Closed string tachyons and semiclassical instabilities

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
We conjecture that the end point of bulk closed string tachyon decay at any nonzero coupling is the annihilation of space-time by Witten’s bubble of nothing, resulting in a topological phase of the theory. In support of this we present a variety of situations in which there is a correspondence between the existence of perturbative tachyons in one regime and the semiclassical annihilation of space-time. Our discussion will include many recently investigated scenarios in string theory including Scherk-Schwarz compactifications, Melvin magnetic backgrounds, and noncompact orbifolds. We use this conjecture to investigate a possible web of dualities relating the eleven-dimensional Fabinger-Horava background with nonsupersymmetric string theories. Along the way we point out where our conjecture resolves some of the puzzles associated with bulk closed string tachyon condensation.

This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit: