Related papers: On quantum corrected K\"ahler potentials in F-theo…
We study the loop corrections to potentials of complex or coupled real scalar fields used in cosmology to account for dark energy, dark matter or dark fluid. We show that the SUGRA quintessence and dark matter scalar field potentials are…
With the aim of providing a worldsheet description of the refined topological string, we continue the study of a particular class of higher derivative couplings $F_{g,n}$ in the type II string effective action compactified on a Calabi-Yau…
We derive a sufficient condition for realizing meta-stable de Sitter vacua with small positive cosmological constant within type IIB string theory flux compactifications with spontaneously broken supersymmetry. There are a number of `lamp…
We study the string topology of a closed oriented Riemannian manifold M. We describe a compact moduli space of diagrams, and show how the cellular chain complex of this space gives algebraic operations on the singular chains of the free…
In this talk we report on recent progress in describing compactifications of string theory and M-theory on G_2 and Spin(7) manifolds. We include the infinite set of alpha'-corrections and describe the entire tower of massless and massive…
We examine the structure of higher-derivative string corrections under a cosmological reduction and make connection to generalized geometry and T-duality. We observe that, while the curvature $R^\mu{}_{\nu\rho\sigma}(\Omega_+)$ of the…
We compute the one-loop quantum corrections to the gravitational potentials of a spinning point particle in a de Sitter background, due to the vacuum polarisation induced by conformal fields in an effective field theory approach. We…
We analyse quantum obstructions to classical infinite distance limits in four-dimensional string compactifications with N=1 supersymmetry. Such quantum effects signal a severe departure from the perturbative effective action and can be of…
Non-perturbative corrections and modular properties of four-dimensional type IIB Calabi-Yau orientifolds are discussed. It is shown that certain non-perturbative alpha' corrections survive in the large volume limit of the orientifold and…
The leading long-distance quantum correction to the Newtonian potential for heavy spinless particles is computed in quantum gravity. The potential is obtained directly from the sum of all graviton exchange diagrams contributing to lowest…
We present an explicit calculation of the spectrum of a general class of string models, corresponding to Calabi-Yau flux compactifications with h_{1,2}>h_{1,1}>1 with leading perturbative and non-perturbative corrections, in which all…
We revisit the duality between heterotic string theory compactified on K3 x T^2 and type IIA compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold X in the hypermultiplet sector. We derive an explicit map between the field variables of the respective…
The Coulomb phase of a quantum field theory, when present, illuminates the analysis of its line operators and one-form symmetries. For 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ field theories the low energy physics of this phase is encoded in the special K\"ahler…
In the framework of a recently proposed method for computing exactly string amplitudes regularized in the infra-red, I determine the one-loop correlators for auxiliary fields in the symmetric $Z_2\times Z_2$ orbifold model. The $D$-field…
To establish metastable de Sitter vacua or even just scale-separated AdS, control over perturbative corrections to the string-derived leading-order 4d lagrangian is crucial. Such corrections can be classified in three types: First, there…
We present the computation of threshold functions for Abelian orbifold compactifications. Specifically, starting from the massive, moduli-dependent string spectrum after compactification, we derive the threshold functions as target space…
The moduli in a 4D N=1 heterotic compactification on an elliptic CY, as well as in the dual F-theoretic compactification, break into "base" parameters which are even (under the natural involution of the elliptic curves), and "fiber" or…
We study deformations of closed string theory by primary fields of conformal weight $(1,1)$, using conformal techniques on the complex plane. A canonical surface integral formalism for computing commutators in a non-holomorphic theory is…
We use an exactly solvable (0,2) supersymmetric conformal field theory with gauge group SO(10) to investigate the superpotential of the corresponding classical string vacuum. We provide evidence that the rational point lies in the…
We obtain the vacuum solutions for M-theory compactified on eight-manifolds with non-vanishing four-form flux by analyzing the scalar potential appearing in the three-dimensional theory. Many of these vacua are not supersymmetric and yet…