Related papers: Warped String Compactification via Singular Calabi…
In this thesis we study string compactifications on manifolds equipped with a $G$-structure, placing a special emphasis on the interplay between geometry and physics. We follow two complementary approaches. In the first part of the thesis…
We study compactifications of the heterotic pure spinor superstring to six and four dimensions focusing on two simple Calabi-Yau orbifolds. We show that the correct spectrum can be reproduced only if, in the twisted sector, there remain…
We use local mirror symmetry in type IIA string compactifications on Calabi-Yau n+1 folds $X_{n+1}$ to construct vector bundles on (possibly singular) elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau n-folds Z_n. The interpretation of these data as valid…
Geometric transitions between Calabi-Yau manifolds have proven to be a powerful tool in exploring the intricate and interconnected vacuum structure of string compactifications. However, their role in N=1, 4-dimensional string…
Local and global properties of the moduli space of Calabi--Yau type compactifications determine the low energy parameters of the string effective action. We show that the moduli space geometry is entirely encoded in the Picard--Fuchs…
Warped compactifications with significant warping provide one of the few known mechanisms for naturally generating large hierarchies of physical scales. We demonstrate that this mechanism is realizable in string theory, and give examples…
Orbifold compactification of heterotic E8 x E8 string theory is a source for promising grand unified model building. It can accommodate the successful aspects of grand unification while avoiding problems like doublet-triplet splitting in…
Flux compactification of IIB string theory associates special points in Calabi-Yau moduli space to choices of (pairs of) integral three-form fluxes. In this paper, we propose that supersymmetric flux vacua are modular. That is, to a…
We discuss a duality of (0,2) heterotic string vacua which implies that certain pairs of (0,2) Calabi-Yau compactifications on topologically distinct target manifolds yield identical string theories. Some complex structure moduli in one…
Strongly coupled heterotic $E_8\times E_8$ string theory, compactified to four dimensions on a large Calabi-Yau manifold ${\bf X}$, may represent a viable candidate for the description of low-energy particle phenomenology. In this regime,…
We show that the exact N=1 superpotential of a class of 4d string compactifications is computed by the closed topological string compactified to two dimensions. A relation to the open topological string is used to define a special geometry…
The subject of this thesis are various ways to construct four-dimensional quantum field theories from string theory. In a first part we study the generation of a supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, coupled to an adjoint chiral superfield,…
In this paper we study string compactifications on Deligne-Mumford stacks. The basic idea is that all such stacks have presentations to which one can associate gauged sigma models, where the group gauged need be neither finite nor…
We study possible correlations between properties of the observable and hidden sectors in heterotic string theory. Specifically, we analyze the case of the Z6-II orbifold compactification which produces a significant number of models with…
We describe a class of supersymmetric gauged linear sigma-model, whose target space is the infinite dimensional space of bundles on a Calabi-Yau 3- or 2-fold. This target space can be considered the configuration space of D-branes wrapped…
Target space symmetries are studied for orbifold compactified string theories containing Wilson line background fields. The symmetries determined are for those moduli which contribute to the string loop threshold corrections of the gauge…
We study quantum effects in five dimensions in heterotic superstring theory compactified on K_3 x S_1 and analyze the conjecture that its dual effective theory is eleven-dimensional supergravity compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold. This…
We construct a bi-linear form on the periods of Calabi-Yau spaces. These are used to obtain the prepotentials around conifold singularities in type-II strings compactified on Calabi-Yau space. The explicit construction of the bi-linear…
Wilson line on a non-simply connected manifold is a nice way to break SU(5) unified symmetry, and to solve the doublet--triplet splitting problem. This mechanism also requires, however, that the two Higgs doublets are strictly vector-like…
An N=1, d=4 supersymmetric compactification of the perturbative heterotic string is described by a d=2 (0,2) superconformal field theory. The first-order marginal deformations of the internal (0,2) SCFT are in 1 to 1 correspondence with…