String Theory in Electromagnetic Fields

TL;DR

This paper reviews the interaction of superstrings with electromagnetic backgrounds, discussing key phenomena like the Born-Infeld action, D-brane dynamics, and noncommutative theories, highlighting electric field instabilities and new velocity-dependent potential results.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of superstring behavior in electromagnetic fields and introduces new derivations for D-brane velocity potentials and thermal corrections.

Findings

Electric field instabilities are significant and contrasted with magnetic fields.

New derivation of velocity-dependent potential between moving D-branes.

Velocity corrections to the one-loop thermal effective potential are presented.

Abstract

A review of various aspects of superstrings in background electromagnetic fields is presented. Topics covered include the Born-Infeld action, spectrum of open strings in background gauge fields, the Schwinger mechanism, finite-temperature formalism and Hagedorn behaviour in external fields, Debye screening, D-brane scattering, thermodynamics of D-branes, and noncommutative field and string theories on D-branes. The electric field instabilities are emphasized throughout and contrasted with the case of magnetic fields. A new derivation of the velocity-dependent potential between moving D-branes is presented, as is a new result for the velocity corrections to the one-loop thermal effective potential.