General N=1 supersymmetric flux vacua of massive type IIA string theory

We derive conditions for the existence of four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric flux vacua of massive type IIA string theory with general supergravity fluxes turned on. For an SU(3) singlet Killing spinor, we show that such flux vacua exist when the internal geometry is nearly K?hler. The geometry is not warped, all the allowed fluxes are proportional to the mass parameter, and the dilaton is fixed by a ratio of (quantized) fluxes. The four-dimensional cosmological constant, while negative, becomes small in the vacuum with the weak string coupling.     

On the low energy spectra of the non-supersymmetric heterotic string theories

The ten dimensional string theories as well as eleven dimensional supergravity are conjectured to arise as limits of a more basic theory, traditionally dubbed M-theory. This notion is confined to the ten dimensional supersymmetric theories. String theory, however, also contains ten dimensional non-supersymmetric theories that have not been incorporated into this picture. In this note we explore the possibility of generating the low energy spectra of various non-supersymmetric heterotic string vacua from the Horava–Witten model. We argue that this can be achieved by imposing on the Horava–Witten model an invariance with respect to some extra operators which identify the orbifold fixed planes in a non-trivial way, and we demonstrate it for the E₈ and SO(16)×SO(16) heterotic string vacua in ten dimensions.     

Remarks on Positive Energy Vacua via Effective Potentials in String Theory

We study warped compactifications of string/M theory with the help of effective potentials, continuing previous work of the last two authors and Michael R. Douglas presented in (On the boundedness of effective potentials arising from string compactifications. Communications in Mathematical Physics 325(3):847–878, 2014). Under physically reasonable assumptions, we provide a mathematically rigorous proof of the existence of positive local minima of a large class of effective potentials. The dynamics of the conformal factor of the internal metric, which is responsible for instabilities in these constructions, is explored, and such instabilities are investigated in the context of de Sitter vacua. We prove existence results for the equations of motion in the case of a slowly varying warp factor, and the stability of such solutions is also addressed. These solutions are a family of meta-stable de Sitter vacua from type IIB string theory in a general non-supersymmetric setup.     

Quantization of degenerate vacua and symmetry breaking in string theory

We consider the implications of the existence of continuous families of classically degenerate vacua in constructing quantum string theory in compact toroidal spacetimes. We show that in the presence of unbroken supersymmetry when quantum corrections do not lift the degeneracy, symmetries of particular compactifications can be broken by the presence of the neighbouring vacua. We explicitly demonstrate this in case of the heterotic string where the gauge group SO(32) or E₈×E₈ breaks down to U(1)¹⁶ due to neighbouring configurations of arbitrary Wilson lines.     

The energy of the analytic lump solution in SFT

Journal of High Energy Physics - We study $ \mathcal{N} = 1 $ Minkowski vacua in compactifications of type II string theory in the language of exceptional generalized geometry (EGG). We find the...     

Complex/Symplectic Mirrors

We construct a class of symplectic non-Kähler and complex non-Kähler string theory vacua, extending and providing evidence for an earlier suggestion by Polchinski and Strominger. The class admits a mirror pairing by construction. Comparing hints from a variety of sources, including ten-dimensional supergravity and KK reduction on SU(3)-structure manifolds, suggests a picture in which string theory extends Reid’s fantasy to connect classes of both complex non-Kähler and symplectic non-Kähler manifolds.     

Computational complexity of the landscape: Part I

We study the computational complexity of the physical problem of finding vacua of string theory which agree with data, such as the cosmological constant, and show that such problems are typically NP hard. In particular, we prove that in the Bousso-Polchinski model, the problem is NP complete. We discuss the issues this raises and the possibility that, even if we were to find compelling evidence that some vacuum of string theory describes our universe, we might never be able to find that vacuum explicitly. In a companion paper, we apply this point of view to the question of how early cosmology might select a vacuum.     

New principles for string/membrane unification

The target space theory of the N = (2,1) heterotic string may be interpreted as a theory of gravity coupled to matter in either 1 + 1 or 2 + 1 dimensions. Among the target space theories in 1 + 1 dimensions are the bosonic, type II, and heterotic string world-sheet field theories in a physical gauge. The (2 + 1)-dimensional version describes a consistent quantum theory of supermembranes in 10 + 1 dimensions. The unifying framework for all of these vacua is a theory of (2 + 2)-dimensional self-dual geometries embedded in 10 + 2 dimensions. There are also indications that the N = (2,1) string describes the strong-coupling dynamics of compactifications of critical string theories to two dimensions, and may lead to insights about the fundamental degrees of freedom of the theory.     

de Sitter vacua from matter superpotentials

Consistent uplifting of AdS vacua in string theory often requires extra light degrees of freedom in addition to those of a (Kähler) modulus. Here we consider the possibility that de Sitter and Minkowski vacua arise due to hidden sector matter interactions. We find that, in this scheme, the hierarchically small supersymmetry breaking scale can be explained by the scale of gaugino condensation and that interesting patterns of the soft terms arise. In particular, a matter-dominated supersymmetry breaking scenario and a version of the mirage mediation scheme appear in the framework of spontaneously broken supergravity.     

Superconformal compactifications in weighted projective space

We discuss some aspects of string vacua constructed from orbifolded nonminimal Landau-Ginzburg theories which correspond to Calabi-Yau manifolds in weighted projective space. In contrast to previous expectations, we find that these theories allow for the construction of numerous stable (2, 0) Calabi-Yau vacua (most of which are not simply deformations of an underlying (2, 2) theory) thus indicating that this phenomenologically promising sector of the space of classical vacua is quite robust. We briefly discuss methods for extracting the phenomenology of these models and show, for example, that the full renormalizable superpotential of ourSU(5) theories is not corrected by world sheet instantons and is thus given exactly by its tree-level value. Address after June 1, 1990: F.R. Newman Laboratory of Nuclear Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA     

Superconformal compactifications in weighted projective space

We discuss some aspects of string vacua constructed from orbifolded nonminimal Landau-Ginzburg theories which correspond to Calabi-Yau manifolds in weighted projective space. In contrast to previous expectations, we find that these theories allow for the construction of numerous stable (2, 0) Calabi-Yau vacua (most of which are not simply deformations of an underlying (2, 2) theory) thus indicating that this phenomenologically promising sector of the space of classical vacua is quite robust. We briefly discuss methods for extracting the phenomenology of these models and show, for example, that the full renormalizable superpotential of ourSU(5) theories is not corrected by world sheet instantons and is thus given exactly by its tree-level value.Address after June 1, 1990: F. R. Newman Laboratory of Nuclear Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA     

Braves and the dynamics of QCD

A brane configuration is described that is relevant to understanding the dynamics of N = 1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Confinement and spontaneous breaking of a discrete chiral symmetry can be understood as consequences of the topology of the brane. Because of the symmetry breaking, there can be domain walls separating different vacua; the QCD string can end on such a domain wall. The model in which these properties can be understood semiclassically does not coincide with supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory but is evidently in the same universality class.     

Small instantons in string theory

A long-standing puzzle about the heterotic string has been what happens when an instanton shrinks to zero size. It is argued here that the answer at the quantum level is that an extra SU(2) gauge symmetry appears that is supported in the core of the instanton. Thus in particular the quantum heterotic string has vacua with higher rank than is possible in conformal field theory. When k instantons collapse at the same point, the enhanced gauge symmetry is Sp(k). These results, which can be tested by comparison to Dirichlet five-branes of Type I superstrings and to the ADHM construction of instantons, give the first example for the heterotic string of a non-perturbative phenomenon that cannot be turned off by making the coupling smaller. They have applications to several interesting puzzles about string duality.     

Compactifications of the heterotic string with unitary bundles

We describe a large new class of four‐dimensional supersymmetric string vacua defined as compactifications of the E₈ × E₈ and the SO(32) heterotic string on smooth Calabi‐Yau threefolds with unitary gauge bundles and heterotic five‐branes. The conventional gauge symmetry breaking via Wilson lines is replaced by the embedding of non‐flat line bundles into the ten‐dimensional gauge group, thus opening up the way for phenomenologically interesting string compactifications on simply connected manifolds. After a detailed analysis of the four‐dimensional effective theory we exemplify the general framework by means of a couple of explicit examples involving the spectral cover construction of stable holomorphic bundles. As for the SO(32) heterotic string, the resulting vacua can be viewed, in the S‐dual Type I picture, as a generalisation of magnetized D9/D5‐brane models. In the case of the E₈ × E₈ string, we find a natural way to construct realistic MSSM‐like models, either directly or via a flipped SU(5) GUT scenario.     

Scattering amplitudes in open superstring theory

This review is concerned with scattering amplitudes in open superstring theories. In particular, we introduce two different formalisms to compute tree level amplitudes – the Ramond Neveu Schwarz‐ (RNS‐) and the Pure Spinor (PS‐) formalism. The RNS approach proves to be flexible in describing compactifications from ten to four flat spacetime dimensions. We solve the technical problems due to the underlying interacting conformal field theory on the worldsheet. This is exploited to extract phenomenologically relevant scattering amplitudes of gluons and quarks as well as production‐ and decay rates of massive vibration modes which have already been identified as virtual exchange particles at the massless level. In case of a TeV string scale, string specific signatures in parton collisions might be observed at the LHC experiment in the near future and constitute the first experimental evidence for string theory. These statements apply to a wide class of string vacua and therefore bypass the so‐called landscape problem of string theory. The PS formalism allows for a manifestly supersymmetric treatment of scattering amplitudes in ten spacetime dimensions with sixteen supercharges. We introduce a family of superfields which arises in tree amplitudes of massless open string states and can be naturally identified with diagrams made of cubic vertices. We firstly achieve a compact superspace representation of multiparticle field theory amplitudes and moreover express the complete n point superstring amplitude as a minimal linear combination of partial field theory amplitudes and hypergeometric functions. The latter carry the stringy effects and are analyzed from different perspectives.     

Mirror symmetry and the web of Landau-Ginzburg string vacua

We present some mathematical aspects of Landau-Ginzburg string vacua in terms of toric geometry. The one-to-one correspondence between toric divisors and some of the (−1, 1) states in the Landau-Ginzburg model is presented for superpotentials of typical types. The Landau-Ginzburg interpretation of non-toric divisors is also presented. Using this interpretation, we propose a method to solve the so-called “twisted sector problem” by orbifold construction. Moreover, this construction shows that the moduli spaces of the original Landau-Ginzburg string vacua and their orbifolds are connected. By considering the mirror map of the Landau-Ginzburg models, we obtain the relation between Mori vectors and the twist operators of our orbifoldization. This consideration enables us to argue the embedding of the Seiberg-Witten curve in the defining equation of the Calabi-Yau manifolds on which the type II string gets compactified. Related topics concerning the Calabi-Yau fourfolds and the extremal transition are discussed.     

Interacting physical states of the bosonic string. I

A preliminary discussion on the importance of the contact terms in relation with the existence of many string vacua is presented. The problem of the BRST invariance of the string states transition amplitudes is considered in the sigma model approach to the string. It is shown that the BRST invariance is controlled by a gravitational (Diff) anomaly, and its connections with the standard Virasoro constraints are illustrated. The tachyon amplitudes are analysed and the BRST invariant dilaton vertex operator for non flat world-sheet is constructed.     

Why there is something rather than nothing: cosmological constant from summing over everything in lorentzian quantum gravity

The density matrix of the Universe for the microcanonical ensemble in quantum cosmology describes an equipartition in the physical phase space of the theory (sum over everything), but in terms of the observable spacetime geometry this ensemble is peaked about the set of recently obtained cosmological instantons limited to a bounded range of the cosmological constant. This suggests the mechanism of constraining the landscape of string vacua and a possible solution to the dark energy problem in the form of the quasiequilibrium decay of the microcanonical state of the Universe.     

Critical Points and Supersymmetric Vacua, III: String/M Models

A fundamental problem in contemporary string/M theory is to count the number of inequivalent vacua satisfying constraints in a string theory model. This article contains the first rigorous results on the number and distribution of supersymmetric vacua of type IIb string theories compactified on a Calabi-Yau 3-fold X with flux. In particular, complete proofs of the counting formulas in Ashok-Douglas [AD] and Denef-Douglas [DD1] are given, together with van der Corput style remainder estimates.Supersymmetric vacua are critical points of certain holomorphic sections (flux superpotentials) of a line bundle over the moduli space of complex structures on X × T ² with respect to the Weil-Petersson connection. Flux superpotentials form a lattice of full rank in a 2 b ₃(X)-dimensional real subspace . We show that the density of critical points in for this lattice of sections is well approximated by Gaussian measures of the kind studied in [DSZ1,DSZ2,AD,DD1].Research partially supported by DOE grant DE-FG02-96ER40959 (first author) and NSF grants DMS-0100474 (second author) and DMS-0302518 (third author).