Related papers: On tadpoles and vacuum redefinitions in String The…
A fundamental problem in contemporary string/M theory is to count the number of inequivalent vacua satisfying constraints in a string theory model. This article contains the first rigorous results on the number and distribution of…
In this Thesis we investigate properties of stability, rigidity and unitarity of the string landscape in ten and lower dimensions. The dissertation explores these aspects by intertwining a detailed analysis of string vacua, with and without…
Non-supersymmetric string models are plagued with tadpoles for dynamical fields, which signal uncanceled forces sourced by the vacuum. We argue that in certain cases, uncanceled dynamical tadpoles can lead to inconsistencies with quantum…
We consider string theory vacua with tadpoles for dynamical fields and uncover universal features of the resulting spacetime-dependent solutions. We argue that the solutions can extend only a finite distance $\Delta$ away in the spacetime…
This is the first of a series of three papers on open string field theories based on Witten star product deformed with a gauge invariant open/closed coupling. This deformation is a tree-level tadpole which destabilizes the initial…
Orbifolds in field theory are potentially singular objects for at their fixed points the curvature becomes infinite, therefore one may wonder whether field theory calculations near orbifold singularities can be trusted. String theory is…
In this thesis we provide new tools to determine and explore the Landscape of four-dimensional effective field theories originating from string and M-theory. The main aim is to introduce, within four-dimensional effective descriptions,…
Certain classes of chiral four-dimensional gauge theories may be obtained as the worldvolume theories of D5-branes suspended between networks of NS5-branes, the so-called brane box models. In this paper, we derive the stringy consistency…
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,…
We classify the possible bosonic and Type 0 unoriented string theories in two dimensions, and find their dual matrix(-vector) models. There are no RP^2 R-R tadpoles in any of the models, but many of them possess a massless tachyon tadpole.…
We continue and extend our earlier investigation ``Strings in a Time-Dependent Orbifold'' (hep-th/0204168). We formulate conditions for an orbifold to be amenable to perturbative string analysis and classify the low dimensional orbifolds…
We investigate the vacuum structure of four-dimensional effective theory arising from Type IIB flux compactifications on a mirror of the rigid Calabi-Yau threefold, corresponding to a T-dual of the DeWolfe-Giryavets-Kachru-Taylor model in…
This Ph.D. thesis investigates effective field and string theories in which supersymmetry is realized and broken in various ways. Chapter 1 addresses effective theories with nonlinearly realized supersymmetry, constructed using the…
We confront the problem of giving a fundamental definition to perturbative string theory in spacetimes with totally compact space (taken to be a torus for simplicity, though the nature of the problem is very general) and non-compact time.…
In this paper we make further refinements to the duality proposed between N=1 SQCD and certain string (supergravity plus branes) backgrounds, working in the regime of comparable large number of colors and flavors. Using the string theory…
We study tadpole potentials of non-supersymmetric strings, resorting to a first-order formalism known in the literature as fake supersymmetry. We present a detailed analysis for vacua with only gravity and the dilaton, displaying the…
We present a class of solvable models that resemble string theories in many respects but have a strikingly different non-perturbative sector. In particular, there are no exponentially small contributions to perturbation theory in the string…
A class of non-supersymmetric string backgrounds can be constructed using twists that involve space-time fermion parity. We propose a non-perturbative definition of string theory in these backgrounds via gauge theories with supersymmetry…
"Brane supersymmetry breaking" occurs in String Theory when the only available combinations of D-branes and orientifolds are not mutually BPS and yet do not introduce tree-level tachyon instabilities. It is characterized by the emergence of…
We use string duality to describe instanton induced spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in string compactifications with additional background fields. Dynamical supersymmetry breaking by space-time instantons in the heterotic string theory…