Related papers: From Type II string theory towards BSM/dark sector…
In this paper, we study the implementation of brane worlds in type II string theory. Starting with the NS/NS sector of type II string, we first compactify the $(D+d_{+} + d_{-})$-dimensional spacetime, and reduce the corresponding action to…
We show how the topological string partition function, which is known to capture the degeneracies of a gas of BPS spinning M2-branes in M-theory compactified to 5 dimensions, is related to a 4-dimensional D-brane system that consists of…
We study five-dimensional minimally supersymmetric gauge theory compactified on a torus down to three dimensions, and its embedding into string/M-theory using geometric engineering. The moduli space on the Coulomb branch is hyperkaehler…
Warped string compactifications are central to many attempts to stabilize moduli and connect string theory with cosmology and particle phenomenology. We present a first-principles derivation of the low-energy 4D effective theory from…
We discuss the singularities in the moduli space of string compactifications to six dimensions with $N=1$ supersymmetry. Such singularities arise from either massless particles or non-critical tensionless strings. The points with…
We study the realization of non-Abelian discrete gauge symmetries in 4d field theory and string theory compactifications. The underlying structure generalizes the Abelian case, and follows from the interplay between gaugings of non-Abelian…
This review article provides a pedagogical introduction into various classes of chiral string compactifications to four dimensions with D-branes and fluxes. The main concern is to provide all necessary technical tools to explicitly…
We consider discrete gauge symmetries in D dimensions arising as remnants of broken continuous gauge symmetries carried by general antisymmetric tensor fields, rather than by standard 1-forms. The lagrangian for such a general ${\bf Z}_p$…
In this article, which is based on the first part of my PhD thesis, I review the statistics of the open string sector in T^6/(Z_2xZ_2) orientifold compactifications of the type IIA string. After an introduction to the orientifold setup, I…
We propose a manifestly U-duality invariant modular form for the D^4 R^4 interaction in type IIB string theory compactified on T^2. It receives perturbative contributions upto two loops, and non-perturbative contributions from D-instantons…
Axions, grand unification, and string theory are each compelling extensions of the Standard Model. We show that combining these frameworks imposes strong constraints on the QCD axion mass. Using unitarity arguments and explicit string…
In the modified measure formulation string or branes the tension appear as an additional dynamical degree of freedom . Furthermore in the presence of an additional background scalar field that couples to the strings and locally changes the…
I investigate two discrete models of random geometries, namely simplicial quantum gravity and quantum string theory. In four-dimensional simplicial quantum gravity, I show that the addition of matter gauge fields to the model is capable of…
String theory has been claimed to give rise to natural fuzzy dark matter candidates in the form of ultralight axions. In this paper we revisit this claim by a detailed study of how moduli stabilisation affects the masses and decay constants…
We review recent progress in the construction of four-dimensional vacua of Type II string theory and F-theory which yield the Standard Model of particle physics (SM) or extensions thereof. In Type II orientifold compactifications the SM…
A mechanism for addressing the 'decompactification problem' is proposed, which consists of balancing the vacuum energy in Scherk-Schwarzed theories against contributions coming from non- perturbative physics. Universality of threshold…
In this dissertation, we study various aspects of type IIB string theory compactified on freely acting orbifolds. We focus particularly on asymmetric orbifolds, which are examples of non-geometric string compactifications and constitute an…
Type IIB strings compactified on K3 have a rich structure of solitonic strings, transforming under SO(21,5,Z). We derive the BPS tension formula for these strings, and discuss their properties, in particular, the points in the moduli space…
The low-momentum expansion of the two-loop four-graviton scattering amplitude in eleven-dimensional supergravity compactified on a circle and a two-torus is considered up to terms of order S^6R^4 (where S is a Mandelstam invariant and R is…
We study the compactification of the $(2,0)$ and type-II little-string theories on $S^1$, $T^2$ and $T^3$ with an R-symmetry twist that preserves half the supersymmetry. We argue that it produces the same moduli spaces of vacua as…