Related papers: Exponentially Small Couplings between Twisted Fiel…
It is shown that many of the conjectured dualities involving orbifold compactification of M-theory follow from the known dualities involving M-theory and string theory in ten dimensions, and the ansatz that orbifolding procedure commutes…
We consider scalar field theory defined over a direct product of the real and $p$-adic numbers. An adjustable dynamical scaling exponent $z$ enters into the microscopic lagrangian, so that the Gaussian theories provide a line of fixed…
We examine the Kaluza-Klein theory for warped flux compactifications of type $II\ b $ string theory on a Minkowski spacetime $ M_4$ times a conic Calabi-Yau orientifold $X_6$. The region glued along the internal space directions to the bulk…
String theory, if it describes nature, is probably strongly coupled. As a result, one might despair of making any statements about the theory. In the framework of a set of clearly spelled out assumptions, we show that this is not…
The heterotic string compactified on an (n-1)-dimensional elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau Z-->B is conjectured to be dual to F-theory compactified on an n-dimensional Calabi-Yau X-->B, fibered over the same base with elliptic K3 fibers. In…
Light massive string states can appear at D-brane intersections with small angles. We compute tri-linear Yukawa couplings of such open-string states to massless ones and to one another. Due to ambiguities in the normalisation of the vertex…
Heterotic orbifolds provide promising constructions of MSSM-like models in string theory. We investigate the connection of such orbifold models with smooth Calabi-Yau compactifications by examining resolutions of the T^6/Z6-II orbifold…
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…
We study the bulk effective theory of a class of orbifolds of the type IIB string with D5-branes, compactified to four dimensions. These constructions are connected, in a region of their moduli space, to some orbifolds of the type I and…
We give the complete twisted Yukawa couplings for all the Z_n orbifold constructions in the most general case, i.e. when orbifold deformations are considered. This includes a certain number of tasks. Namely, determination of the allowed…
We investigate analytic classical solutions in open string field theory which are constructed in terms of marginal operators. In the classical background, we evaluate a coupling between an on-shell closed string state and the open string…
We estimate the significance of the prediction for the gauge couplings in the MSSM with an underlying unification. The correlation between the couplings covers only (0.2-2)% of the a priori reasonable region of the parameter space, while…
We show how enhanced gauge symmetry in type II string theory compactified on a Calabi--Yau threefold arises from singularities in the geometry of the target space. When the target space of the type IIA string acquires a genus $g$ curve $C$…
We present a minimal model of asymptotic grand unification based on an $SU(5)$ gauge theory in a compact $S^1/(\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}'_2)$ orbifold. The gauge couplings run to a unified fixed point in the UV, without supersymmetry.…
It is commonly thought that small couplings in a low-energy theory, such as those needed for the fermion mass hierarchy or proton stability, must originate from symmetries in a high-energy theory. We show that this expectation is violated…
Within the (dual) Abelian Higgs model, confining strings do not disappear at small distances but rather become short strings. In compact 3D electrodynamics, as we argue here, the confining strings are also manifested at small distances in…
We study possible correlations between properties of the observable and hidden sectors in heterotic string theory. Specifically, we analyze the case of the Z6-II orbifold compactification which produces a significant number of models with…
It is well-known that heterotic string compactifications have, in spite of their conceptual simplicity and aesthetic appeal, a serious problem with precision gauge coupling unification in the perturbative regime of string theory. Using both…
This thesis investigates correspondences between open and closed strings. This is done on the level of coupled open-closed moduli spaces and from a string field theoretic point of view. The construction of boundary string field theory on…
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…