Related papers: New M-theory Backgrounds with Frozen Moduli
We discuss the moduli space of nine dimensional N=1 supersymmetric compactifications of M theory / string theory with reduced rank (rank 10 or rank 2), exhibiting how all the different theories (including M theory compactified on a Klein…
We study M theory compactifications on manifolds of $G_2$-holonomy with gauge and matter fields supported at singularities. We show that, under certain topological conditions, the combination of background $G$-flux and background fields at…
In this thesis we study compactifications of type II string theories and M-theory to four dimensions. We construct the four-dimensional N=2 supergravities that arise from compactifications of type IIA string theory and M-theory on manifolds…
The current classification of $\mathcal{N} = 1$ string theories in eight and seven dimensions is completely captured by K3 surfaces with F-Theory or M-Theory frozen singularities. In this note we show that there are inequivalent ways of…
We study string compactifications with sixteen supersymmetries. The moduli space for these compactifications becomes quite intricate in lower dimensions, partly because there are many different irreducible components. We focus primarily,…
In this thesis, we explore two approaches to string phenomenology. In the first half of the work, we investigate M-theory compactifications on spaces with co-dimension four, orbifold singularities. We construct M-theory on C^2/Z_N by…
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 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 conduct a systematic search for a viable string/M-theory cosmology, focusing on cosmologies that include an era of slow-roll inflation, after which the moduli are stabilized and the Universe is in a state with an acceptably small…
Modular invariance is a necessary condition for the consistency of any closed string theory. In particular, it imposes stringent constraints on the spectrum of orbifold theories, and in principle determines their spectrum uniquely up to…
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…
These lectures intend to give a pedagogical introduction into some of the developments in string theory during the last years. They include perturbative T-duality and non perturbative S- and U-dualities, their unavoidable demand for…
We initiate a search for non-perturbative consistency conditions in M theory. Some non-perturbative conditions are already known in Type I theories; we review these and search for others. We focus principally on possible anomalies in…
This work is devoted to a study of some of the non-perturbative aspects of superstring theory that have come within reach thanks to dualities. The first chapter gives a non-technical zero-equation introduction to these developments intended…
Even with recent progress, it is still very much an open question to understand how all compactification moduli are stabilized, since there are several mechanisms. For example, it is possible to generate a scalar potential either…
In this dissertation, we study various aspects of type IIB string theory compactified on freely acting orbifolds. We focus particularly on asymmetric orbifolds, which are examples of non-geometric string compactifications and constitute an…
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…
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…
The perturbative analysis of models of open and closed superstrings presents a number of surprises. For instance, variable numbers of antisymmetric tensors ensure their consistency via generalized Green-Schwarz cancellations and a novel…
We consider compactifications of the matrix model of M-theory on $S^1/Z_2\times T^d$ for $d>0$, and interpret them as orbifolds of the supersymmetric U(N) Yang-Mills theory on $R\times T^{d+1}$. The orbifold group acts both on the gauge…