor model, the string theory dual to two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory at large $N$. The string diagrams that contribute to the entanglement entropy describe open strings with endpoints anchored to the entangling surface, as first argued by Susskind. We develop a canonical theory of these open strings, and describe how closed strings are divided into open strings at the level of the Hilbert space. We derive the Modular hamiltonian for the Hartle-Hawking state and show that the corresponding reduced density matrix describes a thermal ensemble of open strings ending on an object at the entangling surface that we call an E-brane.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figures. v3: Modified title and abstrac