Related papers: Charting the Complex Structure Landscape of F-theo…
Phase transitions are studied in $M$-theory and $F$-theory. In $M$-theory compactification to five dimensions on a Calabi-Yau, there are topology-changing transitions similar to those seen in conformal field theory, but the non-geometrical…
The study of the geometry of Calabi-Yau fourfolds is relevant for compactifications of string theory, M-theory, and F-theory to various dimensions. In the first part of this thesis, we study the action of mirror symmetry on two-dimensional…
This paper contains a preliminary study of the monodromy of certain fourth order differential equations, that were called of Calabi-Yau type in math.NT/0402386. Some of these equations can be interpreted as the Picard-Fuchs equations of a…
The four-form field strength in F-theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau fourfolds takes its value in the middle cohomology group $H^4$. The middle cohomology is decomposed into a vertical, a horizontal and a remaining component, all three…
Branches of moduli space of F-theory in four dimensions are investigated. The transition between two branches is described as a 3-brane-instanton transition on a 7-brane. A dual heterotic picture of the transition is presented and the…
In four-dimensional F-theory compactifications with N=1 supersymmetry the fields describing the dynamics of space-time filling 7-branes are part of the complex structure moduli space of the internal Calabi-Yau fourfold. We explicitly…
We study periods in an integral basis near all possible singularities in one-dimensional complex structure moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau threefolds. Near large complex structure points these asymptotic periods are well understood in terms of…
We give a short review of a large class of warped string geometries, obtained via F-theory compactified on Calabi-Yau fourfolds, that upon reduction to 5 dimensions give consistent supersymmetric realizations of the RS compactification…
We construct compact examples of D-manifolds for type IIB strings. The construction has a natural interpretation in terms of compactification of a 12 dimensional `F-theory'. We provide evidence for a more natural reformulation of type IIB…
In this work we consider quotients of elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds by freely acting discrete groups and the associated physics of F-theory compactifications on such backgrounds. The process of quotienting a Calabi-Yau geometry…
We consider topology changing transitions for M-theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau fourfolds with background G-flux. The local geometry of the transition is generically a genus g curve of conifold singularities, which engineers a 3d…
We show how an F-theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau (n+1)-fold in appropriate weak coupling limit reduces formally to an orientifold of type IIB theory compactified on an auxiliary complex n-fold. In some cases (but not always) if the…
We investigate topological properties of Calabi-Yau fourfolds and consider a wide class of explicit constructions in weighted projective spaces and, more generally, toric varieties. Divisors which lead to a non-perturbative superpotential…
The aim of this article is to report on recent progress in understanding mirror symmetry for some non-complete intersection Calabi-Yau threefolds. We first construct four new smooth non-complete intersection Calabi-Yau threefolds with…
We construct decomposed spectral covers for bundles on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds whose structure groups are S(U(1) x U(4)), S(U(2) x U(3)) and S(U(1) x U(1) x U(3)) in heterotic string compactifications. The decomposition…
In this paper, we reconsider the study of five-dimensional supersymmetric black branes in the context of the M-theory compactification on a special Calabi-Yau manifold called tetra-quadric, being realized as complete intersections of…
We compactify $M$-theory on a Calabi-Yau manifold to five dimensions by wrapping the membrane and fivebrane solitons of the eleven-dimensional supergravity limit around Calabi-Yau two-cycles and four-cycles respectively. We identify the…
Using ``Tate's algorithm,'' we identify loci in the moduli of F-theory compactifications corresponding to enhanced gauge symmetry. We apply this to test the proposed F-theory/heterotic dualities in six dimensions. We recover the…
In the framework of heterotic M-theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold 'times' an interval, the relation between geometry and four-flux is derived {\it beyond first order}. Besides the case with general flux which cannot be described…
Within the framework of the cosmological theory of the Big Bang, F-theory that unifies all four types of fundamental interactions is represented. Among the most exciting predictions of physics beyond the Standard Model is the assumption of…