Orientifolds of type IIA strings on Calabi-Yau manifolds

We identify type IIA orientifolds that are dual toM-theory compactifications on manifolds withG ₂-holonomy. We then discuss the construction of cross-cap states in Gepner models.     

Calabi-Yau 4-folds and toric fibrations

We present a general scheme for identifying fibrations in the framework of toric geometry and provide a large list of weights for Calabi-Yau 4-folds. We find 914 164 weights with degree d ≤ 150 whose maximal Newton polyhedra are reflexive and 525 572 weights with degree d ≤ 4000 that give rise to weighted projective spaces such that the polynomial defining a hypersurface of trivial canonical class is transversal. We compute all Hodge numbers, using Batyrev's formulas (derived by toric methods) for the first and Vafa's formulas (obtained by counting of Ramond ground states in N = 2 LG models) for the latter class, checking their consistency for the 109 308 weights in the overlap. Fibrations of k-folds, including the elliptic case, manifest themselves in the N lattice in the following simple way: The polyhedron corresponding to the fiber is a subpolyhedron of that corresponding to the k-fold, whereas the fan determining the base is a linear projection of the fan corresponding to the k-fold.     

Generalized hypergeometric functions and rational curves on Calabi-Yau complete intersections in toric varieties

We formulate general conjectures about the relationship between the A-model connection on the cohomology of ad-dimensional Calabi-Yau complete intersectionV ofr hypersurfacesV ₁ ,...,V _r in a toric varietyP and the system of differential operators annihilating the special generalized hypergeometric series ⁰ constructed from the fan . Using this generalized hypergeometric series, we propose conjectural mirrorsV ofV and the canonicalq-coordinates on the moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau manifolds.In the second part of the paper we consider some examples of Calabi-Yau 3-folds having Picard number >1 in products of projective spaces. For conjectural mirrors, using the recurrent relation among coefficients of the restriction of the hypergeometric function ⁰ on a special line in the moduli space, we determine the Picard-Fuchs equation satisfied by periods of this special one-parameter subfamily. This allows to obtain some sequences of integers which can be conjecturally interpreted in terms of Gromov-Witten invariants. Using standard techniques from enumerative geometry, first terms of these sequence of integers are checked to coincide with numbers of rational curves on Calabi-Yau 3-folds.     

Unconventional low-energy SUSY from warped geometry

Supersymmetric models with a warped fifth spatial dimension can solve the hierarchy problem, avoiding some shortcomings of non-supersymmetric constructions, and predict a plethora of new phenomena at typical scales Λ not far from the electroweak scale (Λ∼ a few TeV). In this paper we derive the low-energy effective theories of these models, valid at energies below Λ. We find that, in general, such effective theories can deviate significantly from the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) or other popular extensions of it, like the NMSSM: they have non-minimal Kähler potentials (even in the M_p→∞ limit), and the radion is coupled to the visible fields, both in the superpotential and the Kähler potential, in a non-trivial (and quite model-independent) fashion. The corresponding phenomenology is pretty unconventional, in particular the electroweak breaking occurs in a non-radiative way, with tanβ≃1 as a quite robust prediction, while the mass of the lightest Higgs boson can be as high as ∼ 700 GeV.     

Recovering singularities of a potential from singularities of scattering data

In this paper we show that the leading singularities of certain potentials can be determined from the leading singularities of the backscattering (as well as other determined sets of scattering data). The potentials in question are conormal with respect to smooth surfaces of arbitrary dimension; the restrictions on their orders allow for unbounded potentials in all dimension greater than or equal to three.Partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-9101298 and an Alfred P. Sloan Research FellowshipPartially supported by NSF Grant DMS-9100178     

Accelerating universes from compactification on a warped conifold

We find a cosmological solution corresponding to the compactification of 10D supergravity on a warped conifold that easily circumvents the "no-go" theorem given for a warped or flux compactification, providing new perspectives for the study of supergravity or superstring theory in cosmological backgrounds. With fixed volume moduli of the internal space, the model can explain a physical Universe undergoing an accelerated expansion in the 4D Einstein frame, for a sufficiently long time. The solution found in the limit that the warp factor dependent on the radial coordinate y is extremized (giving a constant warping) is smooth and it supports a flat four-dimensional Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology undergoing a period of accelerated expansion with slowly rolling or stabilized volume moduli.     

Hierarchies from D-brane instantons in globally defined Calabi-Yau orientifolds

We construct the first globally consistent semirealistic type I string vacua on an elliptically fibered manifold where the zero modes of the Euclidean D1-instanton sector allow for the generation of nonperturbative Majorana masses of an intermediate scale. In another class of global models, a D1-brane instanton can generate a Polonyi-type superpotential breaking supersymmetry at an exponentially suppressed scale.     

Some exact results on the superpotential from Calabi-Yau compactifications

We prove that certain superpotential couplings in compactified string theories are given exactly by the values calculated at sigma-model tree level. In particular, the 27³ coupling in (2,2) compactifications is a coupling of this sort. We explicitly check our results by examining the couplings in an exactly soluble model proposed by Gepner as a particular point in the moduli space of (2,2) compactifications on Y_{4; 5}. We thus determine the exact values of the normalized 27³ couplings for any value of the radius of Y_{4; 5}.     

Majorana neutrinos from inverse seesaw in warped extra dimension

We propose the inverse seesaw mechanism as a way to understand small Majorana masses for neutrinos in warped extra dimension models with seesaw scale in the TeV range. The ultra-small lepton number violation needed in implementing inverse seesaw mechanism in 4D models is explained in this model as a consequence of lepton number breaking occurring on the Planck brane. We construct realistic models based on this idea that fit observed neutrino oscillation data for both normal and inverted mass patterns. We compute the corrections to light neutrino masses from the Kaluza-Klein modes and show that they are small in the parameter range of interest. Another feature of the model is that the absence of global parity anomaly implies the existence of at least one light sterile neutrino with sterile and active neutrino mixing in the range suggested by the LSND and MiniBooNE observations.     

Light neutrinos from a mini-seesaw mechanism in warped space

The seesaw mechanism provides a simple explanation for the lightness of the known neutrinos. Under the standard assumption of a weak scale Dirac mass and a heavy sterile Majorana scale the neutrino mass is naturally suppressed below the weak scale. However, Nature may employ Dirac and Majorana scales that are much less than typically assumed, possibly even far below the weak scale. In this case the seesaw mechanism alone would not completely explain the lightness of the neutrinos. In this work we consider a warped framework that realizes this possibility by combining naturally suppressed Dirac and Majorana scales together in a mini-seesaw mechanism to generate light neutrino masses. Via the AdS/CFT correspondence the model is dual to a 4D theory with a hidden strongly coupled sector containing light composite right-handed neutrinos.