Related papers: de Sitter extrema and the swampland
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…
We study string loop corrections to the gravity kinetic terms in type IIB compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds or their orbifold limits, in the presence of $D7$-branes and orientifold planes. We show that they exhibit in general a…
Nonvanishing tadpoles and possible infinities associated in the multiparticle amplitudes are discussed with regard to the disk and $RP^{2}$ diagrams of the Type I' compactification. We find that the infinity cancellation of $SO(32)$ type…
We show how non-trivial form fields can induce an effective potential for the dilaton and metric moduli in compactifications of type II string theory and M-theory. For particular configurations, the potential can have a stable minimum. In…
This is a very brief survey of some results in the geometry of string duality delivered at a lecture given at ICM 1998, Berlin. String Duality is the statement that one kind of string theory compactified on one space is equivalent in some…
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…
We elaborate on recent results regarding the self-consistency of de Sitter vacua in the LARGE-volume scenario of type IIB string theory. In particular, we analyze to what extent the control over warping, curvature and $g_s$ corrections…
We show that type I string theory compactified in four dimensions in the presence of constant internal magnetic fields possesses N=1 supersymmetric vacua, in which all Kahler class and complex structure closed string moduli are fixed.…
In this work, we investigate the existence of string theory solutions with a $d$-dimensional (quasi-) de Sitter spacetime, for $3 \leq d \leq 10$. Considering classical compactifications, we derive no-go theorems valid for general $d$. We…
In order for string theory to be made compatible with the low-energy observations of a positive cosmological constant, there have been attempts to construct dS vacua in string theory which are particularly difficult to realize. Instead of…
We investigate the existence of dS vacua in supersymmetry-breaking Scherk-Schwarz toroidal compactifications of type II string theory, using the well-understood ingredients of curvature, fluxes and 1-loop Casimir energy. Starting from the…
In this thesis we study compactifications of type II string theories and M-theory to four dimensions. We construct the four-dimensional N=2 supergravities that arise from compactifications of type IIA string theory and M-theory on manifolds…
We consider the torus compactifications with flux of a class of $6d$ $(1,0)$ SCFTs that can be engineered as the low-energy theories on M$5$-branes near an M$9$-plane on a $C^2/Z_2$ singularity. Specifically, we concentrate on the two SCFTs…
This talk begins with some history and basic facts about string theory and its connections with strong interactions. Comparisons of stacks of Dirichlet branes with curved backgrounds produced by them are used to motivate the AdS/CFT…
We study limits of four-dimensional type II Calabi-Yau compactifications with vanishing four-cycle singularities, which are dual to $\IT^2$ compactifications of the six-dimensional non-critical string with $E_8$ symmetry. We define proper…
Within the ongoing debate about de Sitter (dS) vacua in string theory, different aspects of explicit dS proposals have come under intense scrutiny. One key ingredient is D7-brane gaugino condensation, which is usually treated using…
This article reviews recent work with M.R.Douglas and B. Shiffman on statistics of vacua in type IIb flux compactions of string/M theory.
We argue for the existence of bounds on the tensions of $p$-branes in de Sitter space in terms of the Hubble rate and the strength of a class of Chern-Simons-like couplings. The world-volume couplings involve Abelian 1-form gauge fields in…
We introduce a new class of non-compact backgrounds of Type IIB string theory preserving eight supercharges by combining S-folds and non-perturbative 7-branes wrapping orbifolds, and study the four-dimensional superconformal field theories…
We generalize to the case of compactified superstrings a construction given previously for critical superstrings of finite one loop amplitudes that are well-defined for all external momenta. The novel issues that arise for compactified…