Related papers: On the stability of open-string orbifold models wi…
Intersecting branes have been the subject of string model building for several years. This work introduces in detail the toroidal and Z_N-orientifolds, where the main discussion employs the picture of intersecting D6-branes. The derivation…
An unambiguous and slice-independent formula for the two-loop superstring measure on moduli space for even spin structure is constructed from first principles. The construction uses the super-period matrix as moduli invariant under…
A scenario of moduli stabilisation based on the interplay between closed and open string sectors is explored in a bottom-up approach. We study N=1 effective supergravities inspired by type IIB orientifold constructions that include…
We study the origins of the five ten-dimensional ``matrix superstring'' theories, supplementing old results with new ones, and find that they all fit into a unified framework. In all cases the matrix definition of the string in the limit of…
We study the four-dimensional effective theory arising from ten-dimensional heterotic supergravity compactified on manifolds with torsion. In particular, given the heterotic superpotential appropriately corrected at $\mathcal{O}(\alpha')$…
In Quantum Gravity (QG), large moduli values lead to towers of exponentially light states, making the QG cut-off field-dependent. In 4D supersymmetric (SUSY) theories, this cut-off is set by the species scale $\Lambda(z_i, \bar{z}_i)$,…
In these lectures, we review the physics of time-dependent orbifolds of string theory, with particular attention to orbifolds of three-dimensional Minkowski space. We discuss the propagation of free particles in the orbifold geometries,…
We review the theory and phenomenology of effective supergravity theories based on orbifold compactifications of the weakly-coupled heterotic string. In particular, we consider theories in which the four-dimensional theory displays target…
Orientable open string theories containing both bosons and fermions without the GSO projection are expected to have the 10 dimensional N=2(A) space-time supersymmetry in a spontaneously broken phase. We study the low-energy theorem for the…
Superstring models describing curved 4-dimensional magnetic flux tube backgrounds are exactly solvable in terms of free fields. We first consider the simplest model of this type (corresponding to `Kaluza-Klein' Melvin background). Its 2d…
We propose correspondences between 4d quantum field theories with N=2,1,0 (super)conformal invariance and Type IIB string theory on various orbifolds. We argue using the spacetime string theory, and check using the beta functions (exactly…
We study string theory on orbifolds in the presence of an antisymmetric constant background field and discuss some of new aspects of the theory. It is shown that the term with the antisymmetric field has a topological nature like a…
A new two dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(0,2)$ Supersymmetric Non-Linear Sigma Model describes the dynamics of internal moduli of the BPS semi-local vortex string supported in four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ SQED. While the core of these…
This thesis is almost entirely devoted to studying string theory backgrounds characterized by simple geometrical and integrability properties. The archetype of this type of system is given by Wess-Zumino-Witten models, describing string…
We discuss type IIB orientifolds with D-branes, and NSNS and RR field strength fluxes, with D-brane sectors leading to open string spectra with non-abelian gauge symmetry and charged chiral fermions. The closed string field strengths…
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 discuss compact four-dimensional Z_N x Z_M type IIB orientifolds. We take a systematic approach to classify the possible models and construct them explicitely. The supersymmetric orientifolds of this type have already been constructed…
A non-supersymmetric ten-dimensional open string theory is constructed as an orbifold of type I string theory, and as an orientifold of the bosonic type B theory. It is purely bosonic, and cancellation of massless tadpoles requires the…
String compactifications with non-abelian gauge fields localized on D-branes, with background NSNS and RR 3-form fluxes, and with non-trivial warp factors, can naturally exist within T-dual versions of type I string theory. We develop a…
Tree-level moduli stabilization via geometric and non-geometric fluxes in type IIB orientifolds on Calabi-Yau manifolds is investigated. The focus is on stable non-supersymmetric minima, where all moduli are fixed except for some massless…