Related papers: Superstrings and Manifolds of Exceptional Holonomy
We explore the embedding of Spin groups of arbitrary dimension and signature into simple superalgebras in the case of extended supersymmetry. The R-symmetry, which generically is not compact, can be chosen compact for all the cases that are…
We initiate the study of Brane Gas Cosmology (BGC) on manifolds with non-trivial holonomy. Such compactifications are required within the context of superstring theory in order to make connections with realistic particle physics. We study…
We classify the geometry of all supersymmetric IIB backgrounds which admit the maximal number of $G$-invariant Killing spinors. For compact stability subgroups $G=G_2, SU(3)$ and SU(2), the spacetime is locally isometric to a product…
In this paper we consider Type I string theory compactified on a Z_7 orbifold. The model has N=1 supersymmetry, a U(4) \otimes U(4) \otimes U(4) \otimes SO(8) gauge group, and chiral matter. There are only D9-branes (for which we discuss…
We consider the heterotic E8 X E8 string theory, which gives rise to four-dimensional Standard-like Models and allows for their SO(10) embedding. We investigate two different schemes of compactification: the free fermionic formulation and…
We present a construction of superconformal field theories for manifolds with Spin(7) holonomy. Geometrically these models correspond to the realization of Spin(7) manifolds as anti-holomorphic quotients of Calabi-Yau fourfolds. Describing…
A rich pattern of gauge symmetries is found in the moduli space of heterotic string toroidal compactifications, at fixed points of the T-duality transformations. We analyze this pattern for generic tori, and scrutinize in full detail…
We present several examples of T^8/P orbifolds with $P \subset SU(4)$. We compute their Hodge numbers and consider turning on discrete torsion. We then study supersymmetric compactifications of type II, heterotic, and type I strings on…
The conjectured equivalence of the heterotic string to a $K_3$ compactified type IIA superstring is combined with the conjectured equivalence of the latter to a compactified 11-dimensional supermembrane to derive a string membrane duality…
We consider type II and heterotic string compactifications on an isolated singularity in the noncompact Gepner model approach. The conifold-type ADE noncompact Calabi-Yau threefolds, as well as the ALE twofolds, are modeled by a tensor…
Phenomenological explorations of heterotic strings have conventionally focused primarily on the E8xE8 theory. We consider smooth compactifications of all three ten-dimensional heterotic theories to exhibit the many similarities between the…
This thesis contributes with a number of topics to the subject of string compactifications. In the first half of the work, I discuss the Hodge plot of Calabi-Yau threefolds realised as hypersurfaces in toric varieties. The intricate…
We consider F-theory compactifications on a mirror pair of elliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds. This yields two different six-dimensional theories, each of them being nonperturbatively equivalent to some compactification of heterotic strings on…
We extend the refined G-structure classification of supersymmetric solutions of eleven dimensional supergravity. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an arbitrary number of Killing spinors whose common isotropy…
We study superconformal and supersymmetric theories on Euclidean four- and three-manifolds with a view toward holographic applications. Preserved supersymmetry for asymptotically locally AdS solutions implies the existence of a (charged)…
We consider three-dimensional ${\mathcal N}=2$ supersymmetric field theories defined on general complex-valued backgrounds of Euclidean new minimal supergravity admitting two Killing spinors of opposite $R$-charges. We compute partition…
The compactification of the heterotic string on six-dimensional orbifolds is reviewed. Some important technical aspects of their construction are clarified and new parameters, called generalized discrete torsion, are introduced and related…
We study conformal field theories for strings propagating on compact, seven-dimensional manifolds with G_2 holonomy. In particular, we describe the construction of rational examples of such models. We argue that analogues of Gepner models…
We describe the mirror of the Z orbifold as a representation of a class of generalized Calabi-Yau manifolds that can be realized as manifolds of dimension five and seven. Despite their dimension these correspond to superconformal theories…
We consider flux compactifications of heterotic string theory in the presence of fermionic condensates on M_{1,2} times X_7 with both factors carrying a Killing spinor. In other words, M_{1,2} is either de Sitter, anti-de Sitter or…