Related papers: String Theory clues for the low-$\ell$ CMB ?
We study the non-linearly realized spontaneously broken supersymmetry of the (anti-)D3-brane action in type IIB string theory. The worldvolume fields are one vector $A_\mu$, three complex scalars $\phi^i$ and four 4d fermions $\lambda^0$,…
We investigate mechanisms that can trigger supersymmetry breaking in open string vacua. The focus is on backgrounds with D-branes and orientifold planes that have an exact string description, and allow to study some of the quantum effects…
We construct new string vacua featuring Brane Supersymmetry Breaking, based on $T^4/\mathbb{Z}_N$ orientifolds with $\text{O}5_+$ planes and $\overline{\text{D}5}$ branes. Differently from the original construction, in these vacua the…
We discuss supersymmetry breaking via 3-form fluxes in chiral supersymmetric type IIB orientifold vacua with D3- and D7-branes. After a general discussion of possible choices of fluxes allowing for stabilizing of a part of the moduli, we…
The first part of this thesis is a general introduction to the bosonic and fermionic string theory, to the concept of D brane and to string dualities. A discussion of anomalies cancellation closes the chapter. The second part of the thesis…
We discuss novel properties of the string field and the Open String Field Theory action arising in a system with multiple D-branes, then use the level truncation scheme to study marginal deformations and tachyon condensation in a system…
This paper addresses several unsettled issues associated with string creation in systems of orthogonal Dp-D(8-p) branes. The interaction between the branes can be understood either from the closed string or open string picture. In the…
We investigate a static, cylindrically symmetric cosmic string on the brane without a perturbative approximation. We find there could be a (large) enhancement of the (effective) string tension when the energy density at the center of the…
Brane inflation in superstring theory ends when branes collide, initiating the hot big bang. Cosmic superstrings are produced during the brane collision. The cosmic superstrings produced in a D3-brane-antibrane inflationary scenario have a…
Four-dimensional supersymmetric SU(N) Yang-Mills theory on a sphere has highly charged baryon-like states built from anti-symmetric combinations of the adjoint scalars. We show that these states, which are equivalently described as holes in…
We propose a bottom-up approach to the building of particle physics models from string theory. Our building blocks are Type II D-branes which we combine appropriately to reproduce desirable features of a particle theory model: 1) Chirality…
In a simple reanalysis of the KKLMMT scenario, we argue that the slow roll condition in the D3-anti-D3-brane inflationary scenario in superstring theory requires no more than a moderate tuning. The cosmic string tension is very sensitive to…
The recent discovery of B-mode polarizations in the CMB by the BICEP2 collaboration motivates the study of large-field inflation models which can naturally lead to significant tensor-to-scalar ratios. A class of such models in string theory…
We describe a simple mechanism that can lead to inflation within string-based brane-world scenarios. The idea is to start from a supersymmetric configuration with two parallel static Dp-branes, and slightly break the supersymmetry…
We study a three-dimensional gauge theory obtained from the dimensional reduction of a D4-brane worldvolume theory in the background of space-time moduli. An SL(3) symmetry in this theory, which acts on fields as well as coupling constants,…
In the context of a toy model we discuss the phenomenon of colliding five-branes, with two of the extra space dimensions compactified on tori. In one of the branes (hidden world) the torus is magnetised. Assuming opposite-tension branes, we…
Starting from the non-supersymmetric, tachyon-free orientifold of type 0 string theory, we construct four-dimensional brane world models with D6-branes intersecting at angles on internal tori. They support phenomenologically interesting…
We consider freely acting orbifold compactifications, which interpolate in two possible decompactification limits between the supersymmetric type II string and the non-supersymmetric type 0 string. In particular we discuss how D-branes are…
We study supersymmetry breaking by Scherk-Schwarz compactifications in type I string theory. While in the gravitational sector all mass splittings are proportional to a (large) compactification radius, supersymmetry remains unbroken for the…
Branes are ubiquitous elements of any low-energy limit of string theory. We point out that negative tension branes violate all the standard energy conditions of the higher-dimensional spacetime they are embedded in; this opens the door to…