Related papers: Dualities versus Singularities
Let X be a smooth projective curve of genus at least two over the complex numbers. A pair (E,\phi) over X consists of an algebraic vector bundle E over X and a holomorphic section \phi of E. There is a concept of stability for pairs which…
We report on some recent investigations of the structure of the four dimensional gauged supergravity Lagrangian which emerges from flux and Scherk-Schwarz compactifications in higher dimensions. Special attention is given to the gauge…
This paper analyses type II string theories in backgrounds which admit an SU(3) x SU(3) structure. Such backgrounds are designed to linearly realize eight out of the original 32 supercharges and as a consequence the low-energy effective…
We describe the singular locus of the compactification of the moduli space $R_{g,l}$ of curves of genus $g$ paired with an $l$-torsion point in their Jacobian. Generalising previous work for $l\le 2$, we also describe the sublocus of…
We discuss toroidal compactifications of maximal supergravity coupled to an extended configuration of BPS states which transform consistently under the U-duality group. Under certain conditions this leads to theories that live in more than…
This is the transcript of a talk given at the 3rd Simons Workshop in Mathematics and Physics on July 26, 2005. We review the genesis of the CHL (Chaudhuri-Hockney-Lykken) project, explaining both its phenomenological goals and theoretical…
In this paper we show that there exists a new class of topological field theories, whose correlators are intersection numbers of cohomology classes in a constrained moduli space. Our specific example is a formulation of 2D topological…
We construct flux-stabilised IIB compactifications whose extra dimensions (EDs) have very different sizes, and use these to describe several vacua with a TeV string scale. Because we can access regimes where 2 dimensions are hierarchically…
A physical theory of experiments carried out in a space-time region can accommodate a detector localized in another space-like separated region, in three, not necessarily exclusive, ways: 1) the detector formally collapses physical states…
It seems to me at this time that two recent developments may permit fast progress on our way to understand the symmetry structure of toroidally (compactified and) reduced M-theory. The first indication of a (possibly) thin spot in the wall…
A toric variety is a normal complex variety which is completely described by combinatorial data, namely by a fan of strongly convex rational (with respect to a lattice) cones. Due to this rationality condition, toric varieties are…
This paper discusses the dilaton, K\"ahler moduli and hidden sector matter chiral superfields of heterotic $M$-theory vacua in which the hidden sector gauge bundle is chosen to be a line bundle with an anomalous U(1) structure group. For…
An important, if relatively less well known aspect of the singularity theorems in Lorentzian Geometry is to understand how their conclusions fare upon weakening or suppression of one or more of their hypotheses. Then, theorems with modified…
We consider an empty (4+1) dimensional Kaluza-Klein universe with a negative cosmological constant and a Robertson-Walker type metric. It is shown that the solutions to Einstein field equations have degenerate metric and exhibit…
We study vacuum domain walls in a class of four-dimensional $N=1$ supergravity theories where along with the matter field, forming the wall, there is more than one ``dilaton'', each respecting $SU(1,1)$ symmetry in their sub-sector. We find…
Existence of SL(2,Z) duality in toroidally compactified heterotic string theory (or in the N=4 supersymmetric gauge theories), that includes the strong weak coupling duality transformation, implies the existence of certain supersymmetric…
We construct a solitonic 3-brane solution in the 5-dimensional Einstein-Hilbert-Gauss-Bonnet theory. This solitonic brane is delta-function like, and has the property that gravity is completely localized on the brane. That is, there are no…
We study the Euclidean-signature supergravities that arise by compactifying D=11 supergravity or type IIB supergravity on a torus that includes the time direction. We show that the usual T-duality relation between type IIA and type IIB…
The AdS/CFT correspondence, or more generally the gauge/gravity duality, is a remarkable conjecture obtained from superstring theory with various D-brane backgrounds. According to this conjecture, a higher-dimensional curved space-time…
In this paper we study compactifications of heterotic string theory on manifolds satisfying the ddbar-lemma. We consider the Strominger system description of the low energy supergravity to first order in alpha' and show that the moduli of…