Related papers: M-Theory and Orientifolds
We study string theory propagating on R^6 times K3 by constructing orientifolds of Type IIB string theory compactified on the T^4/Z_N orbifold limits of the K3 surface. This generalises the Z_2 case studied previously. The orientifold…
We consider an open string version of the topological twist previously proposed for sigma-models with G2 target spaces. We determine the cohomology of open strings states and relate these to geometric deformations of calibrated submanifolds…
Seven-manifolds of G_2 holonomy provide a bridge between M-theory and string theory, via Kaluza-Klein reduction to Calabi-Yau six-manifolds. We find first-order equations for a new family of G_2 metrics D_7, with S^3\times S^3 principal…
We propose an M-theory lift picture of the exchange among type IIA orientifold two-planes. This consists in wrapping a M5-brane on a three-cycle in the transverse space of the M-theory orientifold plane OM2. A flux quantization condition…
We study the worldsheet CFTs of type II strings on compact $G_2$ orbifolds obtained as quotients of a product of a Calabi-Yau threefold and a circle. For such models, we argue that the Calabi-Yau mirror map implies a mirror map for the…
We consider the compactification of type IIB superstring theory on K3 $\times$ K3. We obtain the massless spectrum of the resulting two dimensional theory and show that the model is free of gravitational anomaly. We then consider an…
We construct a novel orientifold of type IIB string theory that breaks all supersymmetries. It is a closed string theory without open sector and it can be understood as a Scherk-Schwarz deformation in which supersymmetry is restored at…
We study various aspects of orientifold projections of Type IIB closed string theory on Gepner points in different dimensions. The open string sector is introduced, in the usual constructive way, in order to cancel RR charges carried by…
The $R^2 F^{2g-2}$ terms of Type IIA strings on Calabi-Yau 3-folds, which are given by the corresponding topological string amplitudes (a worldsheet instanton sum for all genera), are shown to have a simple M-theory interpretation. In…
We consider orientifolds of Calabi-Yau 3-folds in the context of Type IIA and Type IIB superstrings. We show how mirror symmetry can be used to sum up worldsheet instanton contributions to the superpotential for Type IIA superstrings. The…
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 review the geometry of K3 surfaces and then describe this geometry from the point of view of an approximate metric of Gibbons-Hawking form. This metric arises from the M-theory lift of the tree-level supergravity description of type IIA…
A new orientifold of Type-IIB theory on $K3$ is constructed that has $N=1$ supersymmetry in six dimensions. The orientifold symmetry consists of a $Z_2$ involution of $K3$ combined with orientation-reversal on the worldsheet. 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 study the properties of M and F theory compactifications to three and four dimensions with background fluxes. We provide a simple construction of supersymmetric vacua, including some with orientifold descriptions. These vacua, which have…
We show how F-theory on a Calabi-Yau (n+1)-fold, in appropriate limit, can be identified as an orientifold of type IIB string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau n-fold.
We consider M-theory compactification on Calabi-Yau threefolds. The recently discovered connection between the BPS states of wrapped M2 branes and the topological string amplitudes on the threefold is used both as a tool to compute…
We construct a class of geometric twists of Calabi-Yau manifolds of Voisin-Borcea type (K3 x T^2)/Z_2 and study the superpotential in a type IIA orientifold based on this geometry. The twists modify the direct product by fibering the K3…
We study the F-theory uplift of Type IIB orientifold models on compact Calabi-Yau threefolds containing divisors which are del Pezzo surfaces. We consider two examples defined via del Pezzo transitions of the quintic. The first model has an…
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…