Related papers: Supergravity from the Weakly Coupled Heterotic Str…
The ground state of string theory may lie at a point of ``maximally enhanced symmetry", at which all of the moduli transform under continuous or discrete symmetries. This hypothesis, along with the hypotheses that the theory at high…
We provide a set of theoretical constraints on models in which the Standard Model field content is extended by vector-like fermions and in some cases also by a real scalar singlet. Our approach is based on the study of electroweak vacuum…
We extend strong/weak coupling duality to string theories without spacetime supersymmetry, and focus on the case of the unique ten-dimensional, nonsupersymmetric, tachyon-free $SO(16)\times SO(16)$ heterotic string. We construct a…
We describe a class of supersymmetric unified models with the following properties: i) the full breaking of the gauge group is achieved by Higgs fields in the fundamental representation; ii) the correct unification of the strong and…
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…
In this thesis we investigate some aspects of the dramatic consequences of supersymmetry breaking on string vacua. In particular, we focus on the issue of vacuum stability in ten-dimensional string models with broken, or without,…
Whether the Standard Model electroweak vacuum is stable, metastable or unstable depends crucially on the top mass (and, to a lesser extent, on other measurable quantities). These topics are reviewed and updated by taking into account the…
String theory, if it describes nature, is probably strongly coupled. In light of recent developments in string duality, this means that the ``real world'' should correspond to a region of the classical moduli space which admits no weak…
We provide a study of the phenomenology of heterotic orbifold compactifications scenarii within the context of supergravity effective theories. Our investigation focuses on those models where the soft Lagrangian is dominated by loop…
These notes cover (i) electroweak symmetry breaking in the Standard Model (SM) and the Higgs boson, (ii) alternatives to the SM Higgs boson including an introduction to composite Higgs models and Higgsless models that invoke extra…
In these lectures we review the constraints on particle physics models arising from cosmic defects. This includes constraints on theories where stable cosmic string loops, or vortons result. These can arise in supersymmetric theories. We…
In these lecture notes, an introduction to superstring theory is presented. Classical strings, covariant and light-cone quantization, supersymmetric strings, anomaly cancelation, compactification, T-duality, supersymmetry breaking, and…
We find a curious duality between the bosonic sector of heterotic supergravity and the noncritical bosonic string with conformal anomaly. This allows us to map the Mink$_4\times S^3\times S^3$ vacuum of the bosonic string to a new warped…
We compare, following Pati, global symmetries our topological supersymmetric preon model with the heterotic E_8 x E_8 string theory. We include Pati's supergravity based preon model in this work and compare the preon interactions of his…
In string theory the coupling ``constants'' appearing in the low-energy effective Lagrangian are determined by the vacuum expectation values of some (a priori) massless scalar fields (dilaton, moduli). This naturally leads one to expect a…
It has been suggested that cosmological dark matter may include a population of vortons (meaning small centrifugally stabilised cosmic string loops) as an outcome of (non-standard) electroweak symmetry breaking. The implications for this…
We discuss supersymmetry breaking mechanisms at the level of low energy N=1 effective heterotic superstring actions that exhibit $SL(2,Z)_T$ target space modular duality or $SL(2,Z)_S$ strong-weak coupling duality. The allowed…
In this paper we describe ideas about the string landscape, and how to relate it to the physics of the Standard Model of particle physics. First, we give a short status report about heterotic string compactifications. Then we focus on the…
This is a review of electroweak precision physics with particular emphasis on low-energy precision measurements in the neutral current sector of the electroweak theory and includes future experimental prospects and the theoretical…
We summarise highlights from an ongoing research programme that aims, in the long run, at the ambitious goal of building a realistic, complete holographic composite-Higgs model. This contribution focuses on vacuum misalignment, by showing…