High Energy Theory Seminar

The fundamental string length explicitly breaks scale invariance. However, in field theory, the gravitational constant, which is directly related to the string length, can be promoted to a dynamical field if the standard model coupled to gravity (SM+GR) is lifted to a locally scale (Weyl) invariant theory. The higher gauge symmetry reveals previously unknown field patches whose inclusion turn the classically conformally invariant SM+GR into a geodesically complete theory with new cosmological and possibly further physical consequences. In this talk it will be shown how string theory can also be “Weyl lifted” with a local scale symmetry acting on target space background fields by promoting the string tension (fundamental string length) to a dynamical field, in agreement with the parallel developments in field theory. This invites some new directions of investigation in string theory.