Related papers: Six line configurations and string dualities
Eight-dimensional nongeometric heterotic strings were constructed as duals of F-theory on $\Lambda^{1,1}\oplus E_8\oplus E_7$ lattice polarized K3 surfaces by Malmendier and Morrison. We study the structure of the moduli space of this…
We discuss properties of the Seifert form for simple $K3$ singularities, and of the Picard lattices of families of weighted $K3$ surfaces. We study a collection $\mathcal{M}_{(\rho,\,\delta)}$ of $K3$ surfaces polarized by their Picard…
In this work we study the duality between F-theory and the heterotic string beyond the stable degeneration limit in F-theory and large fiber limit in the heterotic theory. Building upon a recent proposal by Clingher-Doran and…
The isometry between the type IV$_6$ and the type II$_4$ hermitian symmetric domains suggests a possible relation between suitable moduli spaces of K3 surfaces of Picard rank $14$ and of polarised abelian $8$-folds with totally definite…
In this paper we consider double covers of the projective space in relation with the problem of extensions of varieties, specifically of extensions of canonical curves to $K3$ surfaces and Fano 3-folds. In particular we consider $K3$…
We study F-theory orientifolds, starting with products of two elliptic curves, but focusing mostly on a family of K3 surfaces, lattice polarized by the rank-17 lattice $\langle 8 \rangle \oplus 2D_8(-1)$, generalizing the family (to which…
We suggest that the (2,0) six dimensional field theory compactified on $S^1\times K3$ is the Matrix model description of both M-theory on $K3$ and the Heterotic string on $T^3$. This proposal is different from existing proposals for the…
We use the mixed-twist construction of Doran and Malmendier to obtain a multi-parameter family of K3 surfaces of Picard rank $\rho \ge 16$. Upon identifying a particular Jacobian elliptic fibration on its general member, we determine the…
For every supersingular $K3$ surface $X$ in characteristic 2, there exists a homogeneous polynomial $G$ of degree 6 such that $X$ is birational to the purely inseparable double cover of a projective plane defined by $w^2=G$. We present an…
We discuss a new perspective on the dualities among seven-dimensional M-theory on elliptically fibered K3 surfaces, eight-dimensional (8D) heterotic strings on $T^2$, and 8D F-theory on elliptic K3 surfaces. There are several distinct…
Let X and Y be supersingular K3 surfaces defined over an algebraically closed field. Suppose that the sum of their Artin invariants is 11. Then there exists a certain duality between their N\'eron-Severi lattices. We investigate geometric…
Nikulin and Vinberg proved that there are only a finite number of lattices of rank $\geq 3$ that are the N\'eron-Severi group of projective K3 surfaces with a finite automorphism group. The aim of this paper is to provide a more geometric…
We review here some aspects of our recent works about the geometric engineering of heterotic little string theories using F-theory. Building on the seminal work by Aspinwall and Morrison as well as Intrilligator and Blum, we solve some…
We propose a new geometric mechanism for naturally realizing unparallel three families of flavors in string theory, using the framework of F-theory. We consider a set of coalesced local 7-branes of a particular Kodaira singularity type and…
F-theory/heterotic duality is formulated in the stable degeneration limit of a K3 fibration on the F-theory side. In this note, we analyze the structure of the stable degeneration limit. We discuss whether stable degeneration exists for…
F-theoretic constructions can alternatively be understood as consequences of certain N = 2 Seiberg-Witten theories via type IIB r D3s probing the quantum corrected orientifold backgrounds. We present four models that come out from such…
We consider the geometry of a general polarized K3 surface $(S,h)$ of genus 16 and its Fourier-Mukai partner $(S',h')$. We prove that $S^{[2]}$ is isomorphic to the moduli space $M_{S'}(2,h',7)$ of stable sheaves with Mukai vector…
We present a systematic study of threefolds fibred by K3 surfaces that are mirror to sextic double planes. There are many parallels between this theory and the theory of elliptic surfaces. We show that the geometry of such threefolds is…
We study in detail the degeneration of K3 to T^4/Z_2. We obtain an explicit embedding of the lattice of collapsed cycles of T^4/Z_2 into the lattice of integral cycles of K3 in two different ways. Our first method exploits the duality to…
We show that the F-theory dual of the heterotic string with unbroken Spin(32)/Z_2 symmetry in eight dimensions can be described in terms of the same polyhedron that can also encode unbroken E_8\times E_8 symmetry. By considering particular…