Related papers: Arithmetic and Hyperbolic Structures in String The…
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 the relationship between the classical description of the resolution of quotient singularities and the string picture is reviewed in the context of N=(2,2) superconformal field theories. A method for the analysis of quotients…
String theory, specifically type-II superstring theory, can be formulated in any ten-dimensional signature. To facilitate the study of supergravity and superstring theories in this setting, we present a uniform construction of supersymmetry…
We show that B-model topological strings on local Calabi-Yau threefolds are large N duals of matrix models, which in the planar limit naturally give rise to special geometry. These matrix models directly compute F-terms in an associated N=1…
We explore the hyperbolic structure of the RNS formulation of perturbative superstring theory. The aim is to provide a systematic method to explicitly compute on-shell and off-shell closed superstring amplitudes with an arbitrary number of…
The thesis divides into three parts. The first is devoted to a careful study of very convenient superspace conventions which are a basic tool for the second part. A theorem is formulated that gives a clear statement about when the signs of…
A type IIA string (or F-theory) compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold is believed to be dual to a heterotic string on a K3 surface times a 2-torus (or on a K3 surface). We consider how the resulting moduli space of hypermultiplets is…
We study the higher derivative corrections that occur in type II superstring theories in ten dimensions or less. Assuming invariance under a discrete duality group G(Z) we show that the generic functions of the scalar fields that occur can…
We study the connection between $N=2$ supersymmetry and a topological bound in a two-Higgs-doublet system with an $SU(2)\times U(1)_Y\times U(1)_{Y^{\prime}}$ gauge group. We derive the Bogomol'nyi equations from supersymmetry…
I investigate two discrete models of random geometries, namely simplicial quantum gravity and quantum string theory. In four-dimensional simplicial quantum gravity, I show that the addition of matter gauge fields to the model is capable of…
Some time ago, it was found that the never-ending oscillatory chaotic behaviour discovered by Belinsky, Khalatnikov and Lifshitz (BKL) for the generic solution of the vacuum Einstein equations in the vicinity of a spacelike ("cosmological")…
We study non-supersymmetric solutions of five dimensional N=2 supergravity theories coupled to an arbitrary number of abelian vector multiplets. The solutions constructed can be considered as deformations of known supersymmetric black hole…
It seems to me at this time that two recent developments may permit fast progress on our way to understand the symmetry structure of toroidally (compactified and) reduced M-theory. The first indication of a (possibly) thin spot in the wall…
The first part of this review tries to provide a self-contained view of supersymmetry breaking from the bottom-up perspective. We thus describe N=1 supersymmetry in four dimensions, the Standard Model and the MSSM, with emphasis on the…
This thesis is devoted to the study of black hole solutions in ungauged four-dimensional extended Supergravity. We characterize the most general spherically symmetric and static black-hole solution of ungauged Supergravity, and use the…
In this work we study interesting corners of the quantum gravity landscape with 8 supercharges pushing the boundaries of our current understanding. Calabi-Yau threefolds compactifications of F/M/type II theories to 6, 5 and 4 dimensions are…
We use freely acting asymmetric orbifolds of type IIB string theory to construct a class of theories in four dimensions with eight supercharges. Their low energy effective field theories resemble $STU$ models, but have different duality…
As a refinement of the Swampland Distance Conjecture, we propose that a quantum gravitational theory in an infinite distance limit of its moduli space either decompactifies, or reduces to an asymptotically tensionless, weakly coupled string…
In this thesis we study compactifications of type II string theories and M-theory to four dimensions. We construct the four-dimensional N=2 supergravities that arise from compactifications of type IIA string theory and M-theory on manifolds…
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…