1998/07/27 by John H. Schwarz, Schwarz, John H.
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.hep-th/9807195
14 pages, latex2e; Presented at WEIN 98 in Santa Fe, NM (June 1998); v2: Reference added
arxiv created 1998/09/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
Superstring theory, and a recent extension called M theory, are leading candidates for a quantum theory that unifies gravity with the other forces. As such, they are certainly not ordinary quantum field theories. However, recent duality conjectures suggest that a more complete definition of these theories can be provided by the large N limits of suitably chosen U(N) gauge theories associated to the asymptotic boundary of spacetime.