Related papers: Membrane Limits in Quantum Gravity
The Distance Conjecture states that an infinite tower of modes becomes exponentially light when approaching an infinite distance point in field space. We argue that the inherent path-dependence of this statement can be addressed when…
We consider Z_2-symmetric braneworlds arising from 5-sphere compactifications with 5-form flux in type IIB supergravity. This Kaluza-Klein reduction produces a D=5 theory which supports 1/2-supersymmetric Z_2-symmetric domain-wall…
Standard lore asserts that quantum effects generically forbid the occurrence of light (non-pseudo-Goldstone) scalars having masses smaller than the Kaluza Klein scale, M_KK, in extra-dimensional models, or the gravitino mass, M_3/2, in…
We consider the conditions necessary for obtaining perturbative maximal supergravity in d dimensions as a decoupling limit of type II superstring theory compactified on a (10 -- d)-torus. For dimensions d = 2 and d = 3 it is possible to…
We examine heterotic M-theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold with an additional parallel M5 brane. The dominant non-perturbative effect stems from open membrane instantons connecting the M5 with the boundaries. We derive the…
We analyse quantum obstructions to classical infinite distance limits in four-dimensional string compactifications with N=1 supersymmetry. Such quantum effects signal a severe departure from the perturbative effective action and can be of…
It is shown that the effective five-dimensional theory of the strongly coupled heterotic string is a gauged version of N=1 five-dimensional supergravity with four-dimensional boundaries. For the universal supermultiplets, this theory is…
In this note, we prove that for all five-dimensional supergravities arising from M-theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold, points of vanishing gauge coupling lie at infinite distance in the moduli space. Conversely, any point at…
We introduce a new scenario to solve the hierarchy problem based on $\mathcal{N}=2$, five-dimensional supergravity compactified on Calabi-Yau threefold down from $\mathcal{D}=11$ supergravity. When modeling the universe as a 3-brane…
We analyze the U-duality group for the case of a type II superstring compactified to four dimensions on a K3 surface times a torus. The various limits of this theory are considered which have interpretations as type IIA and IIB…
A topological fact about eleven dimensions is used to motivate a potential new duality in M-theory. We complete the discussion of consistent limits of M-theory raised in a previous paper to include gravitational anomaly cancelation and…
In perturbative quantum field theory the limit of compactification on an almost light-like circle has recently been shown to be plagued by divergences. We argue that the light-like limit for M-theory probably is free of such divergences due…
We study seven-brane SU(5) GUT models of string phenomenology which can be consistently analyzed in a purely local framework. The requirement that gravity can decouple constrains the form of four-dimensional physics as well as the geometry…
We investigate the Kaluza-Klein reductions to ten dimensions of the purely gravitational half-BPS M-theory backgrounds: the M-wave and the Kaluza-Klein monopole. We determine the moduli space of smooth (supersymmetric) Kaluza-Klein…
This thesis explores an exotic class of M-theory compactifications in which the compact manifold is taken to be a Calabi-Yau five-fold. The resulting effective theory is a one-dimensional N=2 super-mechanics model that exhibits peculiar…
We provide evidence that slow roll is not possible in any parametrically controlled regime of the moduli space of string theory. This is proven in full generality in the asymptotic limit of the moduli space of type II and heterotic…
We study cosmological implications of the duality ($PSL(2,{\bf Z})$) invariant potential for the compactification radius $T$, arising in a class of superstring vacua. We show that in spite of having only one minimum in the fundamental…
The conjectured equivalence of the heterotic string to a $K_3$ compactified type IIA superstring is combined with the conjectured equivalence of the latter to a compactified 11-dimensional supermembrane to derive a string membrane duality…
We discuss theories in which the standard-model particles are localized on a brane embedded in space-time with large compact extra dimensions, whereas gravity propagates in the bulk. In addition to the ground state corresponding to a…
We study the topological conditions for general Calabi-Yaus to get a non-supersymmetric AdS exponentially large volume minimum of the scalar potential in flux compactifications of IIB string theory. We show that negative Euler number and…