Weak scale superstrings

Abstract

Recent developments in string duality suggest that the string scale may not be irrevocably tied to the Planck scale. Two explicit but unrealistic examples are described where the ratio of the string scale to the Planck scale is arbitrarily small. Solutions that are more realistic may exist in the intermediate coupling or "truly strong coupling" region of the heterotic string. Weak scale superstrings have dramatic experimental consequences for both collider physics and cosmology.