Related papers: The \mu-problem, the NMSSM and string theory
Using an effective field theory approach and the language of SU(N)-structures, we study higher derivative corrections to the supersymmetry constraints for compactifications of string or M-theory to Minkowski space. Our analysis is done…
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…
The ten dimensional string theories as well as eleven dimensional supergravity are conjectured to arise as limits of a more basic theory, traditionaly dubbed M--theory. This notion is confined to the ten dimensional supersymmetric theories.…
Stable de Sitter solutions in minimal F-term supergravity are known to lie close to Minkowski critical points. We consider a class of STU-models arising from type IIB compactifications with generalised fluxes. There, we apply an analytical…
The free fermionic classification method provides a powerful tool to investigate string vacua, which led to the discovery of spinor--vector duality and exophobic string models. We extend the classification methodology to both…
We consider warped compactifications of ${\cal M}$-theory to three-dimensional Minkowski space on compact eight-manifolds. Taking all the leading quantum gravity corrections of eleven-dimensional supergravity into account we obtain the…
We review the role of R symmetries in models of supersymmetric unification in four and more dimensions, and in string theory. We show that, if one demands anomaly freedom and fermion masses, only R symmetries can forbid the supersymmetric…
We revisit flux compactifications of type IIB string theory on `spaces' dual to rigid Calabi-Yau manifolds. This rather unexplored part of the string landscapes harbors many interesting four-dimensional solutions, namely supersymmetric…
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 begin a search for nonsupersymmetric/supersymmetric dual string pairs by constructing candidate critical nonsupersymmetric strings as solitons in supersymmetric string theories. Using orbifold techniques, one can construct cosmic string…
We investigate the existence of string vacua with Massive Spectrum Degeneracy Symmetry (MSDS) in Heterotic and Type II orbifold constructions. We present a classification of all possible Z_2^N-orbifolds with MSDS symmetry that can be…
In this note we construct large ensembles of supersymmetry breaking solutions arising in the context of flux compactifications of type IIB string theory. This class of solutions was previously proposed in arXiv:hep-th/0402135 for which we…
We review some aspects of moduli in string theory. We argue that one should focus on {\it approximate moduli spaces}, and that there is evidence that such spaces exist non-perturbatively. We ask what it would mean for string theory to…
In the first part of this paper I review the construction of the realistic free fermionic models, as well as current attempts to study aspects of these models in the nonperturbative framework of M- and F-theories. I discuss the recent…
We propose correspondences between 4d quantum field theories with N=2,1,0 (super)conformal invariance and Type IIB string theory on various orbifolds. We argue using the spacetime string theory, and check using the beta functions (exactly…
We study the vacuum structure of compactifications of type II string theories on orientifolds with SU(3)xSU(3) structure. We argue that generalised geometry enables us to treat these non-geometric compactifications using a supergravity…
We consider an inverse problem associated with $n$-dimensional asymptotically hyperbolic orbifolds $(n \geq 2)$ having a finite number of cusps and regular ends. By observing solutions of the Helmholtz equation at the cusp, we introduce a…
In this paper we analyze the structure of supersymmetric vacua in compactifications of the heterotic string on certain manifolds with SU(3) structure. We first study the effective theories obtained from compactifications on half-flat…
We formulate matrix string models on a class of exact string backgrounds with non constant RR-flux parameterized by a holomorphic prepotential function and with manifest (2,2) supersymmetry. This lifts these string theories to M-theory…
In this paper we consider a class of exactly solvable closed string flux backgrounds that exhibit non-commutativity in the closed string coordinates. They are realized in terms of freely-acting asymmetric Z_N-orbifolds, which are themselves…