Related papers: A Solution to the Decompactification Problem in Ch…
We study the problem of decoupling of heavy chiral superfields in four-dimensional $N=1$ supersymmetric field theories with Lorentz-invariant and Lorentz-violating higher-derivative terms. We demonstrate that the earlier found effect of…
We construct a general class of chiral four-dimensional string models with Scherk--Schwarz supersymmetry breaking, involving freely acting orbifolds. The basic ingredient is to combine an ordinary supersymmetry-preserving Z_N projection…
We propose a robust supergravity model of dynamical supersymmetry breaking and gauge mediation, and a natural embedding in non-perturbative string theory with D-branes. A chiral field (and its mirror) charged under "anomalous" U(1)'s acts…
In this review article, we present a systematic study of large volume type IIB string compactifications that addresses several interesting issues in string cosmology and string phenomenology within a single string compactification scheme.…
It is well-known that Scherk-Schwarz compactifications in string theory have a tachyon in the closed string spectrum appearing for a critical value of a compact radius. The tachyon can be removed by an appropriate orientifold projection in…
Exact solutions of heterotic string theory corresponding to four-dimensional magnetic black holes in $N=4$ supergravity are described. The solutions describe the black holes in the throat limit, and consist of a tensor product of an $SU(2)$…
The cosmological constant problem is a failure of naturalness and suggests that a fine-tuning mechanism is at work, which may also address the hierarchy problem. An example -- supported by Weinberg's successful prediction of the…
I review the relations between mass scales in various string theories and in M-theory. I discuss physical motivations and possible consistent realizations of large volume compactifications and low string scale. Large longitudinal…
Chiral gauge theories in two dimensions with (0,2) supersymmetry admit a much broader, and more interesting, class of vacuum solutions than their better studied (2,2) counterparts. In this thesis, we will explore some of the possibilities…
Superstring theories in ten dimensions allow spacetime supersymmetry breaking at the string scale at the expense of controlled Minkowski backgrounds. The next-to-maximally symmetric backgrounds, found by Dudas and Mourad, involve a warped…
An intriguing feature of the Standard Model is that the representations of the unbroken gauge symmetries are vector-like whereas those of the spontaneously broken gauge symmetries are chiral. Here we provide a toy model which shows that a…
Chiral gauge theories in two dimensions with (0,2) supersymmetry are central in the study of string compactifications. Remarkably little is known about generic (0,2) theories. We consider theories with branches on which multiplets with a…
Generalised Scherk-Schwarz reductions in which compactification on a circle is accompanied by a twist with an element of a global symmetry G typically lead to gauged supergravities and are classified by the monodromy matrices, up to…
We study large dimensions and low string scale in four-dimensional compactifications of type II theories of closed strings at weak coupling. We find that the fundamental string scale, together with all compact dimensions, can be at the TeV,…
We discuss the unification of gauge couplings within the framework of a wide class of realistic free-fermionic string models which have appeared in the literature, including the flipped SU(5), SO(6)xSO(4), and various SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1)…
We investigate the infinite-distance properties of families of unstable flux vacua in string theory with broken supersymmetry. To this end, we employ a generalized notion of distance in the moduli space and we build a holographic…
We study the connection between $N=2$ supersymmetry and a topological bound in a two-Higgs-doublet system with an $SU(2)\times U(1)_Y\times U(1)_{Y^{\prime}}$ gauge group. We derive the Bogomol'nyi equations from supersymmetry…
We argue that supersymmetry breaking by gaugino condensation in the strongly coupled heterotic string can be described by an analogue of Scherk-Schwarz compactification on the eleventh dimension in M-theory. The M-theory scale is identified…
We compute one-loop threshold corrections to non-abelian gauge couplings in four-dimensional heterotic vacua with spontaneously broken $\cal N = 2 \to \cal N = 0$ supersymmetry, obtained as Scherk-Schwarz reductions of six-dimensional K3…
The possible existence of an exponentially large number of vacua in string theory behooves one to consider possibilities beyond our traditional notions of naturalness. Such an approach to electroweak physics was recently used in "Split…