Related papers: The Small $E_8$ Instanton and the Kraft Procesi Tr…
We construct maximal supergravity in five-dimensions by 'oxidizing' the four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=8$ theory. The relevant symmetries, the unitary symplectic group $USp(8)$ and the exceptional group $E_6$, are both presented in…
We present an economical theory of natural electroweak symmetry breaking, generalizing an approach based on deconstruction. This theory is the smallest extension of the Standard Model to date that stabilizes the electroweak scale with a…
A fully realistic unified theory is constructed, with SU(5) gauge symmetry and supersymmetry both broken by boundary conditions in a fifth dimension. Despite the local explicit breaking of SU(5) at a boundary of the dimension, the large…
We argue that $\mathcal N=8$ supergravity in four dimensions exhibits an exceptional $E_{8(8)}$ symmetry, enhanced from the known $E_{7(7)}$ invariance. Our procedure to demonstrate this involves dimensional reduction of the $\mathcal N=8$…
Recent LHC data, together with the electroweak naturalness argument, suggest that the top squarks may be significantly lighter than the other sfermions. We present supersymmetric models in which such a split spectrum is obtained through…
We discuss the phase transition in 3+1 dimensional lambda Phi^4 theory from a very physical perspective. The particles of the symmetric phase (`phions') interact via a hard-core repulsion and an induced, long-range -1/r^3 attraction. If the…
The triviality Higgs mass bound is studied {\it without} lattice regulator in the spontaneously broken phase of the four dimensional O(4) symmetric scalar field theory with quartic self-interaction. A higher derivative term is introduced in…
We construct supersymmetric theories in which the correct scale for electroweak symmetry breaking is obtained without significant fine-tuning. We calculate the fine-tuning parameter for these theories to be at the 20% level, which is…
A five dimensional supersymmetric model is constructed which reduces to the one Higgs-doublet standard model at low energies. The radiative correction to the Higgs potential is finite and calculable, allowing the Higgs mass prediction of…
The product of two N=8 supersingletons yields an infinite tower of massless states of higher spin in four dimensional anti de Sitter space. All the states with spin s > 1/2 correspond to generators of Vasiliev's super higher spin algebra…
The phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking admits a physical interpretation in terms of the Bose-condensation process of elementary spinless quanta. In a cutoff theory, this leads to a picture of the vacuum as a condensed medium whose…
We consider supersymmetric gauge theories with impurities in various dimensions. These systems arise in the study of intersecting branes. Unlike conventional gauge theories, the Higgs branch of an impurity theory can have compact…
We recast spinful superconductivity as a \textit{quaternion field theory}, where a quaternion is a four-component hypercomplex number with units $(\boldsymbol{e}_x,\boldsymbol{e}_y,\boldsymbol{e}_z)$, that encodes the spin-singlet/triplet…
M-theory geometric engineering on manifolds of special holonomy yields a rich class of novel field theories. In this paper, we construct new 3d $\mathcal{N}=2^{\ast}$ and $\mathcal{N}=4^{\ast}$ gauge theories, realized as mass-deformations…
We study $4D$ $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal field theories that arise as the compactification of the six-dimensional $(2,0)$ theory of type $E_6$ on a punctured Riemann surface in the presence of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ outer-automorphism twists.…
The conventional supersymmetric grand unified theories suffer from two serious problems, the large mass splitting between doublet and triplet Higgs multiplets, and the too long lifetime of the proton. A unification model based on a…
This paper contains two results of independent interest, the first being more mathematical in nature whereas the second more physical. We first show that the hierarchy of Higgs branch RG flows between the 6d $(1,0)$ SCFTs known as A-type…
We consider hidden sector supersymmetry breakdown in the strongly coupled heterotic $E_8\times E_8$ theory of Ho\v{r}ava and Witten. Using effective field theory methods in four dimensions, we can show that gravitational interactions induce…
If low-energy supersymmetry is realized in nature, a seemingly contrived hierarchy in the squark mass spectrum appears to be required. We show that composite supersymmetric theories at the bottom of the conformal window can automatically…
In this article, a theoretical description of the "ideal glass transition" is approached upon the adoption of a quaternion orientational order parameter. Unlike first-order phase transitions of liquids into crystalline solid states, glass…