Related papers: Superstrings and Manifolds of Exceptional Holonomy
The hybrid formalism is used to quantize the superstring compactified to two-dimensional target-space in a manifestly spacetime supersymmetric manner. A quantizable sigma model action is then constructed for the Type II superstring in…
Using an effective field theory approach and the language of SU(N)-structures, we study higher derivative corrections to the supersymmetry constraints for compactifications of string or M-theory to Minkowski space. Our analysis is done…
Compactifications of the physical superstring to two dimensions provide a general template for realizing 2D conformal field theories coupled to worldsheet gravity, i.e. non-critical string theories. Motivated by this observation, in this…
We study the orientifold truncation that arises when compactifying type II string theory on Calabi-Yau orientifolds with O3/O7-planes, in the context of supergravity. We look at the N=2 to N=1 reduction of the hypermultiplet sector of N=2…
We investigate orbifold compactifications of the heterotic string, addressing in detail their construction, classification and phenomenological potential. We present a strategy to search for models resembling the minimal supersymmetric…
We present new classes of string-like soliton solutions in ($N=1$; $D=10$), ($N=2$; $D=6$) and ($N=4$; $D=4$) heterotic string theory. Connections are made between the solution-generating subgroup of the $T$-duality group of the…
We consider the low-energy effective field theory of heterotic string theory compactified on a seven-torus, and we construct electrically charged as well as more general solitonic solutions. These solutions preserve 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 of N=8,…
The study of the geometry of Calabi-Yau fourfolds is relevant for compactifications of string theory, M-theory, and F-theory to various dimensions. In the first part of this thesis, we study the action of mirror symmetry on two-dimensional…
We reconsider the study of the geometric transitions and brane/flux dualities in various dimensions. We first give toric interpretations of the topology changing transitions in the Calabi-Yau conifold and the $Spin(7)$ manifold. The latter,…
This is a pedagogical exposition of holonomy groups intended for physicists. After some pertinent definitions, we focus on special holonomy manifolds, two per division algebras, and comment upon several cases of interest in physics,…
We describe an $N=2$ heterotic superstring model of rank-3 which is dual to the type-II string compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold with Betti numbers $b_{1,1}=2$ and $b_{1,2}=86$. We show that the exact duality symmetry found from the…
We describe string-theory and $d=11$ supergravity solutions involving symmetric spaces of constant negative curvature. Many examples of non-supersymmetric string compactifications on hyperbolic spaces $H_r$ of finite volume are given in…
For a given complex n-fold M we present an explicit construction of all complex (n+1)-folds which are principal holomorphic T2-fibrations over M. For physical applications we consider the case of M being a Calabi-Yau 2-fold. We show that…
It is argued that recent developments point to the existence of an AdS_3 x S^2 x T^5 holographic dual for the 2D CFT living on the worldsheet of N coincident heterotic strings in a T^5 compactification, which can in turn be described by an…
In this paper we describe the heterotic dual of the type IIB theory compactified to four dimensions on a toroidal orientifold in the presence of fluxes. The type IIB background is most easily described in terms of an M-theory…
In this paper we begin the study of compactifications of the pure spinor formalism for superstrings. As a first example of such a process we study the case of the heterotic string in a Calabi-Yau background. We explicitly construct a BRST…
We study the action of mirror symmetry on two-dimensional N=(2,2) effective theories obtained by compactifying Type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau fourfolds. Our focus is on fourfold geometries with non-trivial three-form cohomology. The…
We present the construction of exactly solvable superconformal field theories describing Type II string models compactified on compact G_2 manifolds. These models are defined by anti-holomorphic quotients of the form (CY*S^1)/Z_2, where we…
In this paper, we continue the analysis of heterotic string compactifications on half-flat mirror manifolds by including the 10-dimensional gauge fields. It is argued, that the heterotic Bianchi identity is solved by a variant of the…
M theory compactifications on G_2 holonomy manifolds, whilst supersymmetric, require singularities in order to obtain non-Abelian gauge groups, chiral fermions and other properties necessary for a realistic model of particle physics. We…