Related papers: String Unification, Higher-Level Gauge Symmetries,…
We study large-N double-scaling limits of U(N) gauge theories in four dimensions. We focus on theories in a partially confining phase where an abelian subgroup $\hat{G}$ of the gauge group remains unconfined. Double-scaling is defined near…
We study gauge coupling unification in the presence of extra dimensions compactified at a few TeV. Achieving unification requires a large number of gauge boson Kaluza-Klein excitations lighter than the string scale, such that the…
String-string duality dictates that type IIA strings compactified on a K3 surface acquire non-abelian gauge groups for certain values of the K3 moduli. We argue that, contrary to expectation, the theories for which such enhanced gauge…
In four dimensional superstring models, the gauge group normally contains extra U(1)s that are broken at a high energy scale. We show that the presence of the extra U(1)s is crucial for the phenomenological viability of string scenarios,…
We revisit minimal supersymmetric SU(5) grand unification (GUT) models in which the soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters of the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) are universal at some input scale, $M_{in}$, above the…
We study the unitarity of the standard model (SM) in higher dimensions. We show that the essential features of SM unitarity remain after compactification, and place bounds on the highest Kaluza-Klein (KK) level N_KK and the Higgs mass m_H…
I derive conservative upper bounds on the supersymmetry breaking parameter $m_{1/2}$ as a function of the strong coupling in the Standard Supersymmetric Model (SSM) using gauge coupling unification. I find that over more than $99\%$ of the…
Threshold corrections to the running of gauge couplings are calculated for superstring models with free complex world sheet fermions. For two N=1 $SU(2)\times U(1)^5$ models, the threshold corrections lead to a small increase in the…
Working within the context of the strongly coupled $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic string theory, we analyze the $B-L$ MSSM, a realistic supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, from both a low-energy phenomenology and high-energy string…
The reconstruction of fundamental parameters in supersymmetric theories requires the evolution to high scales, where the characteristic regularities in mechanisms of supersymmetry breaking become manifest. We have studied a set of…
Adjoint supermultiplets (1,3,0) and (8,1,0) modify the evolution of gauge couplings. If the unification of gauge couplings occurs at the string scale, their masses are fixed at around $10^{13}$ GeV. This scale coincides with expected…
We show that if the string scale is identifed with the intermediate scale, $M_s=\sqrt{M_W M_{Planck}} \sim 10^{11}$ GeV, then the notorious hierarchy, $M_W/M_{Planck} \sim 10^{-16}$, can be explained using only $M_c/M_s \sim 0.01 \sim…
We investigate the possibility of generating the $\mu$-term in the MSSM by the condensation of a field that is a singlet under the SM gauge group but charged under an additional family-independent $U(1)_X$ gauge symmetry. We attempt to do…
We study Little String Theories (LST) with ${\cal N}=(1,0)$ supersymmetry arising, in a suitable double scaling limit, from 5-branes in heterotic string theory or in the heterotic-like type II/$(-)^{F_L}\times {\rm shift}$. The limit in…
We study the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) constrained by unification assuming mSUGRA SUSY breaking. In particular this means that the three gauge couplings are unified at a {\it per cent} level, third generation yukawa…
We consider gauge coupling unification in models with TeV scale strings and large compact dimensions realized as type IIB string orientifolds. Following an observation by Ibanez we show that the gauge couplings at low energies can behave as…
We consider electroweak symmetry breaking in supersymmetric models with an extra non-anomalous U(1)' gauge symmetry and an extra standard-model singlet scalar S. For appropriate charges the U(1)' forbids an elementary mu term, but an…
We introduce a new string-inspired approach to the subject of grand unification which allows the GUT scale to be small, \lesssim 200 TeV, so that it is within the reach of {\em conceivable} laboratory accelerated colliding beam devices. The…
It is known that hidden U(1) gauge factors can couple to visible U(1)'s through Kinetic Mixing. This phenomenon is shown generically to occur in nonsupersymmetric string set-ups, between branes and antibranes. Kinetic Mixing acts either to…
We investigate the prospects to achieve unification of the gauge couplings in models without supersymmetry. We restrict our discussion to $SU(5), SO(10)$ and $E_6$ models that mimic the structure of the Standard Model as much as possible…