Related papers: String Orbifolds and Quotient Stacks

In this short review we outline some recent developments in understanding string orbifolds. In particular, we outline the recent observation that string orbifolds do not precisely describe string propagation on quotient spaces, but rather…

This is the writeup of a lecture given at the May Wisconsin workshop on mathematical aspects of orbifold string theory. In the first part of this lecture, we review recent work on discrete torsion, and outline how it is currently understood…

We consider quotients of string and M-theory by discrete subgroups of the U-duality group. This results in what we call O-folds, which are generalisations of orbifolds and orientifolds, and generically involve non-geometric identifications…

In this fourth paper of the series, I clarify the somewhat mysterious relation between the large class of {\it orientation orbifolds} (with twisted open-string CFT's at $\hat c=52$) and {\it orientifolds} (with untwisted open strings at…

In this dissertation, we study various aspects of type IIB string theory compactified on freely acting orbifolds. We focus particularly on asymmetric orbifolds, which are examples of non-geometric string compactifications and constitute an…

We study symmetries between untwisted and twisted strings on asymmetric orbifolds. We present a list of asymmetric orbifold models to possess intertwining currents which convert untwisted string states to twisted ones, and vice versa. We…

In this paper we study string compactifications on Deligne-Mumford stacks. The basic idea is that all such stacks have presentations to which one can associate gauged sigma models, where the group gauged need be neither finite nor…

The concept of orbifolds should unify differential geometry with equivariant homotopy theory, so that orbifold cohomology should unify differential cohomology with proper equivariant cohomology theory. Despite the prominent role that…

Twenty years ago, Mumford initiated the systematic study of the cohomology ring of moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces. Around the same time, Harer proved that the homology of the mapping class groups of oriented surfaces is independent of…

We calculate couplings of arbitrary order from correlation functions among twisted strings, using conformal field theory. Twisted strings arise in heterotic string compactified on orbifolds yielding matter fields in the low energy limit. We…

We study string theory on orbifolds in the presence of an antisymmetric constant background field and discuss some of new aspects of the theory. It is shown that the term with the antisymmetric field has a topological nature like a…

In quantum field theory, an orbifold is a way to obtain a new theory from an old one by gauging a finite global symmetry. This definition of orbifold does not make sense for quantum gravity theories, that admit (conjecturally) no global…

We give various examples of asymmetric orbifold models to possess intertwining currents which convert untwisted string states to twisted ones, and vice versa, and see that such asymmetric orbifold models are severely restricted. The…

This essay presents a critical evaluation of the concepts of string theory and its impact on particle physics. The point of departure is a historical review of four decades of string theory within the broader context of six decades of…

In 1985, physicists Dixon, Harvey, Vafa and Witten studied string theories on Calabi-Yau orbifolds (cf. [DHVW]). An interesting discovery in their paper was the prediction that a certain physicist's Euler number of the orbifold must be…

We study curved space versions of matrix string theory taking as a definition of the theory a gauged matrix sigma model. By analyzing the divergent terms in the loop expansion for the effective action we reduce the problem to a simple…

In this paper we study the string topology (\'a la Chas-Sullivan) of an orbifold. We define the string homology ring product at the level of the free loop space of the classifying space of an orbifold. We study its properties (introducing…

We consider string theory in a time dependent orbifold with a null singularity. The singularity separates a contracting universe from an expanding universe, thus constituting a big crunch followed by a big bang. We quantize the theory both…

In this paper we consider a class of exactly solvable closed string flux backgrounds that exhibit non-commutativity in the closed string coordinates. They are realized in terms of freely-acting asymmetric Z_N-orbifolds, which are themselves…

String theory is the leading contemporary framework to explore the synthesis of quantum mechanics with gravity. String phenomenology aims to study string theory while maintaining contact with observational data. The fermionic $Z_2\times…