Related papers: Supersymmetry without Supersymmetry
We investigate the connections between four-dimensional, N=2 M-theory vacua constructed as orbifolds of type II, heterotic, and type I strings. All these models have the same massless spectrum, which contains an equal number of vector…
The space of four dimensional string and $M$ theory vacua with non-Abelian gauge symmetry, chiral fermions and unbroken supersymmetry beyond the electroweak scale appears to be a disconnected space whose different components represent…
We construct D=4 Type I vacua with massless content remarkably close to that of the standard model of particle physics. They are tachyon-free non-supersymmetric models which are obtained starting with a standard D=4, N=1 compact Type IIB…
After a short introduction to Matrix theory, we explain how can one generalize matrix models to describe toroidal compactifications of M-theory and the heterotic vacua with 16 supercharges. This allows us, for the first time in history, to…
String and membrane dynamics may be unified into a theory of 2+2 dimensional self-dual world-volumes living in a 10+2 dimensional target space. Some of the vacua of this M-theory are described by the N=(2,1) heterotic string, whose target…
We study a system of intersecting NS and D-branes in type IIA string theory in R^{9,1}. We show that the 3+1 dimensional non-supersymmetric theory at the intersection has unstable vacua which are long-lived in some regions of the parameter…
Recently, Kim, Shiu and Vafa proposed general consistency conditions for six dimensional supergravity theories with minimal supersymmetry coming from couplings to strings. We test them in explicit perturbative orientifold models in order to…
We discuss the duality between two type I compactifications to four dimensions and an heterotic construction with spontaneous breaking of the N=4 supersymmetry to N=2. This duality allows us to gain insight into the non-perturbative…
We give the general form of supersymmetric backgrounds with two real supercharges of M-theory and type IIA supergravity (with non-zero Romans mass in general) of the form $\mathbb{R}^{1,d} \times \M_8$, d=1,2, on eight-dimensional manifolds…
Notwithstanding the central role of D-branes in many recently proposed string dualities, several interesting type I vacua have been found without resorting directly to D-brane technology. In this talk, we analyze a three-generation…
We review some aspects of the dramatic consequences of supersymmetry breaking on string vacua. In particular, we focus on the issue of vacuum stability in ten-dimensional string models with broken, or without, supersymmetry, whose…
In this paper we obtain supersymmetric brane-like configurations in the vacuum of N=4 gauged $SU(2)\times SU(2)$ supergravity theory in four spacetime dimensions. Almost all of these vacuum solutions preserve either half or one quarter of…
We study supersymmetric AdS$_7$ vacua of massive type IIA string theory, which were argued to describe the near-horizon limit of NS5/D6/D8-brane intersections and to be holographically dual to 6D $(1,0)$ theories. We show, for the case…
We argue that supersymmetric higher-dimension operators in the effective actions of M-theory and IIB string theory do not affect the maximally supersymmetric vacua: $adS_4\times S^7$ and $adS_7\times S^4$ in M-theory and $adS_5\times S^5$…
We study gauge theories which are associated with classical vacua of perturbative Type II string theory that allows for a conformal field theory description. We show that even if we compactify seven spatial dimensions (allowing for one…
In this thesis we investigate some aspects of the dramatic consequences of supersymmetry breaking on string vacua. In particular, we focus on the issue of vacuum stability in ten-dimensional string models with broken, or without,…
We analyse geometric type IIA flux compactifications leading to N=4 gauged supergravities in four dimensions. The complete landscape of isotropic vacua is presented, which turns out to belong to a unique theory. The solutions admit an…
The consistency of string theory as a theory of gravity does not rely on the presence of spacetime supersymmetry; however, its absence leads to the emergence of tadpole diagrams in the on-shell worldsheet formulation, thus undermining our…
Making use of non-perturbative U-duality symmetries of type II strings we construct new `superstring' vacua in three dimensions with N=1 supersymmetry. This has an interpretation as compactifying formally from 13 dimensions (S-theory) on…
We consider compactifications of M-theory and type IIA string theory to four dimensions. For Minkowski space-time, a supergravity no-go theorem forbids flux supported in the internal space. We show how to evade this no-go theorem by…