Related papers: The hyperplane string, RCFTs, and the swampland
Besides the string scale, string theory has no parameter except some quantized flux values; and the string theory Landscape is generated by scanning over discrete values of all the flux parameters present. We propose that a typical…
We consider bound states of strings which arise in 6d (1,0) SCFTs that are realized in F-theory in terms of linear chains of spheres with negative self-intersections 1,2, and 4. These include the strings associated to N small E8 instantons,…
We describe in detail how the spectrum of a single anti-D3-brane in four-dimensional orientifolded IIB string models reproduces precisely the field content of a nilpotent chiral superfield with the only physical component corresponding to…
We give a survey of the present status of the microstate geometries called superstrata. Superstrata are smooth, horizonless solutions of six-dimensional supergravity that represent some of the microstates of the D1-D5-P black hole in string…
We show that almost all string theories, including the bosonic string, the superstring and $W$-string theories, possess a twisted N=2 superconformal symmetry. This enables us to establish a connection between topological gravity and the…
We study non-Abelian vortex strings in four-dimensional (4D) $\mathcal{N} = 2$ supersymmetric QCD with U$(N=2)$ gauge group and $N_f=4$ flavors of quark hypermultiplets. It has been recently shown that these vortices behave as critical…
We construct the first example of a superstratum: a class of smooth horizonless supergravity solutions that are parameterized by arbitrary continuous functions of (at least) two variables and have the same charges as the supersymmetric…
We present two complementary approaches to calculating the 2-point function of stress tensors in the presence of a 1/2 BPS surface defect of the 6d $\mathcal{N} = (2,0)$ theories. First, we use analytical bootstrap techniques at large $N$…
We study the cosmology of a string derived supersymmetric flipped $SU(5)$ model in the context of free-fermionic heterotic constructions that allow full calculability of the effective supergravity in perturbation theory around the fermionic…
A theorem of differential geometry is employed to locally embed a wide class of superstring backgrounds that admit a covariantly constant null Killing vector field in eleven-dimensional, Ricci-flat spaces. Included in this class are exact…
The recent developments towards the possible non-perturbative formulation of string/M theory using supersymmetric Yang-Mills matrix models (SYMs) are discussed. In the first part, we give a critical review on the status of our present…
We explore the geometrical structure of Higgs branches of quantum field theories with 8 supercharges in 3, 4, 5 and 6 dimensions. They are symplectic singularities, and as such admit a decomposition (or foliation) into so-called symplectic…
We compute the macroscopic entropy of the supersymmetric rotating dyonic strings carrying linear momentum in 6D (1,0) supergravity with curvature squared corrections. Our calculation is based on Sen's entropy function formalism applied to…
We consider graviton scattering in maximal supergravity on Anti-de Sitter space (AdS) in $d+1$ dimensions for $d=3,4,\text{and $6$}$ with no extra compact spacetime factor. Holography suggests that this theory is dual to an exotic maximally…
We derive the five-dimensional effective action of strongly coupled heterotic string theory for the complete (1,1) sector of the theory by performing a reduction, on a Calabi-Yau three-fold, of M-theory on S^1/Z_2. A crucial ingredient for…
It appears that string-M-theory is the only viable candidate for a complete theory of matter. It must therefore contain both gravity and QCD. What is particularly surprising is the recent conjecture that strongly coupled QCD matrix elements…
Motivated by Ooguri and Vafa, we study superstrings in flat R^4 in a constant self-dual graviphoton background. The supergravity equations of motion are satisfied in this background which deforms the N=2 d=4 flat space super-Poincare…
We continue the study of heterotic non-Abelian BPS-saturated flux tubes (strings). Previously, such solutions were obtained in U(N) gauge theories: N=2 supersymmetric QCD deformed by superpotential terms \mu A^2 breaking N=2 supersymmetry…
The work in this thesis consists of two distinct parts: A class of models called, ``String-flip potential models,'' (SFP's) are studied as a possible candidate for modeling nuclear matter in terms of constituent quarks. These models are…
We present a new infinite class of non-abelian, 6d supergravities with eight supercharges. These theories not only satisfy all known low-energy consistency conditions, such as being free of anomalies, but also evade the constraints arising…