Related papers: Les Houches Lectures on Constructing String Vacua
In these lectures we review the basic ideas of perturbative and non-perturbative string theory. On the non-perturbative side we give an introduction to D-branes and string duality. The elementary concepts of non-BPS branes and…
We compute the massless spectra of a set of flux vacua of the heterotic string. The vacua we study include well-known non-Kahler T^2-fibrations over K3 with SU(3) structure and intrinsic torsion. Following gauged linear sigma models of…
In this work we investigate the moduli stabilisation problem and the requirements for de Sitter vacua within the framework of type IIB string theory. Using perturbative effects arising from the various sources such as $\alpha^\prime$…
We develop techniques to classify D- and F-flat directions for N=1 supersymmetric string vacua of the perturbative heterotic string theory, which possess an anomalous U(1) gauge group at the tree level. Genus-one corrections generate a…
We give results for the distribution and number of flux vacua of various types, supersymmetric and nonsupersymmetric, in IIb string theory compactified on Calabi-Yau manifolds. We compare this with related problems such as counting…
In this thesis we investigate some aspects of the dramatic consequences of supersymmetry breaking on string vacua. In particular, we focus on the issue of vacuum stability in ten-dimensional string models with broken, or without,…
The aim of these lectures is to give an introduction to several topics which lie at the intersection of string theory, gravity theory and gravity phenomenology. One successively reviews: (i) the "membrane" approach to the dissipative…
We outline the construction of metastable de Sitter vacua of type IIB string theory. Our starting point is highly warped IIB compactifications with nontrivial NS and RR three-form fluxes. By incorporating known corrections to the…
We analyze exactly the simplest minimal superstring theory, using its dual matrix model. Its target space is one dimensional (the Liouville direction), and the background fields include a linear dilaton, a possible tachyon condensate, and…
String theory builds on the great legacy of Yukawa and Tomonaga: New degrees of freedom and control of the UV are two important themes. This talk will give an overview of some of the progress and some of the unsolved problems that…
These lectures present a general critical assessment of various frameworks for quantum gravity, with particular emphasis on string theory. The topics discussed cover field-theoretical approaches to quantum gravity, anomalies, bosonic and…
We present a concrete string-theoretic mechanism that generates four-dimensional de Sitter vacua from non-geometric R-flux compactifications of heterotic string theory. The construction rests on three pillars: the Malcev algebra generated…
We argue that vacua of string theory which asymptote at weak coupling to linear dilaton backgrounds are holographic. The full string theory in such vacua is ``dual'' to a theory without gravity in fewer dimensions. The dual theory is…
An overview of some of the developments in string theory over the past two years is given, focusing on four topics: realistic (standard model like) models from string theory, geometric engineering and theories with fluxes, the gauge…
The behaviour of matrix string theory in the background of a type IIA pp wave at small string coupling, g_s << 1, is determined by the combination M g_s where M is a dimensionless parameter proportional to the strength of the Ramond-Ramond…
In some string theories, e.g. SO(32) heterotic string theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds, a massless field with a tree level potential can acquire a tachyonic mass at the one loop level, forcing us to quantize the theory around a new background…
After a brief review of critical string theory in trivial backgrounds we begin with introduction to strings in non--trivial backgrounds and noncritical string theory. In particular, we relate the latter to critical string theory in a linear…
In this paper we describe ideas about the string landscape, and how to relate it to the physics of the Standard Model of particle physics. First, we give a short status report about heterotic string compactifications. Then we focus on the…
One of the main goals of the field of string phenomenology is to describe the properties of our spacetime in low-energy effective models related to and consistent with string theory. It is known that our universe undergoes accelerated…
These lectures are intended as an introduction to some of the basic aspects of string solitons, duality and black holes. We begin with a discussion of the role of classical solutions in duality, then focus on string/string duality and…