Related papers: On the Search for Low $W_0$

We discuss the role of Minkowski 3-forms in flux string vacua. In these vacua all internal closed string fluxes are in one to one correspondence with quantized Minkowski 4-forms. By performing a dimensional reduction of the $D=10$ Type II…

We determine all flux vacua with flux numbers $N_{\rm flux}\leq 10$ for a type IIB orientifold-compactification on the mirror-octic three-fold. To achieve this, we develop and apply techniques for performing a complete scan of flux vacua…

We investigate the construction of non-supersymmetric vacua in compactifications of heterotic string theory with intrinsic torsion and background fluxes. We do this by using the technique of domain-wall supersymmetry breaking (DWSB) that…

We initiate the systematic study of flux scalar potentials and their vacua by using asymptotic Hodge theory. To begin with, we consider F-theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau fourfolds with four-form flux. We argue that a classifications…

Based on the flux-scaling scenario we study a model consisting on Type IIB string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold with a frozen complex structure in the presence of generic fluxes. The model contains (meta)stable Minkowski and…

In this thesis we explore the vacua structure of type IIA orientifold (CY) compactifications with fluxes, from the 4d and the 10d point of view. We start by reviewing type IIA Calabi-Yau orientifold compactifications with fluxes. We…

We study warped compactifications of string/M theory with the help of effective potentials, continuing previous work of the last two authors and Michael R. Douglas presented in arXiv:1206.1885. The dynamics of the conformal factor of the…

The recently published GWTC-1 - a journal article summarizing the search for gravitational waves (GWs) from coalescing compact binaries in data produced by the LIGO-Virgo network of ground-based detectors during their first and second…

We attempt to quantify the widely-held belief that large hierarchies induced by strongly-warped geometries are common in the string theory landscape. To this end, we focus on the arguably best-understood subset of vacua -- type IIB…

We show that the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) implies a nontrivial upper bound on the volumes of the minimal-volume cycles in certain homology classes that admit no calibrated representatives. In compactification of type IIB string theory…

We experimentally investigate theoretical predictions of universal impedance fluctuations in wave chaotic systems using a microwave analog of a quantum chaotic infinite square well potential. Our approach emphasizes the use of the radiation…

This article is the PhD thesis of the author. It is focused on Type II compactifications because of the potential for the construction of realistic MSSM-like compactifications. In particular we concentrate in Type IIB Calabi-Yau…

Type IIA flux compactifications with O6-planes have been argued from a four dimensional effective theory point of view to admit stable, moduli free solutions. We discuss in detail the ten dimensional description of such vacua and present…

We summarize and extend our work on flux vacua attractors in generalized compactifications. After reviewing the attractor equations for the heterotic string on SU(3) structure manifolds, we study attractors for N=1 vacua in type IIA/B on…

We perform the Kaluza-Klein reduction of M-theory on warped Calabi-Yau fourfolds with non-trivial four-form flux turned on. The resulting scalar- and superpotential is computed and compared with the superpotential obtained by Gukov, Vafa…

We analyse the vacuum structure of isotropic Z_2 x Z_2 flux compactifications, allowing for a single set of sources. Combining algebraic geometry with supergravity techniques, we are able to classify all vacua for both type IIA and IIB…

We develop a method for constructing metastable de Sitter vacua in N=1 supergravity models describing the no-scale volume moduli sector of Calabi-Yau string compactifications. We consider both heterotic and orientifold models. Our main…

We consider deterministic chaotic models of vacuum fluctuations on a small (quantum gravity) scale. As a suitable small-scale dynamics, nonlinear versions of strings, so-called `chaotic strings' are introduced. These can be used to provide…

It was recently argued that the swampland distance conjecture rules out dS vacua at parametrically large field distances. We point out that this conclusion can in principle be avoided in the presence of large fluxes that are not bounded by…

Previous work on the gravitational-wave background generated in a two-scalar-field cosmological model, in which warm inflation and the dark sector are unified within a single framework, has shown that the resulting spectrum could be…