arXiv research

Starting from a higher Courant bracket associated to exceptional generalized geometry, we provide a systematic derivation of all types of fluxes and their Bianchi identities for four-dimensional compactifications of M-theory. We show that these fluxes may be understood as generalized Wess-Zumino terms in certain topolo…

We study constrained generalized Killing spinors over the metric cone and cylinder of a (pseudo-)Riemannian manifold, developing a toolkit which can be used to investigate certain problems arising in supersymmetric flux compactifications of supergravity theories. Using geometric algebra techniques, we give conceptually…

We study `constrained generalized Killing (s)pinors', which characterize supersymmetric flux compactifications of supergravity theories. Using geometric algebra techniques, we give conceptually clear and computationally effective methods for translating supersymmetry conditions into differential and algebraic constrain…

We discuss mirror symmetry in generalized Calabi-Yau compactifications of type II string theories with background NS fluxes. Starting from type IIB compactified on Calabi-Yau threefolds with NS three-form flux we show that the mirror type IIA theory arises from a purely geometrical compactification on a different class…

Three-dimensional smooth, compact toric varieties (SCTV), when viewed as real six-dimensional manifolds, can admit G-structures rendering them suitable for internal manifolds in supersymmetric flux compactifications. We develop techniques which allow us to systematically construct G-structures on SCTV and read off thei…

This dissertation explores Clifford bundles and spinor fields in geometric and algebraic contexts.

We show that the complex cohomologies of Bott, Chern, and Aeppli and the symplectic cohomologies of Tseng and Yau arise in the context of type II string theory. Specifically, they can be used to count a subset of scalar moduli fields in Minkowski compactification with RR fluxes in the presence of either O5/D5 or O6/D6 …

We show how supersymmetry conditions for flux compactifications of supergravity and string theory can be described in terms of a flat subalgebra of the Kahler-Atiyah algebra of the compactification space, a description which has wide-ranging applications. As a motivating example, we consider the most general M-theory c…

We study massless deformations of generalized calibrated cycles, which describe, in the language of generalized complex geometry, supersymmetric D-branes in N=1 supersymmetric compactifications with fluxes. We find that the deformations are classified by the first cohomology group of a Lie algebroid canonically associa…

In this paper we study several issues related to the generation of superpotential induced by background Ramond-Ramond fluxes in compactification of Type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau four-folds. Identifying BPS solitons with D-branes wrapped over calibrated submanifolds in a Calabi-Yau space, we propose a general for…

Y-algebroids generalize symmetry structures for string/M-theory compactifications.

We present a comprehensive classification of supersymmetric vacua of M-theory compactification on seven-dimensional manifolds with general four-form fluxes. We analyze the cases where the resulting four-dimensional vacua have N = 1,2,3,4 supersymmetry and the internal space allows for SU(2), SU(3) or G_2 structures. In…

In this thesis, we study moduli in compactifications of ten-dimensional heterotic supergravity. We consider supersymmetric compactifications to four-dimensional maximally symmetric space, commonly referred to as the Strominger system. The compact part of space-time $X$ is a six-dimensional manifold of what we refer to …

We construct new examples of torsional heterotic backgrounds using duality with orientifold flux compactifications. We explain how duality provides a perturbative solution to the type I/heterotic string Bianchi identity. The choice of connection used in the Bianchi identity plays an important role in the construction. …

We summarize our geometric and topological description of compact eight-manifolds which arise as internal spaces in ${\cal N}=1$ flux compactifications of M-theory down to $\mathrm{AdS}_3$, under the assumption that the internal part of the supersymmetry generator is everywhere non-chiral. Specifying such a supersymmet…

We construct new explicit compact supersymmetric valid solutions with non-zero field strength, non-flat instanton and constant dilaton to the heterotic equations of motion in dimension six. We present balanced Hermitian structures on compact nilmanifolds in dimension six satisfying the heterotic supersymmetry equations…

New mathematical framework connects M-theory charges to stable homotopy groups.

The Bianchi identities for bosonic fluxes in supergravity can receive higher derivative quantum and string corrections, the most well known being that of Heterotic theory $d H = \tfrac{1}{4}α'(\text{tr } F^2 - \text{tr } R^2)$. Less studied are the modifications at order $R^4$ that may arise, for example, in the Bianch…

We study a particular class of supersymmetric M-theory eight-dimensional non-geometric compactification backgrounds to three-dimensional Minkowski space-time, proving that the global space of the non-geometric compactification is still a differentiable manifold, although with very different geometric and topological pr…

We present an explicit formula for the topology and H-flux of the T-dual of a general type II compactification, significantly generalizing earlier results. Our results apply to T-dualities with respect to any circle action on spacetime. As before, T-duality exchanges type IIA and type IIB string theories. A new consequ…

Motivated by the description of $\mathcal{N}=1$ M-theory compactifications to four-dimensions given by Exceptional Generalized Geometry, we propose a way to geometrize the M-theory fluxes by appropriately relating the compactification space to a higher-dimensional manifold equipped with a torsion-free structure. As a n…

Motivated by the quest to understand the analog of non-geometric flux compactification in the context of M-theory, we study higher dimensional analogs of generalized Poisson sigma models and corresponding dual string and p-brane models. We find that higher generalizations of the algebraic structures due to Dorfman, Roy…

We analyse the geometry of generic Minkowski $\mathcal{N}=1$, $D=4$ flux compactifications in string theory, the default backgrounds for string model building. In M-theory they are the natural string theoretic extensions of $\mathrm{G}_2$ holonomy manifolds. In type II theories, they extend the notion of Calabi--Yau ge…

We expand upon a claim made in a recent paper [arXiv:1411.5721] that generic minimally supersymmetric AdS backgrounds of warped flux compactifications of Type II and M theory can be understood as satisfying a straightforward weak integrability condition in the language of $E_{d(d)}\times\mathbb{R}^+$ generalised geomet…

We study ten-dimensional supersymmetric vacua with NSNS non-geometric fluxes, in the framework of $β$-supergravity. We first provide expressions for the fermionic supersymmetry variations. Specifying a compactification ansatz to four dimensions, we deduce internal Killing spinor equations. These supersymmetry condition…

In this paper, we proved the Gauss-Bonnet-Chern theorem on moduli space of polarized Kahler manifolds. Using our results, we proved the rationality of the Chern-Weil forms (with respect to the Weil-Petersson metric) on CY moduli. As an application in physics, by the Ashok-Douglas theory, counting the number of flux com…

We present a sigma model field theoretic realization of Hitchin's generalized complex geometry, which recently has been shown to be relevant in compactifications of superstring theory with fluxes. Hitchin sigma model is closely related to the well known Poisson sigma model, of which it has the same field content. The c…

We derive expressions for the Ricci curvature tensor and scalar in terms of intrinsic torsion classes of half-flat manifolds by exploiting the relationship between half-flat manifolds and non-compact $G_2$ holonomy manifolds. Our expressions are tested for Iwasawa and more general nilpotent manifolds. We also derive ex…

In this paper we investigate the properties of series of vacua in the string theory landscape. In particular, we study minima to the flux potential in type IIB compactifications on the mirror quintic. Using geometric transitions, we embed its one dimensional complex structure moduli space in that of another Calabi-Yau …

The requirement of ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetry for M-theory backgrounds of the form of a warped product ${\cal M}\times_{w}X$, where $X$ is an eight-manifold and ${\cal M}$ is three-dimensional Minkowski or AdS space, implies the existence of a nowhere-vanishing Majorana spinor $ξ$ on $X$. $ξ$ lifts to a nowhere-vanishi…

We characterize compact eight-manifolds M which arise as internal spaces in N=1 flux compactifications of M-theory down to AdS3 using the theory of foliations, for the case when the internal part of the supersymmetry generator is everywhere non-chiral. We prove that specifying such a supersymmetric background is equiva…

Unified description of p-brane QP-manifolds connects two recent tensor hierarchy descriptions.

Compactification of M- / string theory on manifolds with $G_2$ structure yields a wide variety of 4D and 3D physical theories. We analyze the local geometry of such compactifications as captured by a gauge theory obtained from a three-manifold of ADE singularities. Generic gauge theory solutions include a non-trivial g…

We present a general procedure to construct 6-dimensional manifolds with SU(3)-structure from SU(2)-structure 5-manifolds. We thereby obtain half-flat cylinders and sine-cones over 5-manifolds with Sasaki-Einstein SU(2)-structure. They are nearly Kahler in the special case of sine-cones over Sasaki-Einstein 5-manifolds…

Metabolic flux balance analyses are a standard tool in analysing metabolic reaction rates compatible with measurements, steady-state and the metabolic reaction network stoichiometry. Flux analysis methods commonly place unrealistic assumptions on fluxes due to the convenience of formulating the problem as a linear prog…

Study new ECS structures in 5D Minkowski compactifications of M-theory.

We review the remarkable progress that has been made the last 15 years towards the classification of supersymmetric solutions with emphasis on the description of the bilinears and spinorial geometry methods. We describe in detail the geometry of backgrounds of key supergravity theories, which have applications in the c…

In three dimensions, a `master theory' for all Thurston geometries requires imaginary flux. However, these geometries can be obtained from physical three-dimensional theories with various additional scalar fields, which can be interpreted as moduli in various compactifications of a higher-dimensional `master theory'. T…

We construct a class of stable SU(5) bundles on an elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefold with two sections, a variant of the ordinary Weierstrass fibration, which admits a free involution. The bundles are invariant under the involution, solve the topological constraint imposed by the heterotic anomaly equation and …

In arXiv:1008.1018 it is shown that a given stable vector bundle $V$ on a Calabi-Yau threefold $X$ which satisfies $c_2(X)=c_2(V)$ can be deformed to a solution of the Strominger system and the equations of motion of heterotic string theory. In this note we extend this result to the polystable case and construct explic…

Paper shows how Non-Abelian T-duality solves pure spinor equations in supersymmetric vacua.

Hitchin's generalized complex geometry has been shown to be relevant in compactifications of superstring theory with fluxes and is expected to lead to a deeper understanding of mirror symmetry. Gualtieri's notion of generalized complex submanifold seems to be a natural candidate for the description of branes in this co…

Study introduces a probabilistic framework for air-sea fluxes using neural networks.

11D supergravity completes with quantized C-field flux.

We study the flux homomorphism for closed forms of arbitrary degree, with special emphasis on volume forms and on symplectic forms. The volume flux group is an invariant of the underlying manifold, whose non-vanishing implies that the manifold resembles one with a circle action with homologically essential orbits.

Analyzes quantization of flux observables in gauge theories.

We begin by presenting a symmetric version of the circle equivariant T-duality result in a joint work of the second author with Siye Wu, thereby generalising the results there. We then initiate the study of twisted equivariant Courant algebroids and equivariant generalised geometry and apply it to our context. As befor…

We define intrinsic torsion in generalised geometry and use it to introduce a new notion of generalised special holonomy. We then consider generic warped supersymmetric flux compactifications of M theory and Type II of the form $\mathbb{R}^{D-1,1}\times M$. Using the language of $E_{d(d)}\times\mathbb{R}^+$ generalised…