Recent Developments in Physics Far Beyond the Standard Model

Abstract

String theory is the leading candidate for a unified theory of the standard model and gravity. In the last few years theorists have realized that there is a unique structure underlying string theory. In this unification a prominent role is played by the duality symmetries which relate different theories. I present a brief overview of these developements and discuss their possible impact in low-energy physics. One of the lessons learned is that the string scale, usually asumed to be of order of the Planck scale, could be arbitrarily low, even close to accelerator energies.