String Theory And Particle Physics: An Introduction To String Phenomenology – Luis E. Ibáñez, Angel M. Uranga – 1st Edition

Preface page xi
1 The Standard Model and beyond 1
1.1 The Standard Model of particle physics 1
1.2 Grand Unified Theories 4
1.3 The SM fine-tuning puzzles 12
1.4 Extra dimensions 18
2 Supersymmetry 25
2.1 Four-dimensional N = 1 supersymmetry 25
2.2 SUSY breaking 32
2.3 N = 1 Supergravity 35
2.4 Extended supersymmetry and supergravity 37
2.5 Non-perturbative dynamics in supersymmetric theories 41
2.6 Low-energy supersymmetry and the MSSM 44
3 Introduction to string theory: the bosonic string 62
3.1 Generalities 63
3.2 Closed bosonic string 72
3.3 Open bosonic string 91
3.4 Unoriented bosonic string theory 97
4 Superstrings 103
4.1 Fermions on the worldsheet 103
4.2 Type II string theories 104
4.3 Heterotic string theories 117
4.4 Type I string theory 126
4.5 Summary 134
5 Toroidal compactification of superstrings 136
5.1 Type II superstrings 136
5.2 Heterotic superstrings 141
5.3 Type I toroidal compactification and D-branes 146
6 Branes and string duality 155
6.1 D-branes in string theory 155
6.2 Supergravity description of non-perturbative states 165
6.3 Strings at strong coupling and 10d string duality 168
6.4 AdS/CFT and gauge/gravity dualities 178
6.5 Brane-antibrane systems and non-BPS D-branes 180
7 Calabi-Yau compactification of heterotic superstrings 185
7.1 A road map for string compactifications 185
7.2 Generalities on Calabi-Yau compactification 186
7.3 Heterotic CY compactifications: standard embedding 199
7.4 Heterotic CY compactifications: non-standard embedding 206
7.5 CY compactifications of Ho?rava-Witten theory 211
8 Heterotic string orbifolds and other exact CFT constructions 215
8.1 Toroidal orbifolds 215
8.2 Heterotic compactification on toroidal orbifolds 218
8.3 Non-standard embeddings and Wilson lines 235
8.4 Asymmetric orbifolds 242
8.5 The fermionic construction 246
8.6 Gepner models 252
9 Heterotic string compactifications: effective action 264
9.1 A first look at the heterotic 4d N = 1 effective action 264
9.2 Heterotic M-theory effective action 272
9.3 Effective action of orbifold models 273
9.4 Gauge couplings and Kac-Moody level 280
9.5 Anomalous U(1)s and Fayet-Illiopoulos terms 282
9.6 T-duality and the effective action 286
9.7 Orbifold model building revisited 293
9.8 Higher Kac-Moody level models and string GUTs 296
10 Type IIA orientifolds: intersecting brane worlds 298
10.1 Type II on CY and orientifolding 298
10.2 Intersecting D6-branes in flat 10d space 302
10.3 Compactification and an example of a toroidal model 306
10.4 Introducing O6-planes 314
10.5 Non-supersymmetric particle physics models 320
10.6 Supersymmetric particle physics models in T 6/Z2 × Z2 orientifolds 325
10.7 Generalizations and related constructions 329
11 Type IIB orientifolds 340
11.1 Generalities of type IIB orientifold actions 340
11.2 Type IIB toroidal orientifolds 341
11.3 D-branes at singularities 356
11.4 Magnetized D-brane models 370
11.5 F-theory model building 381
12 Type II compactifications: effective action 396
12.1 The closed string moduli in type II orientifolds 396
12.2 Kähler metrics of matter fields in toroidal orientifolds 404
12.3 The gauge kinetic function 408
12.4 U(1)’s and FI terms 412
12.5 Superpotentials and Yukawa couplings in type II orientifolds 416
12.6 Effective action of an MSSM-like example 426
12.7 Yukawa couplings in local F-theory models 429
13 String instantons and effective field theory 432
13.1 Instantons in field theory and string theory 432
13.2 Fermion zero modes for D-brane instantons 441
13.3 Phenomenological applications 446
14 Flux compatifications and moduli stabilization 455
14.1 Type IIB with 3-form fluxes 455
14.2 Fluxes in type II toroidal orientifolds 467
14.3 D-branes and fluxes 475
14.4 Mirror symmetry, T-duality, and non-geometric fluxes 479
14.5 Fluxes in other string constructions 482
15 Moduli stabilization and supersymmetry breaking in string theory 483
15.1 SUSY and SUSY breaking in string compactifications 483
15.2 SUSY breaking and moduli fixing in heterotic models 485
15.3 SUSY breaking and moduli fixing in type II orientifolds 489
15.4 Soft terms from fluxes in type IIB orientifolds 495
15.5 General parametrization of moduli/dilaton induced SUSY
breaking 501
15.6 Modulus/dilaton dominated SUSY breaking spectra and the LHC 510
15.7 Other mediation mechanisms in string theory 515
16 Further phenomenological properties. Strings and cosmology 518
16.1 Scales and unification in string theory 518
16.2 Axions in string theory 528
16.3 R-parity and B/L-violation 531
16.4 Extra U(1) gauge bosons 534
16.5 Strings at the weak scale 540
16.6 Strings and cosmology 543
17 The space of string vacua 558
17.1 General properties of the massless spectrum in string
compactifications 558
17.2 The flavour landscape 566
17.3 The flux landscape 570
17.4 Outlook 573
Appendix A Modular functions 576
Appendix B Some topological tools 579
B.1 Forms and cycles: cohomology and homology 579
B.2 Hodge dual 584
B.3 Application: p-form gauge fields 585
B.4 Homotopy groups 588
Appendix C Spectrum and charges of a semi-realistic Z3 heterotic orbifold 589
Appendix D Computation of RR tadpoles 592
D.1 RR tadpoles in type I theory 592
D.2 Tadpoles for T 6/ZN type IIB orientifolds 595
Appendix E CFT toolkit 597
E.1 Conformal symmetry and conformal fields 597
E.2 Vertex operators and structure of scattering amplitudes 599
E.3 Kac-Moody algebras 602
E.4 N = 2 superconformal field theories 604
E.5 Rational conformal field theory and simple currents 604
Bibliography 608
References 624
Index 657