Related papers: The String Theory Photoverse
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 reconsider the issue of large-volume compactifications of the heterotic string in light of the recent discoveries about strongly-coupled string theories. Our conclusion remains firmly negative with respect to classical compactifications…
The brane world scenario is a new approach to resolve the problem on how to compactify the higher dimensional spacetime to our 4-dimensional world. One of the remarkable features of this scenario is the higher dimensional effects in…
The Standard Model is the low-energy limit of a microscopic theory which includes extra dimensions and new symmetries. A part of my thesis consisted in constructing a new class of models with two extra dimensions. We showed that these…
This is a very brief survey of some results in the geometry of string duality delivered at a lecture given at ICM 1998, Berlin. String Duality is the statement that one kind of string theory compactified on one space is equivalent in some…
String theory provides a compact integral expression for the tree-level scattering amplitude of an arbitrary number of light strings. We focus on amplitudes involving a few tachyons and many photons, with a special choice of polarizations…
In this thesis we study the framework of asymptotic Hodge theory and its applications in both the string landscape and the landscape of 2d integrable field theories. We show how this mathematical framework allows for a general…
Arguably the simplest model of a cosmological singularity in string theory, the Lorentzian orbifold $\Real^{1,1}/boost$ is known to lead to severe divergences in scattering amplitudes of untwisted states, indicating a large backreaction…
We show that the non-gravitational sectors of certain 6d and 5d supergravity theories can be decomposed into superconformal field theories (SCFTs) which are coupled together by pairwise identifying and gauging mutual global symmetries. In…
We argue for the existence of phase transitions in $3+1$ dimensions associated with the appearance of tensionless strings. The massless spectrum of this theory does not contain a graviton: it consists of one $N=2$ vector multiplet and one…
We construct supersymmetric compactifications of E_8 \times E_8 heterotic string theory which realise exactly the massless spectrum of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) at low energies. The starting point is the standard…
We derive type IIB vacua which are very promising to put string theory to experimental test. These are Calabi-Yau compactifications with a 4D fibration over a 2D base. The moduli are fixed in such a way to obtain a very anisotropic…
A model is presented where there exists another U(1) gauge group which is extremely weakly coupled to that of QED except inside the core of domain walls. It is possible to choose parameters such that standard model photons crossing such a…
It is emphasized that compactified little string theories have compact moduli spaces of vacua, which globally probe compact string geometry. Compactifying various little string theories on T^3 leads to 3d theories with exact, quantum…
The Pentagon Model is an explicit supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, which involves a new strongly-interacting SU(5) gauge theory at TeV-scale energies. We discuss embeddings of the Pentagon Model into string theory,…
Flat directions are a generic feature of the scalar potential in supersymmetric gauge field theories. They can arise, for example, from D-terms associated with an extra abelian gauge symmetry. Even when supersymmetry is broken softly, there…
With our current level of understanding, the problem of making string theory predictions is not one of "solving" the theory, but rather of trying to determine whether there are any generic expectations. Within this context, we discuss what…
We investigate the issues of holography and string interactions in the duality between SYM and the pp wave background. We argue that the Penrose diagram of the maximally supersymmetric pp-wave has a one dimensional boundary. This fact…
It is pointed out that there exist a few problems to be overcome toward an observable sub-eV QCD axion in superstring compactification. We give a general expression for the axion decay constant. For a large domain wall number $N_{DW}$, the…
In the first part of this dissertation, we study two different aspects of string phenomenology. First we discuss the complementary signals of low mass superstrings at the proposed electron-positron facilities (ILC and CLIC), in e+e- and…