Register

Adv. Query

Q&A (4871)

Reviews (203)

Open problems (47)
Meta (439)

Site Statistics

205 submissions , 163 unreviewed
5,082 questions , 2,232 unanswered
5,353 answers , 22,789 comments
1,470 users with positive rep
820 active unimported users
More ...

Can pure-bosonic string theories exist in curved spacetime?

1252 views

Question: Can there be a consistent non-supersymmetric pure-bosonic string theory in some curved spacetimes?

Reason: Since fields with certain amount of negative mass can exist in curved spacetime (cf. the Breitenlohner-Freedman bound in AdS) and since avoiding ground-state tachyons of pure-bosonic strings in flat spacetime seems to be the main motivation (besides phenomenological reasons) for superstrings in flat spacetime.

Extending this, are there examples of consistent AdS/CFT dualities involving pure-bosonic fields in the bulk?

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2015-08-23 09:47 (UTC), posted by SE-user crackjack

asked Aug 21, 2015 in Theoretical Physics by crackjack (110 points) [ no revision ]

Interesting question. For some examples of non-SUSY AdS/CFT examples that rely on the validity of the BF bound, try e.g. arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0105047 - a problem is that the paper is in "SUGRA" only. The critical dimensions aren't imposed in general and the CFTs are only described rather vaguely by some operators and properties.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2015-08-23 09:47 (UTC), posted by SE-user Luboš Motl

commented Aug 21, 2015 by Luboš Motl (10,278 points) [ no revision ]

@LubošMotl That paper seems to be squarely on this. Thanks!! Will look into that.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2015-08-23 09:47 (UTC), posted by SE-user crackjack

commented Aug 21, 2015 by crackjack (110 points) [ no revision ]

Your comment on this question:

To answer, leave an answer instead. Comments are usually for non-answers.
To mask links under text, please type your text, highlight it, and click the "link" button. You can then enter your link URL.
To alert a user, please use the "@" command and remove spaces from the username, example, the user "John Doe" should be pinged as "@JohnDoe", while the user "Johndoe" should be pinged as "@Johndoe". The post author is always automatically pinged (unless you are the post author).
Please consult the FAQ for as to how to format your post.

Live preview (may slow down editor) Preview

Your name to display (optional):

Email me at this address if a comment is added after mine:

Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.

Anti-spam verification:

[captcha placeholder]

Please complete the anti-spam verification

Your answer

Please use answers only to (at least partly) answer questions. To comment, discuss, or ask for clarification, leave a comment instead.
To mask links under text, please type your text, highlight it, and click the "link" button. You can then enter your link URL.
Please consult the FAQ for as to how to format your post.
This is the answer box; if you want to write a comment instead, please use the 'add comment' button.

Live preview (may slow down editor) Preview

Your name to display (optional):

Email me at this address if my answer is selected or commented on:

Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.

Anti-spam verification:

If you are a human please identify the position of the character covered by the symbol $\varnothing$ in the following word:
p$\hbar$ysi$\varnothing$sOverflow
Then drag the red bullet below over the corresponding character of our banner. When you drop it there, the bullet changes to green (on slow internet connections after a few seconds).

Please complete the anti-spam verification

user contributions licensed under cc by-sa 3.0 with attribution required

Your rights

...