Related papers: A Stringy Test of Flux-Induced Isometry Gauging

We argue that traditional methods of compactification of string theory make it very difficult to understand how the cosmological constant becomes zero. String inspired models can give zero cosmological constant after fine tuning but since…

We investigate the consequences of two assumptions for String (or M) Theory, namely that: 1) all coordinates are compact and bound by the horizon of observation, 2) the ``dynamics'' of compactification is determined by the ``second law of…

We consider compactifications of type I supergravity on manifolds with SU(3) structure, in the presence of RR fluxes and magnetized D9-branes, and analyze the generalized Dirac and Laplace-Beltrami operators associated to the D9-brane…

We first derive a class of six-dimensional (1,0) gauged supergravities arising from threefold compactifications of F-theory with background fluxes. The derivation proceeds via the M-theory dual reduction on an SU(3)-structure manifold with…

We investigate the lifting of half-maximal four-dimensional gauged supergravities to compactifications of string theory. It is shown that a class of such supergravities can arise from compactifications of IIA string theory on manifolds of…

In string theory, there are no continuous global symmetries. Discrete symmetries frequently appear, and these can often be understood as unbroken subgroups of larger, spontaneously broken gauge symmetries (discrete gauge symmetries). In…

Two new effects of interaction of the gauge string with a homogeneous density of fermions are considered in a gauge model with an anomalous coupling of vector fields with fermions. First, the presence of an induced nonzero magnetic-like…

We establish the precise correspondence between Type-IIA flux compactifications preserving an exact or spontaneously broken N=4 supersymmetry in four dimensions, and gaugings of their effective N=4 supergravities. We exhibit the explicit…

We study the geometric realization of the Higgs phenomenon in type II string compactifications on Calabi--Yau manifolds. The string description is most directly phrased in terms of confinement of magnetic flux, with magnetic charged states…

We propose a method for measuring the string tension in gauge theories, by considering an interference effect of mesons, which is governed by a space-time area law, due to confinement. Although it is only a gedanken experiment for real…

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…

In this thesis we discuss non-perturbative phenomena emerging in gauge and in string/supergravity theories. We compute the partition function of 5D minimal supersymmetric U(1) gauge theory with extra adjoint matter in general…

Superstring/M-theory compactified on compact Ricci flat manifolds have recently been conjectured to exhibit instabilities whenever the metrics do not have special holonomy. We use worldsheet conformal field theory to investigate…

Over the last few years, string theory has changed profoundly. Most importantly, novel duality relations have emerged which involve gauge theories of brane excitations on one side and various closed string backgrounds on the other. In this…

The aim of these lectures is to give an introduction to several topics which lie at the intersection of string theory, gravity theory and gravity phenomenology. One successively reviews: (i) the "membrane" approach to the dissipative…

Theories with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking provide an interesting alternative to the scenario in which the soft terms of the low-energy fields are induced by gravity. These theories allow for a natural suppression of flavour…

We calculate gauge instanton corrections to a class of higher derivative string effective couplings introduced in [1]. We work in Type I string theory compactified on K3xT2 and realise gauge instantons in terms of D5-branes wrapping the…

Dvali and Shifman have proposed a field-theoretic mechanism for localizing gauge fields to "branes" in higher dimensional spaces using confinement in a bulk gauge theory. The resulting objects have a number of qualitative features in common…

We study spatial variations of the fine-structure constant in the presence of static straight cosmic strings in the weak-field approximation in Einstein gravity. We work in the context of a generic Bekenstein-type model and consider a gauge…

We discuss aspects of global and gauged symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity, focusing on discrete gauge symmetries. An effective Lagrangian description of $\Z_p$ gauge theories shows that they are associated with an…