Related papers: Topological Constraints in the LARGE-Volume Scenar…

Superstring theories are the most promising theories for unified description of all fundamental interactions including gravity. However, these theories are formulated consistently only in 10 spacetime dimensions. Therefore, to connect to…

In type-II string theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau manifolds, topological string theory partition functions give a class of exact F-terms in the four-dimensional effective action. We point out that in the background of constant…

Vacuum compactifications may suffer from instabilities under small perturbations or tunnel effects; both are difficult to analyze. In this paper we consider the issue from a higher-dimensional perspective. We first look at how stability…

We derive highly constraining no-go theorems for classical de Sitter backgrounds of string theory, with parallel sources; this should impact the embedding of cosmological models. We study ten-dimensional vacua of type II supergravities with…

We discuss the properties of massive type IIA flux compactifications. In particular, we investigate in which case one can obtain dS vacua at large volume and small coupling. We support a general discussion of scaling symmetries with the…

Using a 10D lift of non-perturbative volume stabilization in type IIB string theory we study the limitations for obtaining de Sitter vacua. Based on this we find that the simplest KKLT vacua with a single Kahler modulus stabilized by a…

We study compactifications of type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds that are mirror to a subset of the type IIB LARGE-volume models. A combination of flux, alpha' corrections and non-perturbative effects stabilises the moduli in a…

We consider string theory vacua with tadpoles for dynamical fields and uncover universal features of the resulting spacetime-dependent solutions. We argue that the solutions can extend only a finite distance $\Delta$ away in the spacetime…

In Type IIB flux compactification realizing the metastable de Sitter (dS) vacuum, the uplift potential can be generated by $\overline{\rm D3}$-branes at the tip of Klebanov-Strassler throat. Then the uplift potential obeys the scaling law…

We study type IIA string theory compactified on Calabi-Yau fourfolds and heterotic string theory compactified on Calabi-Yau threefolds times a two-torus. We derive the resulting effective theories which have two space-time dimensions and…

In this thesis, we consider heterotic string vacua based on a warped product of a four-dimensional domain wall and a six-dimensional internal manifold preserving only two supercharges. Thus, they correspond to half-BPS states of heterotic…

We perform a systematic search for N=1 Minkowski vacua of type II string theories on compact six-dimensional parallelizable nil- and solvmanifolds (quotients of six-dimensional nilpotent and solvable groups, respectively). Some of these…

Recently it has been conjectured that string theory does not allow for dS vacua or dS extrema. To scrutinize such a conjecture, it is important to study concrete string theory compactifications and spell out their assumptions and potential…

We discuss some topological constraints on Type IIB string theory that cannot be described by elementary characteristic classes. Anomaly cancellation of the worldvolume theory of a D3-brane requires a shifted Dirac quantization condition of…

We study the vacuum structure of compactifications of type II string theories on orientifolds with SU(3)xSU(3) structure. We argue that generalised geometry enables us to treat these non-geometric compactifications using a supergravity…

AdS3 vacua of topologically massive gravity (TMG) have been shown to be perturbatively unstable for all values of the coupling constant except the chiral point \mu l=1. We study the possibility that the warped vacua of TMG, which exist for…

We construct a large new class of de Sitter (and anti de Sitter) vacua of critical string theory from flux compactifications on products of Riemann surfaces. In the construction, the leading effects stabilizing the moduli are perturbative.…

We study novel type IIB compactifications on the T^6/Z_2 orientifold. This geometry arises in the T-dual description of Type I theory on T^6, and one normally introduces 16 space-filling D3-branes to cancel the RR tadpoles. Here, we cancel…

We find de Sitter and flat space solutions with all moduli stabilized in four dimensional supergravity theories derived from the heterotic and type II string theories, and explain how all the previously known obstacles to finding such…

Heterotic toroidal orbifolds are a powerful framework for testing our understanding of string vacua. We review recent advances in heterotic model building, from constructing new vacua to proving novel de Sitter no-go theorems. We also…