Related papers: Heterotic/type II Duality and Non-Geometric Compac…
Compactifications of the physical superstring to two dimensions provide a general template for realizing 2D conformal field theories coupled to worldsheet gravity, i.e. non-critical string theories. Motivated by this observation, in this…
We investigate the connections between four-dimensional, N=2 M-theory vacua constructed as orbifolds of type II, heterotic, and type I strings. All these models have the same massless spectrum, which contains an equal number of vector…
This thesis addresses three problems arising in type II string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold. In the first one we study the hypermultiplet moduli space (HM), by working on its twistor space. Using data derived via mirror…
A class of abelian fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds X_{m,n} is shown yield SU(2) structure, in addition to the standard SU(3) holonomy. Compactification of type II string theory on a manifold in this class give a 4D effective supergravity…
Type II string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold, with a singularity modeled by a hypersurface in an orbifold, is considered. In the limit of vanishing string coupling, one expects a non gravitational theory concentrated at the…
We study the hypermultiplet moduli space of the type II string compactified on a Calabi-Yau space $\bX$. We do this by using IIA/IIB duality in a compactification of the same theory on $\bX\times \bS ^1$ and by using recent results on three…
We briefly review attempts to construct string theories that yield the standard model, concentrating on models with a geometric interpretation. Calabi-Yau compactifications are discussed in the context of both the weakly coupled heterotic…
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…
We continue our study of heterotic compactifications on non-Kahler complex manifolds with torsion. We give further evidence of the consistency of the six-dimensional manifold presented earlier and discuss the anomaly cancellation and…
Compactifications of the heterotic string with NS flux normally require non Calabi-Yau internal spaces which are complex but no longer K\"ahler. We point out that this conclusion rests on the assumption of a maximally symmetric…
F-theory compactified on singular, elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau five-folds gives rise to two-dimensional gauge theories preserving N=(0,2) supersymmetry. In this paper we initiate the study of such compactifications and determine the…
F-theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau fivefolds give rise to two-dimensional N=(0,2) supersymmetric field theories coupled to gravity. We explore the dilaton supergravity defined by the moduli sector of such compactifications. The…
We review the Kaluza-Klein reduction of Type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau fourfolds and apply mirror symmetry to the resulting two-dimensional $ \mathcal{N}=(2,2) $ effective theories. In the course of the reduction we focus especially…
We study compactifications of type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds that are mirror to a subset of the type IIB LARGE-volume models. A combination of flux, alpha' corrections and non-perturbative effects stabilises the moduli in a…
We describe a new kind of transition between topologically distinct $N=2$ type II Calabi--Yau vacua through points with enhanced non-abelian gauge symmetries together with fundamental charged matter hypermultiplets. We connect the…
We consider special geometry of the vector multiplet moduli space in compactifications of the heterotic string on $K3 \times T^2$ or the type IIA string on $K3$-fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds. In particular, we construct a modified dilaton…
Recently, at least 50 million of novel examples of compact $G_2$ holonomy manifolds have been constructed as twisted connected sums of asymptotically cylindrical Calabi-Yau threefolds. The purpose of this paper is to study mirror symmetry…
We discuss the duality between two type I compactifications to four dimensions and an heterotic construction with spontaneous breaking of the N=4 supersymmetry to N=2. This duality allows us to gain insight into the non-perturbative…
We study heterotic Calabi--Yau compactifications with NSNS three-form flux in view of moduli stabilisation and investigate whether the value $|W_0|$ of the flux superpotential evaluated at supersymmetric minima can be small. Unlike in type…
Moduli stabilisation in superstring compactifications on Calabi-Yau orientifolds remains a key challenge in the search for realistic string vacua. In particular, odd moduli arising from the reduction of 2-forms $(B_2,C_2)$ in type IIB are…