Related papers: Monodromies, Fluxes, and Compact Three-Generation …
We consider semi-local F-theory GUTs arising from a single E_8 point of local enhancement, leading to simple GUT groups based on E_6, SO(10) and SU(5) with SU(3), SU(4) and SU(5) spectral covers, respectively. Assuming the minimal Z_2…
F-theory admits 7-branes with exceptional gauge symmetries, which can be compactified to give phenomenological four-dimensional GUT models. Here we study general supersymmetric compactifications of eight-dimensional Yang-Mills theory. They…
We present compact three-generation F-theory GUT models meeting in particular the constraints of D3-tadpole cancellation and D-term supersymmetry. To this end we explicitly construct elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfolds as complete…
Local models that capture the 7-brane physics of F-theory compactifications for supersymmetric GUTs are conveniently described in terms of an E_8 gauge theory in the presence of a Higgs bundle. Though the Higgs bundle data is usually…
We construct semi-local and global realizations of SU(5) GUTs in F-theory that utilize a U(1)_PQ symmetry to protect against dimension four proton decay. Symmetries of this type, which assign charges to H_u and H_d that forbid a tree level…
In F-theory GUT constructions Yukawa couplings necessarily take place at the intersection of three matter curves. For generic geometric configurations this gives rise to problematic Yukawa couplings unable to reproduce the observed…
Motivated by potential phenomenological applications, we develop the necessary tools for building GUT models in F-theory. This approach is quite flexible because the local geometrical properties of singularities in F-theory…
We construct a family of elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau four-folds Y_4 for F-theory compactifications that realize SU(5) GUTs in the low-energy limit. The three-fold base X_3 of these fibrations is almost Fano and satisfies the topological…
These lecture notes are devoted to formal and phenomenological aspects of F-theory. We begin with a pedagogical introduction to the general concepts of F-theory, covering classic topics such as the connection to Type IIB orientifolds, the…
We consider an SO(10) GUT model from F-theory compactified on an elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau with a D5 singularity. To obtain the matter curves and the Yukawa couplings, we use a global description to resolve the singularity. We…
We study seven-brane SU(5) GUT models of string phenomenology which can be consistently analyzed in a purely local framework. The requirement that gravity can decouple constrains the form of four-dimensional physics as well as the geometry…
We undertake a phenomenological study of SU(5) F-theory GUT models with an additional U(1)_{PQ} symmetry. In such models, breaking SU(5) with hypercharge flux leads to the presence of non-GUT multiplets in the spectrum. We study the effect…
We construct decomposed spectral covers for bundles on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds whose structure groups are S(U(1) x U(4)), S(U(2) x U(3)) and S(U(1) x U(1) x U(3)) in heterotic string compactifications. The decomposition…
We engineer compact SU(5) Grand Unified Theories in F-theory in which GUT-breaking is achieved by a discrete Wilson line. Because the internal gauge field is flat, these models avoid the high scale threshold corrections associated with…
We consider compactifications of M-theory on 7-manifolds in the presence of 4-form fluxes, which leave at least four supercharges unbroken. We focus especially on the case, where the 7-manifold supports two spinors which are SU(3) singlets…
We construct global F-theory GUT models on del Pezzo surfaces in compact Calabi-Yau fourfolds realized as complete intersections of two hypersurface constraints. The intersections of the GUT brane and the flavour branes as well as the gauge…
We consider topology changing transitions for M-theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau fourfolds with background G-flux. The local geometry of the transition is generically a genus g curve of conifold singularities, which engineers a 3d…
We analyse hypercharge flux GUT breaking in F-theory/Type IIB GUT models with regards to its implications for anomaly cancellation and gauge coupling unification. To this aim we exploit the Type IIB limit and consider 7-brane configurations…
Despite much recent progress in model building with D-branes, it has been problematic to find a completely convincing explanation of gauge coupling unification. We extend the class of models by considering F-theory compactifications, which…
We consider the possibility of breaking the GUT group to the Standard Model gauge group in F-theory compactifications by turning on certain U(1) fluxes. We show that the requirement of massless hypercharge is equivalent to a topological…