Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Strings, gravity and particle physics

  • Published:
La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento Aims and scope

Summary

This contribution, aimed mostly at experimental particle physicists, reviews some of the main ideas and results of string theory in a non-technical language. It originates from the talks presented by the authors at the electroweak session of the 2002 Moriond Meeting, here merged in an attempt to provide a more complete and concise view of the subject and updated to include a brief account of some recent developments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Some recent books on the Standard Model: Mandl F. and Shaw G., Quantum Field Theory (Wiley Chichester, UK) 1984; Peskin M. E. and Schroeder D. V., An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory (Addison-Wesley, Reading) 1995; Weinberg S., The Quantum Theory of Fields (Cambridge University Press, UK) 1995.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Two books on General Relativity: Weinberg W., Gravitation and Cosmology (John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA) 1972; Wald R. M., General Relativity (Chicago University Press, USA) 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  3. A review on the ultraviolet problem of quantum gravity: Alvarez E., “Quantum Gravity: A Pedagogical Introduction To Some Recent Results,” Rev. Mod. Phys., 61 (1989) 561.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Two recent reviews of the BEH mechanism, with historical remarks: Brout R., A brief course in spontaneous symmetry breaking. I: The paleolitic age, arXiv:hep-th/0203096; Englert F., A brief course in spontaneous symmetry breaking. II: Modern times: The BEH mechanism, arXiv:hep-th/0203097.

  5. Some technical books on string theory: Green M. B., Schwarz J. H. and Witten E., Superstring Theory, 2 vols. (Cambridge University Press, UK) 1987; Polchinski J., String Theory, 2 vols. (Cambridge University Press, UK) 1998; Kiritsis E., Introduction to superstring theory, arXiv:hep-th/9709062, String theory in a nutshell (Princeton University Press) 2007; Lust D. and Theisen S., “Lectures On String Theory,” Lect. Notes Phys., 346 (1989) 1; Zwiebach B., A first course in String Theory (Cambridge University Press) 2003; Becker K., Becker M. and Schwarz J. H., String theory and M theory (Cambridge University Press) 2007.

  6. Some important old reviews on string theory: Jacob M. (Editor), Dual Theory (North-Holland, Amsterdam, Netherlands) 1974; Scherk J., “An Introduction To The Theory Of Dual Models And Strings,” Rev. Mod. Phys., 47 (1975) 123.

    Google Scholar 

  7. A popular book on string theory: Greene B. R., The Elegant Universe (W.W. Norton & Co, New York, USA) 1999.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  8. A recent review on canonical quantum gravity: Rovelli C., “The century of the incomplete revolution: Searching for general relativistic quantum field theory,” J. Math. Phys., 41 (2000) 3776 [arXiv:hep-th/9910131].

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. Some reviews on the cosmological constant problem: Weinberg S., “The Cosmological Constant Problem,” Rev. Mod. Phys., 61 (1989) 1; Witten E., The cosmological constant from the viewpoint of string theory, arXiv:hep- ph/0002297; Carroll S. M., “The cosmological constant,” Living Rev. Rel., 4 (2001) 1 [arXiv:astro-ph/0004075].

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Two reviews on open strings and their applications: Dudas E., “Theory and phenomenology of type I strings and M-theory,” Class. Quantum Grav., 17 (2000) R41 [arXiv:hep-ph/0006190]; Angelantonj C. and Sagnotti A., Open strings, arXiv:hep-th/0204089.

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  11. Some books and reviews on field theory solitons: Rajaraman R., Solitons and Instantons (North-Holland, Amsterdam, Netherlands) 1982; Coleman S., Aspects of Symmetry (Cambridge University Press, UK) 1985; ‘T Hooft G., Monopoles, instantons and confinement, arXiv:hep-th/0010225.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. A review on string solitons: Duff M. J., Khuri R. R. and Lu J. X., Phys. Rep., 259 (1995) 213 [arXiv:hep- th/9412184].

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  13. Some reviews on D-branes and their applications: Polghinski J., Chaudhuri S. and Johnson C. V., Notes on D-Branes, arXiv:hep- th/9602052; Baghas C. P., Lectures on D-branes, arXiv:hep-th/9806199; Johnson C. V., D-brane primer, arXiv:hep-th/0007170.

  14. A less technical review on D-branes: Sevrin A., From strings to branes: a primer, in “Les Arcs 2000, Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories”.

  15. Some reviews on duality relations: Olive D. I., “Exact electromagnetic duality,” Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. A, 45 (1996) 88 [Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl., 46 (1996) 1] [arXiv:hep-th/9508089]; Duff M. J., “M theory (the theory formerly known as strings),” Int. J. Mod. Phys. A, 11 (1996) 5623 [arXiv:hep- th/9608117]; Sen A., “Unification of string dualities,” Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl., 58 (1997) 5 [arXiv:hep-th/9609176]; TOWNSEND P. K., Four lectures on M-theory, arXiv:hep- th/9612121.

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  16. Some reviews on the AdS/CFT correspondence: Witten E., New perspectives in the quest for unification, arXiv:hep-ph/9812208; Aharony O., Gubser S. S., Maldagena J. M., Ooguri H. and Oz Y., “Large N field theories, string theory and gravity,” Phys. Rep., 323 (2000) 183 [arXiv:hep-th/9905111]; Bianghi M., “(Non-)perturbative tests of the AdS/CFT correspondence,” Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl., 102 (2001) 56 [arXiv:hep-th/0103112].

  17. Some reviews on black holes in string theory: Maldagena J. M., Black holes in string thorny, arXiv:hep-th/9607235; Callan C., Black holes in string theories: some surprising new developments, in “Les Arcs 1997, Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories ”, p. 185; David J. R., Mandal G. and Wadia S. R., Microscopic formulation of blackholes in string theory, arXiv:hep-th/0203048.

  18. A recent review on the holographic principle: Bousso R., The holographic principle, arXiv:hep-th/0203101.

  19. Some reviews on heterotic-string phenomenology: Dienes K. R., “String Theory and the Path to Unification: A Review of Recent Developments,” Phys. Rep., 287 (1997) 447 [arXiv:hep-th/9602045]; Quevedo F., Lectures on superstring phenomenology, arXiv:hep-th/9603074.

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  20. Some reviews on large extra dimensions and open strings: Lykken J. D., “String model building in the age of D-branes,” Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. A, 52 (1997) 271 [arXiv:hep-th/9607144]; IBANEZ L. E., New perspectives in string phenomenology from dualities, arXiv:hep-ph/9804236; IBANEZ L. E., “The second string (phenomenology) revolution,” Class. Quantum Grav., 17 (2000) 1117 [arXiv:hep- ph/9911499]; Antoniadis I., String and D-brane physics at low energy, arXiv:hep- th/0102202; Antoniadis I. and Benakli K., “Large dimensions and string physics in future colliders,” Int. J. Mod. Phys. A, 15 (2000) 4237 [arXiv:hep-ph/0007226]; Bachas C. P., “Scales of string theory,” Class. Quantum Grav., 17 (2000) 951 [arXiv:hep-th/0001093]; Ibanez L. E., Standard model engineering with intersecting branes, arXiv:hep-ph/0109082; BLUMENHAGEN R., Kors B., Lust D. and Ott T., Intersecting brane worlds on tori and orbifolds, arXiv:hep-th/0112015.

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This text originated as a write up of talks given by the authors at the 2002 Moriond Electro-Weak meeting. We are grateful to the organizers for their encouragement to merge our contributions in this short review aimed mostly at experimental particle physicists. The work of the first author was supported in part by INFN and by the European Commission FP6 RTN programme HPRN-CT-2004-512194 and by the INTAScontract 03-51-6346. The work of the second author was supported in part by the European Commission FP6 RTN programme MRTN-CT-2004-005104, in part by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office through the Interuniversity Attraction Pole P6/11, and in part by the “FWO-Vlaanderen” through project G.0428.06. We are grateful to C. Angelantonj, J. Lemonne, J. Troost, G. Stefanucci and F. Zwirner for useful suggestions and comments on the manuscript. when this paper first appeared the first author was at dipartimento di fisica, universita di roma “tor vergata”. finally, we are grateful to L. Cifarelli for her interest in this review and for her kind invitation to publish it in the present form in rivista del nuovo cimento.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scuola Normale Superiore e INFN, Píazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    A. Sagnotti

  2. Theoretische Natuurkunde, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Pleinlaan 2, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium

    A. Sevrin

Authors
  1. A. Sagnotti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Sevrin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sagnotti, A., Sevrin, A. Strings, gravity and particle physics. Riv. Nuovo Cim. 31, 423–455 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1393/ncr/i2008-10034-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1393/ncr/i2008-10034-0

Key words

Search

Navigation