Related papers: Natural gauge-coupling unification at the string s…
The most promising MSSM candidates of the heterotic string reveal some distinctive properties. These include gauge-top unification, a specific solution to the mu-problem and mirage pattern for the gaugino masses. The location of the top-…
I discuss several aspects of strings as unified theories. After recalling the difficulties of the simplest supersymmetric grand unification schemes I emphasize the distinct features of string unification. An important role in constraining…
String theory, if it describes nature, is probably strongly coupled. In light of recent developments in string duality, this means that the ``real world'' should correspond to a region of the classical moduli space which admits no weak…
The apparent unification of gauge couplings around 10^16 GeV is one of the strong arguments in favor of Supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model (SM). In this contribution two new analyses of the gauge coupling running, the latter…
In this paper we explore some of the features of large N supersymmetric and nonsupersymmetric gauge theories using Maldacena's duality conjectures. We shall show that the resulting strong coupling behavior of the gauge theories is…
We look for the minimal particle content which is necessary to add to the standard model in order to have a complete unification of gauge couplings and gravity at the weakly coupled heterotic string scale. Using the current precision…
The idea of grand unification in a minimal supersymmetric SU(5)xSU(5) framework is revisited. It is shown that the unification of gauge couplings into a unique coupling constant can be achieved at a high-energy scale compatible with proton…
In order to achieve gauge unification at the string scale M_X sim 5.10^17 GeV in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) it is necessary to add extra gauge non-singlet representations at an intermediate scale M_I<M_X, leading to a…
Discrete and global symmetries play an essential role in many extensions of the Standard Model, for example, to preserve the proton lifetime, to prevent flavor changing neutral currents, etc. An important question is how can such symmetries…
In this paper we analyze the structure of supersymmetric vacua in compactifications of the heterotic string on certain manifolds with SU(3) structure. We first study the effective theories obtained from compactifications on half-flat…
If nature is described by string theory, and if the compactification radius is large (as suggested by the unification of couplings), then the theory is in a regime best described by the low energy limit of $M$-theory. We discuss some…
We consider states in the adjoint representation of the Standard Model gauge group as messengers for mediation of supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking. These new messengers can shift the gauge coupling unification to the string scale at…
Moduli fields are generally present in superstring--inspired models. They are typically characterized by masses of the order of the supersymmetry breaking scale and by interactions of gravitational strength to ordinary matter. If stable,…
We discuss the appearance of modular functions at the one-loop gauge and gravitational couplings in (0,2) non-decomposable N=1 four dimensional orbifold compactifications of the heterotic string. We define the limits for the existence of…
Most phenomenologically acceptable supersymmetric models imply breaking of supersymmetry in a separate sector of fields introduced just for this purpose. Supersymmetry breaking is transferred to the Standard Model due to a certain…
Higher dimensional grand unified theories, with gauge symmetry breaking by orbifold compactification, possess SU(5) breaking at fixed points, and do not automatically lead to tree-level gauge coupling unification. A new framework is…
We consider generalizations of the standard model (SM) which are based on the gauge symmetry $SU(n)_c\otimes SU(m)_L\otimes U(1)_N$. Although the most interesting possibilities occur when $n=3$, we will consider also the cases $n=4,5$ both…
Gauge symmetry enhancing, at specific points of the compactification space, is a distinguished feature of string theory. In this work we discuss the breaking of such symmetries with tools provided by Double Field Theory (DFT). As a main…
The totality of neutrino-oscillation phenomena appears to require the existence of a light singlet neutrino. As pointed out recently, this can be naturally accommodated with a specific extra U(1) factor contained in the superstring-inspired…
In an attempt to implement gauge mediation in string theory, we study string effective supergravity models of supersymmetry breaking, containing anomalous gauge factors. We discuss subtleties related to gauge invariance and the…