Related papers: Worldsheet instantons and coupling selection rules…
The capability of string theories to reproduce at low energy the observed pattern of quark and lepton masses and mixing angles is examined, focusing the attention on orbifold constructions, where the magnitude of Yukawa couplings depends on…
Recent work has provided a direct string calculation of the internal coordinate dependence of gauge field tadpoles on the orbifold C^3/Z_3. We investigate the structure of these profiles in momentum and coordinate space representations…
It is well-known that heterotic string compactifications have, in spite of their conceptual simplicity and aesthetic appeal, a serious problem with precision gauge coupling unification in the perturbative regime of string theory. Using both…
Calabi--Yau compactifications of the $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic string provide a promising route to recovering the four-dimensional particle physics described by the Standard Model. While the topology of the Calabi--Yau space determines the…
Even at tree level, the first quantized string theory suffers from apparent short distance singularities associated with collision of vertex operators that prevent us from straightforward numerical computation of various quantities.…
We briefly review attempts to construct string theories that yield the standard model, concentrating on models with a geometric interpretation. Calabi-Yau compactifications are discussed in the context of both the weakly coupled heterotic…
We consider string theory in a time dependent orbifold with a null singularity. The singularity separates a contracting universe from an expanding universe, thus constituting a big crunch followed by a big bang. We quantize the theory both…
We derive the precise relation between level matching condition and fractional instanton numbers in six dimensional, abelian and supersymmetric orbifolds of E8 x E8 heterotic string theory. The fractional part of the two E8 instanton…
We discuss a string model where a conformal four-dimensional N=2 gauge theory receives corrections to its gauge kinetic functions from "stringy" instantons. These contributions are explicitly evaluated by exploiting the localization…
We study some properties of target space strings constructed from (2,1) heterotic strings. We argue that world-sheet complexification is a general property of the bosonic sector of such target world-sheets. We give a target space…
Using heterotic/type II string duality, we obtain exact nonperturbative results for the point particle limit (alpha' -> 0) of some particular four dimensional, N=2 supersymmetric compactifications of heterotic strings. This allows us to…
Type IIA string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold has a hypermultiplet moduli space whose metric is known to receive non-perturbative corrections from Euclidean D2-branes wrapped on 3-cycles. These corrections have been computed…
In this paper we shall describe some correlation function computations in perturbative heterotic strings that, for example, in certain circumstances can lend themselves to a heterotic generalization of quantum cohomology calculations.…
We consider heterotic string compactifications to four dimensions when instantons shrink to zero size. If the standard model gauge group originates from the new gauge symmetry associated with the small instantons singularity, then the…
Orbifold compactification of heterotic E8 x E8 string theory is a source for promising grand unified model building. It can accommodate the successful aspects of grand unification while avoiding problems like doublet-triplet splitting in…
We analyze a class of dual pairs of heterotic and type I models based on freely-acting $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ orbifolds in four dimensions. Using the adiabatic argument, it is possible to calculate non-perturbative contributions…
The 1/8 BPS $D^6\mathcal{R}^4$ coupling in type II string theory compactified on $T^2$ receives contributions from worldsheet instantons and anti-instantons wrapping the $T^2$, up to genus three in string perturbation theory. These involve…
We consider world-sheet instanton effects in N=1 string orientifolds of noncompact toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. We show that unoriented closed string topological amplitudes can be exactly computed using localization techniques for…
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 review extensions by integer spin simple currents in two-dimensional conformal field theories and their applications in string theory. In particular, we study the problem of resolving the fixed points of a simple current and apply the…