Related papers: Unification Scale in String Theory
Axions, grand unification, and string theory are each compelling extensions of the Standard Model. We show that combining these frameworks imposes strong constraints on the QCD axion mass. Using unitarity arguments and explicit string…
We explore the possibility of unification of gauge couplings near the Planck scale in models of extended technicolor. We observe that models of the form G X SU(3)_c X SU(2)_L X U(1)_Y cannot be realized, due to the presence of massless…
Unparticle physics from a hidden conformal sector can alter the evolution of the Standard Model (SM) gauge couplings via TeV scale threshold corrections. We discuss how this may lead to gauge coupling unification at M_{GUT}\approx 2 \times…
Tests of gauge coupling unification require knowledge of thresholds between the weak scale and the high scale of unification. If these scales are far separated, as is the case in most unification scenarios considered in the literature, the…
Astrophysical indications that the fine structure constant is time dependent are discussed in the framework of grand unification models. A variation of the electromagnetic coupling constant could either be generated by a corresponding time…
In the minimal supersymmetric standard model, the three gauge couplings appear to unify at a mass scale near $2 \times 10^{16}$ GeV. We investigate the possibility that intermediate scale particle thresholds modify the running couplings so…
Recent measurements of the values of gauge coupling constants as well as neutrino properties support the idea of a grand unified (GUT) description of particle physics at a large scale of $M_{GUT}\sim 10^{16}$ GeV. We discuss a strategy to…
We investigate the possibility of lowering the string scale in four dimensional heterotic models possessing a non-perturbative extension of the gauge group. In particular, we consider a class of compactifications in which the perturbative…
Gauge coupling unification and the stability of the Higgs vacuum are among two of the cherished features of low-energy supersymmetric models. Putting aside questions of naturalness, supersymmetry might only be realised in nature at very…
Unified theories based on an extended left-right symmetric group, $SU(4) \times SU(2)^4$, are constructed in five dimensions. The compactification scale is assumed to be only a loop factor above the weak scale, so that the weak mixing angle…
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…
The gauge coupling unification is investigated at the classical level under the assumptions that the gauge symmetry breaking chain is $E_8\to E_7\times U_1 \to E_6\times U_1 \to SO_{10}\times U_1 \to SU_5 \times U_1 \to SU_3 \times SU_2…
A gauge theory with an underlying SU_q(2) quantum group symmetry is introduced, and its properties examined. With suitable assumptions, this model is found to have many similarities with the usual SU(2)\times U(1) Standard Model,…
We compute the one-loop gauge couplings in six-dimensional non-Abelian gauge theories on the T^2/Z_2 orbifold with general GUT breaking boundary conditions. For concreteness, we apply the obtained general formulae to the gauge coupling…
We consider heterotic string compactifications to four dimensions when instantons shrink to zero size. If the standard model gauge group originates from the new gauge symmetry associated with the small instantons singularity, then the…
We study the construction of the minimal supersymmetric standard model from the $Z_8$ orbifold models. We use a target-space duality anomaly cancellation and a unification of gauge couplings as constraints. It is shown that some models…
String theory is the leading candidate for a unified theory of the standard model and gravity. In the last few years theorists have realized that there is a unique structure underlying string theory. In this unification a prominent role is…
We study structure constants of gauge invariant operators in planar N=4 Yang-Mills at one loop with the motivation of determining features of the string dual of weak coupling Yang-Mills. We derive a simple renormalization group invariant…
A candidate for the confining string of gauge theories is constructed via a representation of the ultraviolet divergences of quantum field theory by a closed string dilaton insertion, computed through the soft dilaton theorem. The resulting…
We consider the possibility of the coupling constants of the $SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1)$ gauge interactions at the time of big bang nucleosynthesis having taken different values from what we measure at present, and investigate the…