N=2 supergravity,type IIB superstrings,and algebraic geometry

The geometry ofN=2 supergravity is related to the variations of Hodge structure for formal Calabi-Yau spaces. All known results in this branch of algebraic geometry are easily recovered from supersymmetry arguments. This identification has a physical meaning for a type IIB superstring compactified on a Calabi-Yau 3-fold. We give exact (non-perturbative) results for the string effective lagrangian. Our geometrical framework suggests a re-formulation of the Gepner conjecture about (2,2) superconformal theories as the solution to theSchottky problem for algebraic complex manifolds having trivial canonical bundle.