Related papers: N=1 Heterotic/M-theory Duality and Joyce Manifolds
We demonstrate that M-theory compactifications on 7-manifolds of G_2 holonomy, which yield 4d N=1 supersymmetric systems, often admit at special loci in their moduli space a description as type IIA orientifolds. In this way, we are able to…
We consider the non-perturbative superpotential for a class of four-dimensional $\mathcal N=1$ vacua obtained from M-theory on seven-manifolds with holonomy $G_2$. The class of $G_2$-holonomy manifolds we consider are so-called twisted…
In this work we study F-theory compactifications on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau n-folds which have $\mathbb{P}^1$-fibered base manifolds. Such geometries, which we study in both 4- and 6-dimensions, are both ubiquitous within the set of…
We perform model searches on smooth Calabi-Yau compactifications for both the supersymmetric E8xE8 and SO(32) as well as for the non-supersymmetric SO(16)xSO(16) heterotic strings simultaneously. We consider line bundle backgrounds on both…
We study the M(atrix) theory which describes the $E_8 \times E_8$ heterotic string compactified on $S^1$, or equivalently M-theory compactified on an orbifold $(S^1/\integer_2) \times S^1$, in the presence of a Wilson line. We formulate the…
We construct M-theory on the orbifold C^2/Z_N by coupling 11-dimensional supergravity to a seven-dimensional Yang-Mills theory located on the orbifold fixed plane. It is shown that the resulting action is supersymmetric to leading…
We present an explicit method for translating between the linear sigma model and the spectral cover description of SU(r) stable bundles over an elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifold. We use this to investigate the 4-dimensional duality…
We re-examine the question of heterotic - heterotic string duality in six dimensions and argue that the $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic string, compactified on $K3$ with equal instanton numbers in the two $E_8$'s, has a self-duality that inverts…
Gravity duals for little string theories --- which give rise to four-dimensional theories that undergo permanent confinement in the infrared --- have not been studied in great detail. We address this question in the framework of heterotic…
In this work we study the duality between F-theory and the heterotic string beyond the stable degeneration limit in F-theory and large fiber limit in the heterotic theory. Building upon a recent proposal by Clingher-Doran and…
Geometric transitions between Calabi-Yau manifolds have proven to be a powerful tool in exploring the intricate and interconnected vacuum structure of string compactifications. However, their role in N=1, 4-dimensional string…
Horava--Witten M theory -- heterotic string duality poses special problems for the twisted sectors of heterotic orbifolds. In [1] we explained how in M theory the twisted states couple to gauge fields apparently living on M9 branes at both…
A while ago, examples of N=1 vacua in D=6 were constructed as orientifolds of Type IIB string theory compactified on the K3 surface. Among the interesting features of those models was the presence of D5-branes behaving like small…
N=(2,1) heterotic string theory provides clues about hidden structure in M-theory related to string duality; in effect it geometrizes some aspects of duality. The program whereby one may deduce this hidden structure is outlined, together…
We study orbifold compactifications of F-theory which lead to $N=1$ supersymmetry in 6 and 4 spacetime dimensions. These are dual to specific orientifolds of M-theory, and in many cases to orientifolds of type IIB string theory. The…
We study electric-magnetic duality in compactifications of M-theory on twisted connected sum (TCS) $G_2$ manifolds via duality with F-theory. Specifically, we study the physics of the D3-branes in F-theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau…
We construct non-geometric string compactifications by using the F-theory dual of the heterotic string compactified on a two-torus with two Wilson line parameters, together with a close connection between modular forms and the equations for…
In previous work, it was argued that the type IIB T^6/Z_2 orientifold with a choice of flux preserving N=2 supersymmetry is dual to a class of purely geometric type IIA compactifications on abelian surface (T^4) fibered Calabi-Yau…
We propose and give strong evidence for a duality relating Type II theories on Calabi-Yau spaces and heterotic strings on $K3 \times T^2$, both of which have $N=2$ spacetime supersymmetry. Entries in the dictionary relating the dual…
We introduce a notion of topological M-theory and argue that it provides a unification of form theories of gravity in various dimensions. Its classical solutions involve G_2 holonomy metrics on 7-manifolds, obtained from a topological…