Related papers: Gluing Branes II: Flavour Physics and String Duali…
N=(2,1) heterotic string theory provides clues about hidden structure in M-theory related to string duality; in effect it geometrizes some aspects of duality. The program whereby one may deduce this hidden structure is outlined, together…
Coupling of bilinears of gauginos on D-branes to anti-symmetric tensor fields can be deduced by comparing F-theory compactified to 8 dimensions with the heterotic string on $R^8\times T^2$. Application to SUSY breaking in F-theory triggered…
We report on progress towards constructing string models incorporating both realistic D-brane matter content and moduli stabilisation with dynamical low-scale supersymmetry breaking. The general framework is that of local D-brane models…
In this paper we study aspects of geometries in Type IIA and Type IIB String theory and elaborate on their field theory dual pairs. The backgrounds are associated with reductions to Type IIA of solutions with $G_2$ holonomy in eleven…
In this Ph. D. Thesis we concentrate on the study of the extension of the AdS/CFT correspondence to theories with less supersymmetry. In particular, we search for the possibility of adding supersymmetric D-branes in type IIB supergravity…
Motivated by flavour symmetry models, we construct theories based on a low-energy limit featuring lepton flavour triality that have the flavour-violating decays $\tau^\pm \to \mu^\pm \mu^\pm e^\mp$ and $\tau^\pm \to e^\pm e^\pm \mu^\mp$ as…
We utilize the deformation theory of algebraic singularities to study charged matter in compactifications of M-theory, F-theory, and type IIa string theory on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds. In F-theory, this description is more…
The dissertation consists of two parts. The first presents an account of the effective worldvolume description of $N$ coincident M2-branes ending on an M5-brane in M-theory. It reviews Basu and Harvey's recent description of the worldvolume…
We demonstrate how non-simply-laced gauge and flavor symmetries arise in F-theory on spaces with non-isolated singularities. The breaking from a simply-laced symmetry to one that is non-simply-laced is induced by Calabi-Yau complex…
We investigate the viability of extending the Standard Model with $S_1$ and $S_3$ scalar leptoquarks when the flavour structure is parametrized in terms of Froggatt-Nielsen charges. In contrast to a similar analysis with a vector…
We introduce T-branes, or "triangular branes," which are novel non-abelian bound states of branes characterized by the condition that on some loci, their matrix of normal deformations, or Higgs field, is upper triangular. These…
We examine the flavor structure of the trilinear superpotential couplings which can result from embedding the Standard Model within D brane sectors in Type IIB orientifold models, which are examples within the Type I string framework. We…
In this lecture we summarize some recent work on the understanding of instanton effects in string theories with 16 supersymmetries. In particular, we consider F^4 couplings using the duality between the heterotic string on T^4 and type IIA…
We consider the AdS/CFT correspondence between the beta-deformed supersymmetric gauge theory and the type IIB string theory on the Lunin-Maldacena background. Guided by gauge theory results, we modify and extend the supergravity solution of…
We study aspects of heterotic/F-theory duality for compactifications with Abelian gauge symmetries. We consider F-theory on general Calabi-Yau manifolds with a rank one Mordell-Weil group of rational sections. By rigorously performing the…
Two different mechanisms exist in non-perturbative String / M- theory for enhanced SU(N) (SO(2N)) gauge symmetries. It can appear in type IIA string theory or M-theory near an $A_{N-1}$ (D_N) type singularity where membrnes wrapped around…
In the simplest examples of models with a discrete quark-lepton symmetry, an electroweak symmetry breaking sector with more than one Higgs doublet is necessary to obtain the correct mass relations between quarks and leptons. A two Higgs…
In this letter we study topological open string field theory on D--branes in a IIB background given by non compact CY geometries ${\cal O}(n)\oplus{\cal O}(-2-n)$ on $\P1$ with a singular point at which an extra fiber sits. We wrap $N$…
We show that a set of parallel 3-brane probes near a conifold singularity can be mapped onto a configuration of intersecting branes in type IIA string theory. The field theory on the probes can be explicitly derived from this formulation.…
D3-branes are often a necessary ingredient in global compactifications of F-theory. In minimal realizations of flavor hierarchies in F-theory GUT models, suitable fluxes are turned on, which in turn attract D3-branes to the Yukawa points.…