Related papers: Mirage gauge coupling unification
We consider the phenomenological implications of a class of compactified string theories which naturally reproduces the flavour multiplet structure of the Standard Model. The implications for gauge unification depends on which of three…
We investigate the field dependence of the gauge couplings of $N=1$ string vacua from the point of view of the low energy effective quantum field theory. We find that field-theoretical considerations severely constrain the form of the…
We use the combined action of Z_2-chiral reflections (T-dualities) and shifts to build N=1,2 supersymmetric four-dimensional string compactifications with few moduli. In particular, we consider Z_2^4 asymmetric orbifolds of Type IIB on the…
The presence of an extra dimension of size R\equiv M_c^{-1} introduces corrections of order (\mu/M_c)\alpha to the gauge and Yukawa couplings and accelerates their running at scales \mu larger than M_c. This could result in a grand…
String theory one-loop threshold corrections are studied in a background field approach due to Kiritsis and Kounnas which uses space-time curvature as an infrared regulator. We review the conformal field theory aspects using the…
Compact Type IIB D=4, N=1 orientifolds have certain U(1) sigma model symmetries at the level of the effective Lagrangian. These symmetries are generically anomalous. We study the particular case of $Z_N$ orientifolds and find that these…
We derive the universal threshold corrections in heterotic string theory including a continuous Wilson line. Unification of gauge and gravitational couplings is shown to be possible even within perturbative string theory. The relative…
We study the weak gravity conjecture, the swampland distance conjecture and the emergence proposal for $\mathcal{N}=1$ orientifold compactifications of type IIB string theory with O3-/O7-planes. We allow for orientifold projections with…
We examine unification of gauge couplings in four dimensional renormalizable gauge theories inspired by the latticized (deconstructed) SM or MSSM in five dimensions. The models are based on replicated gauge groups, spontaneously broken to…
We study gauge threshold corrections for local brane models embedded in a large compact space. A large bulk volume gives important contributions to the Konishi and super-Weyl anomalies and the effective field theory analysis implies the…
The results for the running of the gauge couplings in the MSSM are up-dated by proper inclusion of all low scale effects. They are presented as predictions for the strong coupling constant in the scenario with only two parameters at the GUT…
We study type II$_0$ loci in the moduli space of type IIB string theory compactified on Calabi-Yau manifolds. We show that around these infinite distance singular loci the leading order behaviour of the gauge kinetic matrix, and of the…
We study gauge coupling unification in the presence of extra dimensions compactified at a few TeV. Achieving unification requires a large number of gauge boson Kaluza-Klein excitations lighter than the string scale, such that the…
We study the minimal supersymmetric standard model derived from $Z_N \times Z_M$ orbifold models. Moduli dependent threshold corrections of the gauge couplings are investigated to explain the measured values of the coupling constants. Also…
We estimate the significance of the prediction for the gauge couplings in the MSSM with an underlying unification. The correlation between the couplings covers only (0.2-2)% of the a priori reasonable region of the parameter space, while…
Convergence of the standard model gauge coupling constants to a common value at around $2\times 10^{16}$ GeV is studied in the context of orbifold theories where the modular symmetry groups for $T$ and $U$ moduli are broken to subgroups of…
This note is intended to serve as a reference for conventions used in the literature on string compactifications, and how to move between them, collected in a single and easy-to-find place, using type IIB as an illustrative example. We hope…
The cancellation of U(1)-gauge and U(1)-gravitational anomalies in certain D=4 N=1 Type IIB orientifolds is analyzed in detail, from a string theory point of view. We verify the proposal that these anomalies are cancelled by a Green-Schwarz…
We examine gauge coupling unification and prediction for $\alpha_s (M_Z)$ in minimal flipped SU(5) with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. We include threshold corrections at weak scale, messenger scale and unification scale, and…
We consider field sets that do not form complete SU(5) multiplets, but exactly preserve the one-loop MSSM prediction for $\alpha_3(M_Z)$ independently of the value of their mass. Such fields can raise the unification scale in different…