Related papers: Open String Axiverse
String theory/M-theory generally predicts that axionic fields with a broad mass spectrum extending below 10^{-10}eV are produced after compactification to four dimensions. These axions/fields provoke a rich variety of cosmophysical…
Wrapped branes in string compactifications introduce a monodromy that extends the field range of individual closed-string axions to beyond the Planck scale. Furthermore, approximate shift symmetries of the system naturally control…
String theory contains sources like orientifold planes that support higher derivative interactions. These interactions make possible static flux compactifications which are forbidden in supergravity. They can also lead to violations of the…
We generalize to the case of compactified superstrings a construction given previously for critical superstrings of finite one loop amplitudes that are well-defined for all external momenta. The novel issues that arise for compactified…
The space-time dimensions transverse to a static straight cosmic string with a sufficiently large tension (supermassive cosmic strings) are compact and typically have a singularity at a finite distance form the core. In this paper, we…
We examine recent claims of a large set of flux compactification solutions of string theory. We conclude that the arguments for AdS solutions are plausible. The analysis of meta-stable dS solutions inevitably leads to situations where long…
We review recent work in which compactifications of string and M theory are constructed in which all scalar fields (moduli) are massive, and supersymmetry is broken with a small positive cosmological constant, features needed to reproduce…
If the QCD axion solves the strong CP problem then light axion-like-particles (ALPs) are expected to be ubiquitous in string theory - the string axiverse. Such ALPs can be the QCD axion and constitute dark matter (DM) or radiation,…
We study the possibility of extended inflation in the effective theory of gravity from strings compactified to four dimensions and find that it strongly depends on the mechanism of supersymmetry breaking. We consider a general class of…
In this paper we initiate a broad study of some central properties of the string axiverse arising from Calabi-Yau compactifications of the perturbative heterotic $E_8\times E_8$ theory. Along this road toward a heterotic axiverse, we…
String theory axions appear to be promising candidates for explaining cosmological constant via quintessence. In this paper, we study conditions on the string compactifications under which axion quintessence can happen. For sufficiently…
The string axiverse predicts a unique connection between the high scales approachable only through theory and the low energies within reach of experimental verification: a multitude of light, feebly interacting axions. In order to capture…
We review several mechanisms for supersymmetry breaking in orientifold models. In particular, we focus on non-supersymmetric open-string realisations that correspond to consistent flat-space solutions of the classical equations of motion.…
We study closed string axions in type IIB orientifold compactifications. We show that for natural values of the background fluxes the moduli stabilisation mechanism of the LARGE Volume Scenario (LVS) gives rise to an axiverse characterised…
Axions, periodic scalar fields coupled to gauge fields through the instanton density, have a rich variety of higher-form global symmetries. These include a two-form global symmetry, which measures the charge of axion strings. As we review,…
We discuss the singularities in the moduli space of string compactifications to six dimensions with $N=1$ supersymmetry. Such singularities arise from either massless particles or non-critical tensionless strings. The points with…
The data of a "2D field theory with a closed string compactification" is an equivariant chain level action of a cell decomposition of the union of all moduli spaces of punctured Riemann surfaces with each component compactified as a…
We study the landscape of axion theories in compactifications of type IIB string theory on orientifolds of Calabi-Yau threefolds. In a sample of approximately 400,000 geometries we find that in the regime of perturbative control there are…
I argue that string creation may have played a role in reheating the universe after inflation. For strings in four dimensions that arise from branes wrapping cycles in the extra dimensions, estimates from effective field theory show that…
The divergences that arise in the regularized partition function for closed bosonic string theory in flat space lead to three types of perturbation series expansions, distinguished by their genus dependence. This classification of…