Related papers: TASI Lectures on Supergravity and String Vacua in …
These lectures, presented at TASI 08 school, provide an introduction to supersymmetry and supersymmetry breaking. We present basic formalism of supersymmetry, supersymmetric non-renormalization theorems, and summarize non-perturbative…
We study quantum corrections in four-dimensional theories with $N=1$ supersymmetry in the context of Quantum Gravity Conjectures. According to the Emergent String Conjecture, infinite distance limits in quantum gravity either lead to…
We discuss one of the generic spacetime consequences of having (1,0) worldsheet supersymmetry in tachyon-free string theory, namely the appearance of a ``misaligned supersymmetry'' in the corresponding spacetime spectrum. Misaligned…
We present a detailed analysis of non-supersymmetric spacetime varying string vacua which can lead to an exponential hierarchy between the electroweak and the gravitational scales. In particular, we identify a limit in which these vacua can…
I review the relations between mass scales in various string theories and in M-theory. I discuss physical motivations and possible consistent realizations of large volume compactifications and low string scale. Large longitudinal…
One of the leading candidates for quantum gravity, viz. string theory, has the following features incorporated in it. (i) The full spacetime is higher dimensional, with (possibly) compact extra-dimensions; (ii) There is a natural minimal…
We discuss duality between Type IIA string theory, eleven-dimensional supergravity, and heterotic string theory in four spacetime dimensions with $N=1$ supersymmetry. We find theories whose infrared limit is trivial at enhanced symmetry…
Fractional superstrings are non-trivial generalizations of ordinary superstrings and heterotic strings, and have critical spacetime dimensions which are less than ten by virtue of a worldsheet fractional supersymmetry relating worldsheet…
These lecture notes provide a pedagogical introduction, with exercises, to the techniques used in attempts to construct vacua with stabilised moduli in string theory. The reader is only assumed to have a basic knowledge of general…
We review the definition of (maximally supersymmetric) vacuum in supergravity theories, the currently known vacua in arbitrary dimensions and how the associated supersymmetry algebras can be found. (Invited talk at the Spanish Relativity…
These notes are an expanded version of lectures given at the 2022 TASI summer school in Boulder, Colorado. One goal of these lecture notes is to (partially) bridge the gap between what one learns in typical introductory quantum field theory…
Recent developments in string and M theory rely heavily on supersymmetry suggesting that a revival of superspace techniques in ten and eleven dimensions may be advantageous. Here we discuss three topics of current interest where superspace…
Superstring theories are very promising theoretically, but the enormous landscape of string vacua and the (likely) very large underlying string scale imply that they may never be tested directly. Nevertheless, concrete constructions…
We study two-dimensional N=(4,4) supersymmetric gauge theories which do not have classical Higgs branches, but are believed to have isolated quantum Higgs vacua. We provide arguments for the existence of such vacua based on brane dynamics…
Supergravity theories in more than four dimensions with grand unified gauge symmetries are an important intermediate step towards the ultraviolet completion of the Standard Model in string theory. Using toric geometry, we classify and…
Superstring theories in the critical dimension D=10 are connected to one another by a well-explored web of dualities. In this paper we use closed-string tachyon condensation to connect the supersymmetric moduli space of the critical…
We study vacua of N = 4 half-maximal gauged supergravity in five dimensions and determine crucial properties of the effective theory around the vacuum. The main focus is on configurations with exactly two broken supersymmetries, since they…
The region of moduli space of string theories which is most likely to describe the "real world" is where the string coupling is about unity and the volume of extra compact dimensions is about the same size as the string volume. Here we map…
We study string compactifications with sixteen supersymmetries. The moduli space for these compactifications becomes quite intricate in lower dimensions, partly because there are many different irreducible components. We focus primarily,…
In these lectures I discuss various unsolved problems of string theory and their relations to quantum gravity, 3d Ising model, large N QCD, and quantum cosmology. No solutions are presented but some new and perhaps useful approaches are…