Related papers: An introduction to conifold transitions
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…
These lecture notes attempt to invite the reader towards the theory of singular foliations, both smooth and holomorphic. In addition to a systematic review of the foundations, and an attempt to put in order examples and several elementary…
We discuss some aspects of F-theory in four dimensions on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfolds which are Calabi-Yau threefold fibrations. A particularly simple class of such manifolds emerges for fourfolds in which the generic…
These informal notes are an expanded version of lectures on the moduli space of elliptic curves given at Zhejiang University in July, 2008. Their goal is to introduce and motivate basic concepts and constructions (such as orbifolds and…
We study aspects of Calabi-Yau four-folds as compactification manifolds of F-theory, using mirror symmetry of toric hypersurfaces. Correlation functions of the topological field theory are determined directly in terms of a natural ring…
We derive an approximate analytic relation between the number of consistent heterotic Calabi-Yau compactifications of string theory with the exact charged matter content of the standard model of particle physics and the topological data of…
These lecture notes provide a pedagogical introduction, with exercises, to the techniques used in attempts to construct vacua with stabilised moduli in string theory. The reader is only assumed to have a basic knowledge of general…
We show that the non-critical $c=1$ string at the self-dual radius is equivalent to topological strings based on the deformation of the conifold singularity of Calabi-Yau threefolds. The Penner sum giving the genus expansion of the free…
This paper is a gentle introduction to some recent results involving the theory of gerbes over orbifolds for topologists, geometers and physicists. We introduce gerbes on manifolds, orbifolds, the Dixmier-Douady class, Beilinson-Deligne…
In this work we explore the physics associated to Calabi-Yau (CY) n-folds that can be described as a fibration in more than one way. Beginning with F-theory vacua in various dimensions, we consider limits/dualities with M-theory, type IIA,…
These are the lecture notes from the 26th Winter School "Geometry and Physics", Czech Republic, Srni, January 14 - 21, 2006. These lectures are an introduction into the realm of generalized geometry based on the tangent plus the cotangent…
These Lectures summarize the relevant material on existent applications of jet manifold techniques to classical and quantum field theory. The following topics are included: 1. Fibre bundles, 2. Jet manifolds, 3. Connections, 4. Lagrangian…
The possibility of having discrete degrees of freedom at singularities associated to `conifolds with discrete torsion' is studied. We find that the field theory of D-brane probes near these singularities is identical to ordinary conifolds,…
The aim of this paper is to analyze some geometric properties of the rigid Calabi--Yau threefold $\mathcal{Z}$ obtained by a quotient of $E^3$, where $E$ is a specific elliptic curve. We describe the cohomology of $\mathcal{Z}$ and give a…
We introduce orbifolds from the classical point of view, using charts, and present orbifold versions of elementary objects from Algebraic Topology, such as the fundamental group, coverings and Euler characteristic; Differential…
Calabi-Yau manifolds are important objects in algebraic geometry and in theoretical physics. A hypothesis of mirror symmetry is that Calabi-Yau manifolds of dimension 3 come in pairs, with the Hodge numbers of one manifold mirroring the…
We briefly review attempts to construct string theories that yield the standard model, concentrating on models with a geometric interpretation. Calabi-Yau compactifications are discussed in the context of both the weakly coupled heterotic…
We review in a pedagogical manner some of the efforts aiming to extend the gauge/gravity correspondence to non-conformal supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions. After giving a general overview, we discuss in detail two specific…
We consider generalized complete intersection manifolds in the product space of projective spaces, and work out useful aspects pertaining to the cohomology of sheaves over them. First, we present and prove a vanishing theorem on the…
We study the structure of string theory flux compactification for a general family of elliptic CY 3-folds. We investigate the locus of the attractor points of the flux compactification in type IIB string theory on the boundary components of…