Related papers: From ten to four and back again: how to generalize…
In seven dimensions any spin manifold admits an SU(2) structure and therefore very general M-theory compactifications have the potential to allow for a reduction to N=4 gauged supergravity. We perform this general SU(2) reduction and give…
In this work we study the generalization of twisted homology to geometric and non-geometric backgrounds. In the process we describe the necessary conditions to wrap a network of D-branes on twisted cycles. If the cycle is localized in time,…
We explore in detail the prospects of obtaining a four-dimensional de Sitter universe in classical supergravity models with warped and time-independent extra dimensions, presenting explicit cosmological solutions of the $(4+n)$-dimensional…
Maximal supergravity in four dimensions admits two inequivalent dyonic gaugings of the group $\mathrm{SO}(4) \times \mathrm{SO}(2,2) \ltimes T^{16}$. Both admit a Minkowski vacuum with residual $\mathrm{SO}(4) \times \mathrm{SO}(2)^2$…
The dynamics of warped/flux compactifications is studied, including warping effects, providing a firmer footing for investigation of the "landscape." We present a general formula for the four-dimensional potential of warped…
We investigate the dynamics of space-time filling five-branes wrapped on curves in heterotic and orientifold Calabi-Yau compactifications. We first study the leading N=1 scalar potential on the infinite deformation space of the brane-curve…
We derive the 3D N=1 superpotential for the closed string sector of type IIB supergravity on toroidal O5 orientifolds with co-calibrated G2 structure and RR background flux. We find that such compactifications can provide full closed string…
We consider compactifications of ${\cal M}$-theory to four-dimensional Minkowski space on seven-dimensional non-compact manifolds. These compactifications include a warp factor which is non-constant due to the presence of sources coming…
We study exactly marginal deformations of 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ CFTs dual to AdS$_4$ solutions in eleven-dimensional supergravity using generalised geometry. Focussing on Sasaki-Einstein backgrounds, we find that marginal deformations…
We show that a class of type IIA vacua recently found within the N=4 effective approach corresponds to compactification on Ads_4 \times S^3 \times S^3/Z_2^3. The results obtained using the effective method completely match the general…
On the Type IIB toroidal T^6 orientifolds with generic flux compactifications, we conjecture that in generic supsersymmetric Minkowski vacua, at least one of the flux contributions to the seven-brane and D3-brane tadpoles is positive if the…
We use Weyl transformations between the Minkowski spacetime and dS/AdS spacetime to show that one cannot well define the electrodynamics globally on the ordinary conformal compactification of the Minkowski spacetime (or dS/AdS spacetime),…
We consider a geometric regularization for the class of conifold transitions relating D-brane systems on noncompact Calabi-Yau spaces to certain flux backgrounds. This regularization respects the SL(2,Z) invariance of the flux…
Understanding supersymmetric flux vacua is essential in order to connect string theory to observable physics. In this thesis, flux vacua are studied by making use of two mathematical frameworks: SU(n)-structures and generalised complex…
We consider warped compactifications in (4+d)-dimensional theories, with four dimensional de Sitter dS_4 vacua (with Hubble parameter H) and with a compact internal space. After introducing a gauge-invariant formalism for the generic metric…
The four-dimensional effective action for D5-branes in generic compact Calabi-Yau orientifolds is computed by performing a Kaluza-Klein reduction. The N=1 Kaehler potential, the superpotential, the gauge-kinetic coupling function and the…
Following an eight-dimensional gauged supergravity approach we construct the most general solution describing D6-branes wrapped on a Kahler four-cycle taken to be the product of two spheres of different radii. Our solution interpolates…
We investigate $D$-dimensional gravitational model with curvature-quadratic and curvature-quartic correction terms: $R+R^2+R^4$. It is assumed that the corresponding higher dimensional spacetime manifold undergos a spontaneous…
The four-dimensional N=1 supergravity theories arising in compactifications of type IIA and type IIB on generalized orientifold backgrounds with background fluxes are discussed. The Kahler potentials are derived for reductions on SU(3)…
We consider type II backgrounds of the form R^{1,d-1} x M^{10-d} for even d, preserving 2^{d/2} real supercharges; for d = 4, 6, 8 this is minimal supersymmetry in d dimensions, while for d = 2 it is N = (2,0) supersymmetry in two…