Related papers: D-strings in unconventional type I vacuum configur…
The spectrum of open strings on various non-BPS D-brane configurations in type II string theory on a K3 orbifold is analysed. At a generic point in the corresponding moduli space the spectrum of open strings does not have any degeneracy…
We construct two new SL(2,Z) invariant vacua of type IIB string theory which are bound states of $(p,q)$ strings with $(m,n)$ 5-branes, written as ((F, D1), (NS5, D5)) and preserve 1/4 of the full space-time supersymmetries. For the first…
We use freely acting asymmetric orbifolds of type IIB string theory to construct a class of theories in four dimensions with eight supercharges. Their low energy effective field theories resemble $STU$ models, but have different duality…
We generalize the construction of four dimensional non-tachyonic orientifolds of type 0B string theory to non-supersymmetric backgrounds. We construct a four dimensional model containing self-dual D3 and D9-branes and leading to a chiral…
We study the spectrum of stable BPS and non-BPS D-branes in Z_2 x Z_2 orientifolds for all choices of discrete torsion between the orbifold and orientifold generators. We compute the torsion K-theory charges in these D=4, N=1 orientifold…
We introduce a new class of non-compact backgrounds of Type IIB string theory preserving eight supercharges by combining S-folds and non-perturbative 7-branes wrapping orbifolds, and study the four-dimensional superconformal field theories…
We consider non-perturbative six and four dimensional N=1 space-time supersymmetric orientifolds. Some states in such compactifications arise in ``twisted'' open string sectors which lack world-sheet description in terms of D-branes. Using…
We consider Z2, freely acting orbifolds of the type IIB string with 16 parallel D5-branes. When the string is compactified on T2 X T4 and the D5-branes are wrapped on T2, these systems possess N=2 supersymmetry, originating from the…
We present non-supersymmetric toroidal compactifications of type I string theory with both constant background NSNS two-form flux and non-trivial magnetic flux on the various D9-branes. The non-vanishing B-flux admits four-dimensional…
It is shown that the orbifold of type IIB string theory by (-1)^{F_L} I_4 admits a stable non-BPS Dirichlet particle that is stuck on the orbifold fixed plane. It is charged under the SO(2) gauge group coming from the twisted sector, and…
We use the boundary state formalism to study, from the closed string point of view, superpositions of branes and anti-branes which are relevant in some non-perturbative string dualities. Treating the tachyon instability of these systems as…
We consider the propagation of Type I open superstrings on orbifolds with four non-compact dimensions and $N=1$ supersymmetry. In this paper, we concentrate on a non-trivial Z_2xZ_2 example. We show that consistency conditions, arising from…
We present special classes of orientifold models involving supersymmetry breaking via branes at angles. Type II superstring theories are compactified on a two torus times a four-dimensional orbifold. Combining worldsheet parity with a…
We obtain the supergravity solution which describes a bound state of D-string/anti-D-string pairs attached to different fixed planes of an orbifold, in type IIB string theory compactified on T^4/Z_2. For parameters at which the conformal…
There are two families of non-BPS bi-spinors in the perturbative spectrum of the nine dimensional heterotic string charged under the gauge group $SO(16)\times SO(16)$. The relation between these perturbative non-BPS states and certain…
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…
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…
In certain regions of the moduli space of K3 and Calabi-Yau manifolds, D-branes wrapped on non-supersymmetric cycles may give rise to stable configurations. We show that in the orbifold limit, some of these stable configurations can be…
We study string theory propagating on R^6 times K3 by constructing orientifolds of Type IIB string theory compactified on the T^4/Z_N orbifold limits of the K3 surface. This generalises the Z_2 case studied previously. The orientifold…
Generalised Complex Geometry provides a natural interpretation of the $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetry conditions for warped solutions of type II supergravity as differential equations on polyforms on the internal manifold. Written in this…