Related papers: Advances in Old-Fashioned Heterotic String Model B…
The recent conjecture of possible equivalence between the string scale $M_S$ and the minimal supersymmetric standard model unification scale M_U ~ 2.5 x 10^{16} GeV is considered in the context of string models. This conjecture suggests…
We investigate numerically the configurational statistics of strings. The algorithm models an ensemble of global $U(1)$ cosmic strings, or equivalently vortices in superfluid $^4$He. We use a new method which avoids the specification of…
A review of orbifold geometry is given, followed by a review of the construction of four-dimensional heterotic string models by compactification on a six-dimensional Z_3 orbifold. Particular attention is given to the details of the…
We discuss the possible applications of string theory for the construction of generalizations of the $SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1)$ standard model of strong and electroweak interactions. This includes an investigation of effective $d=4$…
We study a new mechanism to dynamically break supersymmetry in the E8xE8 heterotic string. As discussed recently in the literature, a long-lived, meta-stable non-supersymmetric vacuum can be achieved in an N=1 SQCD whose spectrum contains a…
In this dissertation we study hidden symmetries within the framework of string theory. There are two kinds of hidden symmetries investigated in this work: the first type is associated with dynamics of quantum fields and the second type is…
We examine how to construct explicit heterotic string models dual to F-theory in eight dimensions. In doing so we learn about where the moduli spaces of the two theories overlap, and how non-perturbative features leave traces on a purely…
This is a pedagogical review article surveying the various approaches towards understanding gauge coupling unification within string theory. As is well known, one of the major problems confronting string phenomenology has been an apparent…
I discuss an evolution of SUSY GUT model building, starting with the construction of 4d GUTs, to orbifold GUTs and finally to orbifold GUTs within the heterotic string. This evolution is an attempt to obtain realistic string models, perhaps…
We summarize recent developments in the prediction for $\alpha_s(M_Z)$, self-consistent string unification and the dynamical determination of mass scales, and leptophobic $Z'$ gauge bosons in the context of stringy flipped SU(5). [To appear…
Quasi--realistic heterotic-string models in the free fermionic formulation typically contain an anomalous U(1), which gives rise to a Fayet-Iliopolous term that breaks supersymmetry at the one--loop level in string perturbation theory.…
In this talk I review recent developments in superstring theory. In the first half of the talk I discuss some of the earlier developments in this subject. This includes a review of the status of string theory as a unified theory of gravity…
String breaking is at the core of hadronization models of relevance to particle colliders. Yet, studies of string-breaking dynamics rooted in quantum chromodynamics remain fundamentally challenging. Tensor networks enable sign-problem-free…
We study cosmic strings in the complex symmetron model, a scalar-tensor theory with a spontaneously broken local $U(1)$ symmetry in low matter density regions. Using numerical simulations, we show that these strings preferentially attach to…
The E6 grand unified theory is an attractive candidate intermediate theory between the standard model and string theory. However, only one E6 grand unified model with three generations and at least one adjoint Higgs field has been derived…
We show that stable local cosmic strings are a generic prediction of supersymmetric models where supersymmetry is broken at scales within a few orders of magnitude of the weak scale and is fed down to the observable sector by gauge…
In the past three years our views on how the standard model of particle physics could be embedded into string theory have dramatically changed. The heterotic string is no longer the only possibility for such an embedding and other…
We analyze the general structure of soft scalar masses emerging in superstring models involving anomalous U(1) symmetries, with the aim of characterizing more systematically the circumstances under which they can happen to be flavor…
Local cosmic strings solutions are introduced in a model with a pseudo-anomalous U(1) gauge symmetry. Such a symmetry is present in many superstring compactification models. The coupling of those strings with the axion necessary in order to…
I briefly describe the recent construction of the first specific string D-brane models yielding just the SM massless fermion spectrum. One of the most remarkable facts predicted by these constructions is that the global symmetries of the SM…