Related papers: Orbifolds versus smooth heterotic compactification…
We briefly review an algorithmic strategy to explore the landscape of heterotic E8 \times E8 vacua, in the context of compactifying smooth Calabi-Yau three-folds with vector bundles. The Calabi-Yau three-folds are algebraically realised as…
The purpose of this note is to extend the results obtained in [arXiv:1303.6970] in two ways. First, the six-dimensional F-theory compactifications with U(1) x U(1) gauge symmetry on elliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds, constructed as a…
Keeping N=1 supersymmetry in 4-dimension and in the leading order, we disuss the various orbifold compactifications of M-theory suggested by Horava and Witten on $T^6/Z_3$, $T^6/Z_6$, $T^6/Z_{12}$, and the compactification by keeping…
In this work we review a systematic, algorithmic construction of dual heterotic/F-theory geometries corresponding to 4-dimensional, N = 1 supersymmetric compactifications. We look in detail at a class of well-defined Calabi-Yau fourfolds…
Motivated by the electroweak hierarchy problem, we consider theories with two extra dimensions in which the four-dimensional scalar fields are components of gauge boson in full space, namely the Gauge-Higgs unification framework. We briefly…
In this work, we study compactifications of 6d $(1,0)$ SCFTs, in particular those of conformal matter type, on K\"ahler 4-manifolds. We show how this can be realized via wrapping M5 branes on 4-cycles of non-compact Calabi-Yau fourfolds…
We present a 6D orbifold model on $T^2/\Z2$ which emerges as intermediate step in the compactification of the heterotic string to the supersymmetric standard model in four dimensions. It has $\SU6$ gauge symmetry in the bulk and two pairs…
We summarize our geometric and topological description of compact eight-manifolds which arise as internal spaces in ${\cal N}=1$ flux compactifications of M-theory down to $\mathrm{AdS}_3$, under the assumption that the internal part of the…
In this paper, we reconsider the study of five-dimensional supersymmetric black branes in the context of the M-theory compactification on a special Calabi-Yau manifold called tetra-quadric, being realized as complete intersections of…
We present a six-dimensional T^2/Z_2 orbifold model which arises as an intermediate step in the compactification of the heterotic string to the MSSM. The orbifold contains two pairs of inequivalent fixed points, with unbroken local gauge…
We provide a complete classification of six-dimensional symmetric toroidal orbifolds which yield N>=1 supersymmetry in 4D for the heterotic string. Our strategy is based on a classification of crystallographic space groups in six…
We consider toroidal asymmetric orbifolds of the heterotic string preserving all 16 supercharges, developing a general formalism to study components of the moduli space characterized by rank reduction of the gauge group. In particular we…
We provide a modular construction of the Laza--Sacc\`a--Voisin compactification of the intermediate Jacobian fibration of a cubic fourfold. Additionally, we construct infinitely many $20$-dimensional families of polarized hyper-K\"ahler…
This is a pedagogical exposition of holonomy groups intended for physicists. After some pertinent definitions, we focus on special holonomy manifolds, two per division algebras, and comment upon several cases of interest in physics,…
We perform model searches on smooth Calabi-Yau compactifications for both the supersymmetric E8xE8 and SO(32) as well as for the non-supersymmetric SO(16)xSO(16) heterotic strings simultaneously. We consider line bundle backgrounds on both…
We explicitly construct a solution of eight-dimensional gauged supergravity representing D6-branes wrapped on six-cycles inside Calabi-Yau fourfolds. The solution preserves two supercharges and asymptotically is a cone with the coset space…
We consider the possibility that the unification of the electroweak interactions and the strong force arises from string theory, at energies significantly lower than the string scale. As a tool, an effective grand unified field theory in…
We show that six-dimensional backgrounds that are T^2 bundle over a Calabi-Yau two-fold base are consistent smooth solutions of heterotic flux compactifications. We emphasize the importance of the anomaly cancellation condition which can…
We describe the mirror of the Z orbifold as a representation of a class of generalized Calabi-Yau manifolds that can be realized as manifolds of dimension five and seven. Despite their dimension these correspond to superconformal theories…
We investigate deconstruction of five dimensional supersymmetric abelian gauge theories compactified on $S_1/Z_2$, with various sets of bulk and matter multiplets. The problem of anomalies, chirality and stability in the deconstructed…