Charting the landscape of supercritical string theory

TL;DR

This paper explores special solutions in supercritical string theory that connect theories with different dimensions and supersymmetry levels, revealing a network of interconnected theories and their consistency constraints.

Contribution

It introduces the concepts of dimension quenching and c-duality as natural mechanisms linking supercritical string theories to the familiar 10-dimensional duality web, providing new insights into string theory transitions.

Findings

Dimension quenching interpolates between theories with different dimensions.

c-duality connects supersymmetric and bosonic string theories.

Networks of interconnected theories emerge naturally in this framework.

Abstract

Special solutions of string theory in supercritical dimensions can interpolate in time between theories with different numbers of spacetime dimensions (via dimension quenching) and different amounts of worldsheet supersymmetry (via c-duality). These solutions connect supercritical string theories to the more familiar string duality web in ten dimensions, and provide a precise link between supersymmetric and purely bosonic string theories. Dimension quenching and c-duality appear to be natural concepts in string theory, giving rise to large networks of interconnected theories. We describe some of these networks in detail and discuss general consistency constraints on the types of transitions that arise in this framework.