Related papers: Continuous Global Symmetries and Hyperweak Interac…
We study compactifications of type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds that are mirror to a subset of the type IIB LARGE-volume models. A combination of flux, alpha' corrections and non-perturbative effects stabilises the moduli in a…
Modular flavor symmetries have been proposed as a new way to address the flavor problem. It is known that they can emerge from string compactifications. We discuss this connection in detail, and show how the congruence subgroups of SL(2,Z),…
This review talk focusses on some of the interesting developments in the area of superstring compactification that have occurred in the last couple of years. These include the discovery that ``mirror symmetric" pairs of Calabi--Yau spaces,…
We obtain an exact solution of the supergravity equations of motion in which the four-dimensional observed universe is one of a number of colliding D3-branes in a Calabi-Yau background. The collision results in the ten-dimensional spacetime…
We discuss the unification of gauge coupling constants in non-supersymmetric open string vacua that possess the properties of Split Supersymmetry, namely the Standard Model with Higgsinos at low energies and where the Standard model…
In the context of type IIB string theory we combine moduli stabilisation and model building on branes at del Pezzo singularities in a fully consistent global compactification. By means of toric geometry, we classify all the CY manifolds…
We study the interplay between discrete quantum symmetries at certain points in the moduli space of Calabi-Yau compactifications, and the associated identities that the geometric realization of D-brane monodromies must satisfy. We show that…
We review how D-brane instantons can generate open string couplings of stringy hierarchy in the superpotential which violate global abelian symmetries and are therefore perturbatively forbidden. We discuss the main ingredients of this…
Scherk-Schwarz compactification in string theory can be defined as orbifolding by an R symmetry, a symmetry that acts differently on bosons and fermions. Such a symmetry can arise in many situations, including toroidal and orbifold…
We analyze the process of string vacuum destabilization due to instanton induced superpotential couplings which depend linearly on charged fields. These non-perturbative instabilities result in potentials for the D-brane moduli and lead to…
The use of discrete symmetries, especially abelian ones, in physics beyond the standard model of particle physics is discussed. A method is developed how a general, abelian, discrete symmetry can be obtained via spontaneous symmetry…
We derive various solutions for the gauge field and the gaugino when there are both 5D bulk kinetic terms and 4D brane kinetic terms. Below the compactification scale $1/y_c$, gauge interaction by the massless mode is universal, independent…
We present a simple mechanism by which supersymmetry can be dynamically broken in intersecting brane models, naturally generating an exponentially small scale. Rather than utilize either non-Abelian gauge dynamics or D-instantons, our…
We show that contrary to first expectations realistic three generation supersymmetric intersecting brane world models give rise to phenomenologically interesting predictions about gauge coupling unification. Assuming the most economical way…
We analyze approaches to the partial or complete unification of gauge symmetries in theories with dynamical symmetry breaking. Several types of models are considered, including those that (i) involve sufficient unification to quantize…
We consider semi-direct gauge mediation models of supersymmetry breaking where the messengers are composite fields and their supersymmetric mass is naturally generated through quartic superpotential couplings. We show that such composite…
Certain four-dimensional $N=4$ supersymmetric theories have special vacua in which massive charged vector supermultiplets become massless, resulting in an enhanced non-abelian gauge symmetry. We show here that any two $N=4$ theories having…
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,…
We perform a systematic study of the Standard Model embedding in a D-brane configuration of type I string theory at the TeV scale. We end up with an attractive model and we study several phenomenological questions, such as gauge coupling…
We construct extensions of the Standard Model in which the gauge symmetries and supersymmetry prevent the dangerously large effects that may potentially be induced in a supersymmetric standard model by Planck scale physics. These include…