Related papers: String Defects, Supersymmetry and the Swampland
We show that stable local cosmic strings are a generic prediction of supersymmetric models where supersymmetry is broken at scales within a few orders of magnitude of the weak scale and is fed down to the observable sector by gauge…
We derive conditions for the existence of four-dimensional \N=1 supersymmetric flux vacua of massive type IIA string theory with general supergravity fluxes turned on. For an SU(3) singlet Killing spinor, we show that such flux vacua exist…
We consider "super no-scale models" in the framework of the heterotic string, where the N=4,2,1 --> 0 spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry is induced by geometrical fluxes realizing a stringy Scherk-Schwarz perturbative mechanism.…
Superstring theories in the critical dimension D=10 are connected to one another by a well-explored web of dualities. In this paper we use closed-string tachyon condensation to connect the supersymmetric moduli space of the critical…
We examine SL(2, Z) anomalies in ten and eight-dimensional supergravities, the induced local counterterms and their realization in string theory. Composite connections play an important role in the cancellation mechanism. At the same time…
It appears that string-M-theory is the only viable candidate for a complete theory of matter. It must therefore contain both gravity and QCD. What is particularly surprising is the recent conjecture that strongly coupled QCD matrix elements…
Warped supergravities with lower-dimensional branes provide consistent field-theoretic framework for discussion of important aspects of modern string theory physics. In particular, it is possible to study reliably supersymmetry breakdown…
We explore the postulates of string no-scale supergravity in the context of free-fermionic string models. The requirements of vanishing vacuum energy, flat directions of the scalar potential, and stable no-scale mechanism impose strong…
We describe three previously unnoticed components of the moduli space of minimally supersymmetric string theories in $d\geq 7$, describing in some detail their spectrum and duality properties. We find a new component in nine and eight…
Using E-strings, we can analyze not only six-dimensional superconformal field theories but also probe vacua of non-perturabative heterotic string. We study strings made of D3-branes wrapped on various two-cycles in the global F-theory…
We consider quiver gauge theories arising on D-branes at simple Calabi-Yau singularities (quotients of the conifold). These theories have metastable supersymmetry breaking vacua. The field theoretic mechanism is basically the one exhibited…
Non-supersymmetric string models are plagued with tadpoles for dynamical fields, which signal uncanceled forces sourced by the vacuum. We argue that in certain cases, uncanceled dynamical tadpoles can lead to inconsistencies with quantum…
We consider a D-brane probe in unstable string background associated with flux branes. The twist in spacetime metric reponsible for the supersymmetry breaking is shown to manifest itself in mixing of open Wilson lines with the phases of…
After a short introduction to Matrix theory, we explain how can one generalize matrix models to describe toroidal compactifications of M-theory and the heterotic vacua with 16 supercharges. This allows us, for the first time in history, to…
"Brane supersymmetry breaking" is a peculiar phenomenon that can occur in perturbative orientifold vacua. It results from the simultaneous presence, in the vacuum, of non-mutually BPS sets of BPS branes and orientifolds, which leave behind…
The four-dimensional superstring solutions define at low energy effective supergravity theories. A class of them extends successfully the validity of the standard model up to the string scale (${\cal O}(10^{17})~TeV$). We stress the…
We show how to construct chiral tachyon-free perturbative orientifold models, where supersymmetry is broken at the string scale on a collection of branes while, to lowest order, the bulk and the other branes are supersymmetric. In higher…
String theory has no parameter except the string scale $M_S$, so the Planck scale $M_\text{Pl}$, the supersymmetry-breaking scale, the EW scale $m_\text{EW}$ as well as the vacuum energy density (cosmological constant) $\Lambda$ are to be…
I briefly summarize a recent research program aiming to probe the landscape of low-energy phases of string theory from a global perspective. Borrowing conceptual lessons from the swampland program, I will discuss how the effective theories…
String theory, if it describes nature, is probably strongly coupled. As a result, one might despair of making any statements about the theory. In the framework of a set of clearly spelled out assumptions, we show that this is not…