Related papers: On the string coupling in a class of stringy orbif…
We study the gauge coupling unification of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with non-universal soft scalar and gaugino masses. The unification scale of the gauge couplings is estimated for non-universal cases. It is sensitive to…
The string landscape suggests that the supersymmetry breaking scale can be high, and then the simplest low energy effective theory is the Standard Model (SM). We show that gauge coupling unification can be achieved at about 10^{16-17} GeV…
Axions, grand unification, and string theory are each compelling extensions of the Standard Model. We show that combining these frameworks imposes strong constraints on the QCD axion mass. Using unitarity arguments and explicit string…
We study the coupling of the closed string to the open string in the topological B-model. These couplings can be viewed as gauge invariant observables in the open string field theory, or as deformations of the differential graded algebra…
Supersymmetric gauge theories, in higher dimensions compactified in an orbifold, give a natural framework to unify the gauge bosons, Higgs fields and even the matter fields in a single multiplet of the unifying gauge symmetry. The extra…
Recent work has established a method of constructing non-supersymmetric string models that are stable, with near-vanishing one-loop dilaton tadpoles and cosmological constants. This opens up the tantalizing possibility of realizing stable…
We show that large string threshold corrections can reconcile the string and MSSM unification scales in fermionic strings. This requires at least three moduli with large VEVs which are different from each other and MSSM states arising in an…
We show that in an $SU(2)\otimes U(1)$ model with a DSF-like invisible axion it is possible to obtain (i) the convergence of the three gauge coupling constants at an energy scale near the Peccei-Quinn scale; (ii) the correct value for…
The QCD axion solving the strong CP problem may originate from antisymmetric tensor gauge fields in compactified string theory, with a decay constant around the GUT scale. Such possibility appears to be ruled out now by the detection of…
We study string breaking in the three dimensional SU(2) Higgs model, using values of the gauge coupling for which the confinement-like and Higgs-like regions of the phase diagram are separated just by a smooth crossover. We show that even…
Recently we proposed a natural scenario of grand unified theories with anomalous U(1)_A gauge symmetry, in which doublet-triplet splitting is realized in SO(10) unification using Dimopoulos-Wilczek mechanism and realistic quark and lepton…
We discuss how to calculate Yukawa couplings in string-derived orbifold GUTs. As an application we investigate the quark mass hierarchies in these models. An interplay of different mechanisms derived from string theory leads to an…
In the standard model matter fields form complete representations of a grand unified group whereas Higgs fields belong to incomplete `split' multiplets. This remarkable fact is naturally explained by `local grand unification' in…
The discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC supports the hypothesis that the Standard Model provides an effective parameterisation of all subatomic experimental data up to the Planck scale. String theory, which provides a viable…
We study proton decay in a six-dimensional orbifold GUT model with gauge group $SO(10)\times U(1)_A$. Magnetic $U(1)_A$ flux in the compact dimensions determines the multiplicity of quark-lepton generations, and it also breaks supersymmetry…
I review findings of various research groups regarding perturbative heterotic string model building in the last 12 months. Attention is given to recent studies of extra U(1)'s and local discrete symmetries (LDS's) in generic string models.…
We examine whether a minimal string model possessing the same massless spectra as the MSSM can be obtained from $Z_4$, $Z_6$ and $Z_8$ orbifold constructions. Using an anomaly cancellation condition of the target space duality symmetry, we…
We make a detailed study of the unification of gauge couplings in the MSSM with large extra dimensions. We find some scenarios where unification can be achieved (with the strong coupling constant at the Z mass within one standard deviation…
We present a non-perturbative model of Gauge-Higgs Unification. We consider a five-dimensional pure SU(2) gauge theory with orbifold boundary conditions along the fifth dimension, such that the symmetry is reduced to U(1) at the fixed…
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…