Related papers: Rankin-Selberg methods for closed strings on orbif…
We discuss some Z_N^L x Z_N^R orbifold compactifications of the type IIB superstring to D= 4,6 dimensions and their type I descendants. Although the Z_N^L x Z_N^R generators act asymmetrically on the chiral string modes, they result into…
We adapt ``string-inspired'' worldline techniques to one-loop calculations on orbifolds, in particular on the $S^1/Z_2$ orbifold. Our method also allows for the treatment of brane-localized terms, or bulk-brane couplings. For demonstration,…
We investigate deformations of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ orbifold singularities on the toroidal orbifold $T^6/(\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_6)$ with discrete torsion in the framework of Type IIA orientifold model building with intersecting D6-branes…
We construct a novel orientifold of type IIB string theory that breaks all supersymmetries. It is a closed string theory without open sector and it can be understood as a Scherk-Schwarz deformation in which supersymmetry is restored at…
The overarching goal of this thesis was to develop categorical methods that connect enumerative geometry, as studied in mirror symmetry, with large $N$ gauge theories. In the first part, we established a relation between graph complexes,…
We investigate in the simplest compact D=4 N=1 Type IIB orientifold models the sigma-model symmetry suggested by the proposed duality of these models to heterotic orbifold vacua. This symmetry is known to be present at the classical level,…
Extending the seminal work of Bilal and Gervais, we construct a tachyon-free, modular invariant partition function for critical superstrings on four-dimensional Minkowski x two-dimensional black hole. This model may be thought of as an…
We propose a new family of matrix models whose 1/N expansion captures the all-genus topological string on toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. These matrix models are constructed from the trace class operators appearing in the quantization of the…
We study one-loop, moduli-dependent corrections to gauge and gravitational couplings in supersymmetric vacua of the heterotic string. By exploiting their relation to the integrability condition for the associated CP-odd couplings, we derive…
Non-Abelian toroidal heterotic orbifolds have received comparatively little attention, mainly because of the significant computational challenges they pose, even at the level of computing their matter spectrum. Similarly, the SO(32)…
We relate one-loop scattering amplitudes of massless open- and closed-string states at the level of their low-energy expansion. The modular graph functions resulting from integration over closed-string punctures are observed to follow from…
Most of the massive states in superstring theory are expected to undergo mass renormalization at one loop order. Typically these corrections should contain imaginary parts, indicating that the states are unstable against decay into lighter…
We embed the large N Chern-Simons/topological string duality in ordinary superstrings. This corresponds to a large $N$ duality between generalized gauge systems with N=1 supersymmetry in 4 dimensions and superstrings propagating on…
A general method is presented to unfold band structures of first-principles super-cell calculations with proper spectral weight, allowing easier visualization of the electronic structure and the degree of broken translational symmetry. The…
Generalised Eisenstein series are non-holomorphic modular invariant functions of a complex variable, $\tau$, subject to a particular inhomogeneous Laplace eigenvalue equation on the hyperbolic upper-half $\tau$-plane. Two infinite classes…
We study rigidly rotating and pulsating strings in the background of a 1+1 dimensional intersection of two orthogonal stacks of fivebranes in type IIB string theory by using the Neumann-Rosochatius (NR) model. Starting with the Polyakov…
We study the dynamics of type I strings on Melvin backgrounds, with a single or multiple twisted two-planes. We construct two inequivalent types of orientifold models that correspond to (non-compact) irrational versions of Scherk-Schwarz…
We use a moduli space exploration algorithm to produce a complete list of maximally enhanced gauge groups that are realized in the heterotic string in 7d, encompassing the usual Narain component, and five other components with rank…
The free string spectrum is highly degenerate, with a degeneracy that grows exponentially with the mass. Turning on a non-vanishing string coupling $g_s$ introduces interactions, rendering massive string states unstable and allowing them to…
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…