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The Spontaneous Compactification of the Closed Bosonic String

P. West
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Abstract

We argue that the higher space-time derivative terms that occur in closed bosonic string field theory are reminiscent of those found in the Landau theory of liquid-crystal transitions. We examine the lowest level approximation of the closed bosonic string and find evidence for the existence of a new vacuum that spontaneously breaks Lorentz and translation symmetries. This effect can be interpreted as a spontaneous compactification of the theory.

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P. West. 2002-09-19. The Spontaneous Compactification of the Closed Bosonic String. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0370-2693(02)02807-1

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