Resolving Gravitational Singularities

Abstract

We review recent progress on the resolution of gravitational singularities in string theory. The main example is the fundamental string in five dimensions which is singular in the standard supergravity description but regular after taking into account higher derivative corrections determined by anomalies and supersymmetry. The application of the AdS/CFT correspondence to geometries that require higher derivatives for regularity poses interesting challenges.

14 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of the Sowers theoretical physics workshop 2007, "What is String Theory?", May 14-18, 2007 at Virginia Tech