Related papers: K3 Surfaces, N=4 Dyons, and the Mathieu Group M24
We investigate special compactifications of the heterotic string for which the space of half-BPS states is, in a natural way, a representation of various subgroups of the Conway group. These compactifications provide a useful framework for…
Nikulin and Vinberg proved that there are only a finite number of lattices of rank $\geq 3$ that are the N\'eron-Severi group of projective K3 surfaces with a finite automorphism group. The aim of this paper is to provide a more geometric…
The primary purpose of these lecture notes is to explore the moduli space of type IIA, type IIB, and heterotic string compactified on a K3 surface. The main tool which is invoked is that of string duality. K3 surfaces provide a fascinating…
We consider type II superstring theory on $K3 \times S^1 \times \mathbb{R}^{1,4}$ and study perturbative BPS states in the near-horizon background of two Neveu-Schwarz fivebranes whose world-volume wraps the $K3 \times S^1$ factor. These…
We show that the recently discovered Mathieu moonshine plays a role for certain four dimensional theories with $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetry. These theories are obtained from the $E_8 \times E_8$ heterotic string theory by compactifying on…
We analyze K3 surfaces admitting an elliptic fibration $E$ and a finite group $G$ of symplectic automorphisms preserving this elliptic fibration. We construct the quotient elliptic fibration $E/G$ comparing its properties to the ones of…
The conformal field theoretic elliptic genus, an invariant for N=(2,2) superconformal field theories, counts the BPS states in any such theory with signs, according to their bosonic or fermionic nature. For K3 theories, this invariant is…
Given a symplectic involution $\iota$ on a K3 surface $X$, the desingularization $Y$ of $X/\iota$ is still a K3 surface, which in general has a different N\'eron--Severi group. Nevertheless, if the involution is induced by the translation…
Using results (especially see Remark 1.14.7) of our paper "Integral symmetric bilinear forms and some of their applications", 1979, we clarify relation between Kahlerian K3 surfaces and Niemeier lattices. We want to emphasise that all…
The nature of M-theory on K3 X I, where I is a line interval, is considered, with a view towards formulating a `matrix theory' representation of that situation. Various limits of this compactification of M-theory yield a number of well…
We determine explicit generators for the ring of modular forms associated with the moduli spaces of K3 surfaces with automorphism group $(\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})^2$ and of Picard rank 13 and higher. The K3 surfaces in question carry a…
We study ${\cal N}=2$ compactifications of heterotic string theory on the CHL orbifold $(K3\times T^2)/\mathbb{Z}_N$ with $N= 2, 3, 5, 7$. $\mathbb{Z}_N$ acts as an involution on $K3$ together with a shift of $1/N$ along one of the circles…
We determine the possible finite groups $G$ of symplectic automorphisms of hyperk\"ahler manifolds which are deformation equivalent to the second Hilbert scheme of a K3 surface. We prove that $G$ has such an action if, and only if, it is…
We consider the variant of Mirror Symmetry Conjecture for K3 surfaces which relates "geometry" of curves of a general member of a family of K3 with "algebraic functions" on the moduli of the mirror family. Lorentzian Kac--Moody algebras are…
We study moduli spaces of lattice-polarized K3 surfaces in terms of orbits of representations of algebraic groups. In particular, over an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0, we show that in many cases, the nondegenerate orbits…
We study a two-parameter family of K3 surfaces of (generic) Picard rank $18$ which is mirror to the $18$-dimensional family of elliptically fibered K3 surfaces with a section. Members of this family are given as compactifications of…
This short note contains an example of a 4-dimensional family of K3 surfaces having finite-dimensional motive. Some consequences are presented, for instance the verification of a conjecture of Voisin (concerning 0-cycles on the…
Inspired by the multiplicative nature of the Ramanujan modular discriminant, Delta, we consider physical realizations of certain multiplicative products over the Dedekind eta-function in two parallel directions: the generating function of…
The duality between $E_8\times E_8$ heteritic string on manifold $K3\times T^2$ and Type IIA string compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold induces a correspondence between vector bundles on $K3\times T^2$ and Calabi-Yau manifolds. Vector…
We explore the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence for the $tmf^\bullet[\frac12]$-cohomology of the classifying space $BM_{24}$ of the largest Mathieu group $M_{24}$, twisted by a class $\omega \in H^4(BM_{24};Z[\frac12]) \cong Z_3$. Our…