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We numerically study whether there exist nowhere vanishing harmonic $1$-forms on the real locus of some carefully constructed examples of Calabi-Yau manifolds, which would then give rise to potentially new examples of $G_2$-manifolds and an explicit description of their metrics. We do this in two steps: first, we use a neural network to compute an approximate Calabi-Yau metric on each manifold. Second, we use another neural network to compute an approximately harmonic $1$-form with respect to the approximate metric, and then inspect the found solution. On two manifolds existence of a nowhere vanishing harmonic $1$-form can be ruled out using differential geometry. The real locus of a third manifold is diffeomorphic to $S^1 \times S^2$, and our numerics suggest that when the Calabi-Yau metric is close to a singular limit, then it admits a nowhere vanishing harmonic $1$-form. We explain how such an approximate solution could potentially be used in a numerically verified proof for the fact that our example manifold must admit a nowhere vanishing harmonic $1$-form.

We give a mathematical perspective on string compactifications. Submitted as a chapter in the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics., Comment: 27 pages. Chapter prepared for the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics 2nd edition

Artificial intelligence is making spectacular progress, and one of the best examples is the development of large language models (LLMs) such as OpenAI's GPT series. In these lectures, written for readers with a background in mathematics or physics, we give a brief history and survey of the state of the art, and describe the underlying transformer architecture in detail. We then explore some current ideas on how LLMs work and how models trained to predict the next word in a text are able to perform other tasks displaying intelligence., Comment: 47 pages (v2: added references, corrected typos)

Tame geometry originated in mathematical logic and implements strong finiteness properties by defining the notion of tame sets and functions. In part I we argued that observables in a wide class of quantum field theories are tame functions and that the tameness of a theory relies on its UV definition. The aims of this work are (1) to formalize the connection between quantum field theories and logical structures, and (2) to investigate the tameness of conformal field theories. To address the first aim, we start from a set of quantum field theories and explain how they define a logical structure that is subsequently extended to a second structure by adding physical observables. Tameness, or o-minimality, of the two structures is then a well-defined property, and sharp statements can be made by identifying these with known examples in mathematics. For the second aim we quantify our expectations on the tameness of the set of conformal field theories and effective theories that can be coupled to quantum gravity. We formulate tameness conjectures about conformal field theory observables and propose universal constraints that render spaces of conformal field theories to be tame sets. We test these conjectures in several examples and highlight first implications., Comment: 64 pages, 3 figures, v2: discussion on conformal blocks improved

We propose a generalized finiteness principle for physical theories, in terms of the concept of tameness in mathematical logic. A tame function or space can only have a finite amount of structure, in a precise sense which we explain. Tameness generalizes the notion of an analytic function to include certain non-analytic limits, and we show that this includes many limits which are known to arise in physics. For renormalizable quantum field theories, we give a general proof that amplitudes at each order in the loop expansion are tame functions of the external momenta and the couplings. We then consider a variety of exact non-perturbative results and show that they are tame but only given constraints on the UV definition of the theory. This provides further evidence for the recent conjecture of the second author that all effective theories that can be coupled to quantum gravity are tame. We also discuss whether renormalization group flow is tame, and comment on the applicability of our results to effective theories., Comment: 50 pages, v2: published version with some clarifications, typos fixed, and references added

A knowledge graph (KG) is a data structure which represents entities and relations as the vertices and edges of a directed graph with edge types. KGs are an important primitive in modern machine learning and artificial intelligence. Embedding-based models, such as the seminal TransE [Bordes et al., 2013] and the recent PairRE [Chao et al., 2020] are among the most popular and successful approaches for representing KGs and inferring missing edges (link completion). Their relative success is often credited in the literature to their ability to learn logical rules between the relations. In this work, we investigate whether learning rules between relations is indeed what drives the performance of embedding-based methods. We define motif learning and two alternative mechanisms, network learning (based only on the connectivity of the KG, ignoring the relation types), and unstructured statistical learning (ignoring the connectivity of the graph). Using experiments on synthetic KGs, we show that KG models can learn motifs and how this ability is degraded by non-motif (noise) edges. We propose tests to distinguish the contributions of the three mechanisms to performance, and apply them to popular KG benchmarks. We also discuss an issue with the standard performance testing protocol and suggest an improvement. To appear in the proceedings of Complex Networks 2021., Comment: 16 pages

We study four-dimensional fractional quantum Hall states on CP2 geometry from microscopic approaches. While in 2d the standard Laughlin wave function, given by a power of Vandermonde determinant, admits a product representation in terms of the Jastrow factor, this is no longer true in higher dimensions. In 4d we can define two different types of Laughlin wavefunctions, the Determinant-Laughlin (Det-Laughlin) and Jastrow-Laughlin (Jas-Laughlin) states. We find that they are exactly annihilated by, respectively, two-particle and three-particle short ranged interacting Hamiltonians. We then mainly focus on the ground state, low energy excitations and the quasi-hole degeneracy of Det-Laughlin state. The quasi-hole degeneracy exhibits an anomalous counting, indicating the existence of multiple forms of quasi-hole wavefunctions. We argue that these are captured by the mathematical framework of the "commutative algebra of N-points in the plane". We also generalize the pseudopotential formalism to dimensions higher than two, by considering coherent state wavefunction of bound states. The microscopic wavefunctions and Hamiltonians studied in this work pave the way for systematic study of high dimensional topological phase of matter that is potentially realizable in cold atom and optical experiments.

David Mumford made groundbreaking contributions in many fields, including the pure mathematics of algebraic geometry and the applied mathematics of machine learning and artificial intelligence. His work in both fields influenced my career at several key moments.

A very popular model in machine learning is the feedforward neural network (FFN). The FFN can approximate general functions and mitigate the curse of dimensionality. Here we introduce FFNs which represent sections of holomorphic line bundles on complex manifolds, and ask some questions about their approximating power. We also explain formal similarities between the standard approach to supervised learning and the problem of finding numerical Ricci flat K\"ahler metrics, which allow carrying some ideas between the two problems., Comment: 13 pages, version to appear in PAMQ

We propose machine learning inspired methods for computing numerical Calabi-Yau (Ricci flat K\"ahler) metrics, and implement them using Tensorflow/Keras. We compare them with previous work, and find that they are far more accurate for manifolds with little or no symmetry. We also discuss issues such as overparameterization and choice of optimization methods., Comment: Version accepted by MSML 2021

We propose a new approach for multiverse analysis based on computational complexity, which leads to a new family of "computational" measure factors. By defining a cosmology as a space-time containing a vacuum with specified properties (for example small cosmological constant) together with rules for how time evolution will produce the vacuum, we can associate global time in a multiverse with clock time on a supercomputer which simulates it. We argue for a principle of "limited computational complexity" governing early universe dynamics as simulated by this supercomputer, which translates to a global measure for regulating the infinities of eternal inflation. The rules for time evolution can be thought of as a search algorithm, whose details should be constrained by a stronger principle of "minimal computational complexity." Unlike previously studied global measures, ours avoids standard equilibrium considerations and the well-known problems of Boltzmann Brains and the youngness paradox. We also give various definitions of the computational complexity of a cosmology, and argue that there are only a few natural complexity classes. (v2: version submitted for publication: clarified section 5.3; added references) (v3: added discussion of marginally hospitable vacua. Version to appear in Annals of Physics), Comment: 50 pages, 6 figures

Yau proved an existence theorem for Ricci-flat K\"ahler metrics in the 1970's, but we still have no closed form expressions for them. Nevertheless there are several ways to get approximate expressions, both numerical and analytical. We survey some of this work and explain how it can be used to obtain physical predictions from superstring theory., Comment: 10 pages. Version to appear in Nuclear Physics B special issue: 60 Years of Calabi Conjecture

It is well understood --- through string dualities --- that there are 20 massless vector fields in the spectrum of eight-dimensional F-theory compactifications on smooth elliptically fibered K3 surfaces at a generic point in the K3 moduli space. Such F-theory vacua, which do not have any enhanced gauge symmetries, can be thought of as supersymmetric type IIB compactifications on P1 with 24 (p,q) seven-branes. Naively, one might expect there to be 24 massless vector fields in the eight-dimensional effective theory coming from world-volume gauge fields of the 24 branes. In this paper, we show how the vector field spectrum of the eight-dimensional effective theory can be obtained from the point of view of type IIB supergravity coupled to the world-volume theory of the seven-branes. In particular, we first show that the two-forms of the type IIB theory absorb the seven-brane world-volume gauge fields via the Cremmer-Scherk mechanism. We then proceed to show that the massless vector fields of the eight-dimensional theory come from KK-reducing the SL(2,Z) doublet two-forms of type IIB theory along SL(2,Z) doublet one-forms on the P1. We also discuss the relation between these vector fields and the "eaten" world-volume vector fields of the seven-branes., Comment: 33 pages + appendices, 5 figures; v2: minor corrections, reference added

We show that the entropy of certain conformal interfaces between $N=(2,2)$ sigma models that belong to the same moduli space, has a natural geometric interpretation in the large volume limit as Calabi's diastasis function. This is an extension of the well-known relation between the quantum K\"ahler potential and the overlap of canonical Ramond-Ramond ground states in $N=(2,2)$ models., Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure

We conjecture that a non-flat $D$-real-dimensional compact Calabi-Yau manifold, such as a quintic hypersurface with D=6, or a K3 manifold with D=4, has locally length minimizing closed geodesics, and that the number of these with length less than L grows asymptotically as L^{D}. We also outline the physical arguments behind this conjecture, which involve the claim that all states in a nonlinear sigma model can be identified as "momentum" and "winding" states in the large volume limit., Comment: minor corrections, 43 pages, to appear in frontiers in mathematical physics. Frontiers in Physics, Dec 16, 2013

The connection of maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory to the (2,0) theory in six dimensions has raised the possibility that it might be perturbatively ultraviolet finite in five dimensions. We test this hypothesis by computing the coefficient of the first potential ultraviolet divergence of planar (large N_c) maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in D = 5, which occurs at six loops. We show that the coefficient is nonvanishing. Furthermore, the numerical value of the divergence falls very close to an approximate exponential formula based on the coefficients of the divergences through five loops. This formula predicts the approximate values of the ultraviolet divergence at loop orders L > 6 in the critical dimension D = 4 + 6/L. To obtain the six-loop divergence we first construct the planar six-loop four-point amplitude integrand using generalized unitarity. The ultraviolet divergence follows from a set of vacuum integrals, which are obtained by expanding the integrand in the external momenta. The vacuum integrals are integrated via sector decomposition, using a modified version of the FIESTA program., Comment: 31 pages, revtex, 12 figures

We study effective potentials coming from compactifications of string theory. We show that, under mild assumptions, such potentials are bounded from below in four dimensions, giving an affirmative answer to a conjecture proposed by the second author in arXiv:0911.3378v4 [hep-th]. We also derive some sufficient conditions for the existence of critical points. All proofs and mathematical hypotheses are discussed in the context of their relevance to the physics of the problem.

We briefly survey our present understanding of the string landscape, and use it to discuss the chances that we will see low energy supersymmetry at the LHC., Comment: 27 pp, ws-rv9x6.cls (included) v2: improved section 6

We discuss how D=5 maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (MSYM) might be used to study or even to define the (2,0) theory in six dimensions. It is known that the compactification of (2,0) theory on a circle leads to D=5 MSYM. A variety of arguments suggest that the relation can be reversed, and that all of the degrees of freedom of (2,0) theory are already present in D=5 MSYM. If so, this relation should have consequences for D=5 SYM perturbation theory. We explore whether it might imply all orders finiteness, or else an unusual relation between the cutoff and the gauge coupling. S-duality of the reduction to D=4 may provide nonperturbative constraints or tests of these options., Comment: 17 pages (v2: added references)

We derive a holographic dual description of free quantum field theory in arbitrary dimensions, by reinterpreting the exact renormalization group, to obtain a higher spin gravity theory of the general type which had been proposed and studied as a dual theory. We show that the dual theory reproduces all correlation functions., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; v2: various improvements

The concept of a "space of quantum field theories" or "theory space" was set out in the 1970's in work of Wilson, Friedan and others. This structure should play an important role in organizing and classifying QFTs, and in the study of the string landscape, allowing us to say when two theories are connected by finite variations of the couplings or by RG flows, when a sequence of QFTs converges to another QFT, and bounding the amount of information needed to uniquely specify a QFT, enabling us to estimate their number. As yet we do not have any definition of theory space which can be used to make such arguments. In this talk, we will describe various concepts and tools which should be developed for this purpose, inspired by the analogous mathematical problem of studying the space of Riemannian manifolds. We state two general conjectures about the space of two-dimensional conformal field theories, and we define a distance function on this space, which gives a distance between any pair of theories, whether or not they are connected by varying moduli. Based on talks given at QTS6 (University of Kentucky), Erice, Texas A& M, and Northwestern University. To appear in the proceedings of QTS6., Comment: 16 pages, jpconf macros (included). (v2: fixed typo, added references)

We show that string/M theory compactifications to maximally symmetric space-times using manifolds whose scalar curvature is everywhere negative, must have significant warping, large stringy corrections, or both., Comment: 18 pages, JHEP3.cls

We define an effective potential describing all massless and massive modes in the supergravity limit of string/M theory compactification which is valid off-shell, i.e. without imposing the equations of motion. If we neglect the warp factor, it is unbounded below, as is the case for the action in Euclidean quantum gravity. By study of the constraint which determines the warp factor, we solve this problem, obtaining a physically satisfying and tractable description of the dynamics of the warp factor., Comment: 32 pages, JHEP3.cls. v4: added reference to hep-th/0507158

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 compactifications of the type IIb string on a Calabi-Yau threefold is related to the integrations of various Chern-Weil forms. We proved that all these integrals are finite (and also rational)., Comment: Final version, Journal ref added

We consider a probe in a BPS black hole in type II strings compactified on Calabi-Yau manifolds, and conjecture that its moduli space metric is the balanced metric., Comment: 15 pages

We construct the effective theory of the universal Kaehler modulus in warped compactifications using the Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity. The spacetime dependent 10d solution is constructed at the linear level for both the volume modulus and its axionic partner, and nontrivial cancellations of warping effects are found in the dimensional reduction. Our main result is that the Kaehler potential is not corrected by warping, up to an overall shift in the background value of the volume modulus. We extend the analysis beyond the linearized approximation by computing the fully backreacted 10d metric corresponding to a finite volume modulus fluctuation. Also, we discuss the behavior of the modulus in strongly warped regions and show that there are no mixings with light Kaluza-Klein modes. These results are important for the phenomenology and cosmology of flux compactifications., Comment: 28 pages, 1 figure; v2. corrected typos, added refs & minor clarifications

We rederive the expansion of the Bergman kernel on Kahler manifolds developed by Tian, Yau, Zelditch, Lu and Catlin, using path integral and perturbation theory, and generalize it to supersymmetric quantum mechanics. One physics interpretation of this result is as an expansion of the projector of wave functions on the lowest Landau level, in the special case that the magnetic field is proportional to the Kahler form. This is relevant for the quantum Hall effect in curved space, and for its higher dimensional generalizations. Other applications include the theory of coherent states, the study of balanced metrics, noncommutative field theory, and a conjecture on metrics in black hole backgrounds. We give a short overview of these various topics. From a conceptual point of view, this expansion is noteworthy as it is a geometric expansion, somewhat similar to the DeWitt-Seeley-Gilkey et al short time expansion for the heat kernel, but in this case describing the long time limit, without depending on supersymmetry., Comment: 27 pages

We develop formalism for computing the kinetic terms of 4d fields in string compactifications, particularly with warping. With the help of the Hamiltonian approach, we identify a gauge dependent inner product on the compactification manifold which depends on the warp factor. It is shown that kinetic terms are associated to the minimum value of the inner product over each gauge orbit. We work out the kinetic term for the complex modulus of a deformed conifold with flux, i.e. the Klebanov-Strassler solution embedded in a compact Calabi-Yau manifold. Earlier results of a power-like divergence are confirmed qualitatively (the kinetic term does contain the main effect of warping) but not quantitatively (the correct results differ by an order one coefficient)., Comment: 24 pages; reference added, typos corrected

A numerical algorithm for explicitly computing the spectrum of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on Calabi-Yau threefolds is presented. The requisite Ricci-flat metrics are calculated using a method introduced in previous papers. To illustrate our algorithm, the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Laplacian are computed numerically on two different quintic hypersurfaces, some Z_5 x Z_5 quotients of quintics, and the Calabi-Yau threefold with Z_3 x Z_3 fundamental group of the heterotic standard model. The multiplicities of the eigenvalues are explained in detail in terms of the irreducible representations of the finite isometry groups of the threefolds., Comment: 67 pages, 16 figures, 9 tables. v2: References added

We discuss the four dimensional effective action for type IIB flux compactifications, and obtain the quadratic terms taking warp effects into account. The analysis includes both the 4-d zero modes and their KK excitations, which become light at large warping. We identify an `axial' type gauge for the supergravity fluctuations, which makes the four dimensional degrees of freedom manifest. The other key ingredient is the existence of constraints coming from the ten dimensional equations of motion. Applying these conditions leads to considerable simplifications, enabling us to obtain the low energy lagrangian explicitly. In particular, the warped K\"ahler potential for metric moduli is computed and it is shown that there are no mixings with the KK fluctuations and the result differs from previous proposals. The four dimensional potential contains a generalization of the Gukov-Vafa-Witten term, plus usual mass terms for KK modes., Comment: 37 pages. v2. References added, typos corrected. v3. Matches JHEP version

We extend previous computations of Calabi-Yau metrics on projective hypersurfaces to free quotients, complete intersections, and free quotients of complete intersections. In particular, we construct these metrics on generic quintics, four-generation quotients of the quintic, Schoen Calabi-Yau complete intersections and the quotient of a Schoen manifold with Z_3 x Z_3 fundamental group that was previously used to construct a heterotic standard model. Various numerical investigations into the dependence of Donaldson's algorithm on the integration scheme, as well as on the Kahler and complex structure moduli, are also performed., Comment: 59 pages, 9 figures, LaTeX. v2: Clarifications and references added

We analyze supersymmetry breaking by anti-self-dual flux in the deformed conifold. This theory has been argued to be a dual realization of susy breaking by antibranes. As such, one might expect it to lead to a hierarchically small breaking scale, but only if the warp factor is taken into account. We verify this by explicitly computing the warp-modified moduli space metric. This leads to a new term, with a power-like divergence at the conifold point, which lowers the breaking scale. We finally point out various puzzles regarding the gauge theory interpretation of these results., Comment: Latex, 29 pp, 1 figure. Reference added, some typos corrected and minor changes to the content

We provide a qualitative review of flux compactifications of string theory, focusing on broad physical implications and statistical methods of analysis., Comment: 39 pages, Latex ar2e.cls

We develop numerical methods for approximating Ricci flat metrics on Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in projective spaces. Our approach is based on finding balanced metrics, and builds on recent theoretical work by Donaldson. We illustrate our methods in detail for a one parameter family of quintics. We also suggest several ways to extend our results., Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures

We review recent work in which compactifications of string and M theory are constructed in which all scalar fields (moduli) are massive, and supersymmetry is broken with a small positive cosmological constant, features needed to reproduce real world physics. We explain how this work implies that there is a ``landscape'' of string/M theory vacua, perhaps containing many candidates for describing real world physics, and present the arguments for and against this idea. We discuss statistical surveys of the landscape, and the prospects for testable consequences of this picture, such as observable effects of moduli, constraints on early cosmology, and predictions for the scale of supersymmetry breaking., Comment: 66 pages, 3 figures, Latex with revtex4 macros. v3: version to appear in RMP

We develop an iterative method for finding solutions to the hermitian Yang-Mills equation on stable holomorphic vector bundles, following ideas recently developed by Donaldson. As illustrations, we construct numerically the hermitian Einstein metrics on the tangent bundle and a rank three vector bundle on P^2. In addition, we find a hermitian Yang-Mills connection on a stable rank three vector bundle on the Fermat quintic., Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures

We present evidence that the number of string/$M$ theory vacua consistent with experiments is a finite number. We do this both by explicit analysis of infinite sequences of vacua and by applying various mathematical finiteness theorems.

We develop tools for analyzing the space of intersecting brane models. We apply these tools to a particular T^6/Z_2^2 orientifold which has been used for model building. We prove that there are a finite number of intersecting brane models on this orientifold which satisfy the Diophantine equations coming from supersymmetry. We give estimates for numbers of models with specific gauge groups, which we confirm numerically. We analyze the distributions and correlations of intersection numbers which characterize the numbers of generations of chiral fermions, and show that intersection numbers are roughly independent, with a characteristic distribution which is peaked around 0 and in which integers with fewer divisors are mildly suppressed. As an application, the number of models containing a gauge group SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) or SU(4) x SU(2) x SU(2) and 3 generations of appropriate types of chiral matter is estimated to be order O (10), in accord with previous explicit constructions. As another application of the methods developed in the paper, we construct a new pair of 3-generation SU(4) x SU(2) x SU(2) Pati-Salam models using intersecting branes. We conclude with a description of how this analysis can be generalized to a broader class of Calabi-Yau orientifolds, and a discussion of how the numbers of IBM's are related to numbers of stabilized vacua., Comment: 59 pages, 8 figures; v2, v3: references added, minor corrections

We discuss conjectures following from the attractor mechanism in type II string theory about the possible Chern classes of stable holomorphic vector bundles on Calabi-Yau threefolds. In particular, we give sufficient conditions for Chern classes to correspond to stable bundles., Comment: 32 pages, Latex

Based on comments made at the 23rd Solvay Conference, December 2005, Brussels., Comment: 10 pages, Latex

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., Comment: JHEP3 Latex, 53 pp, 2 .eps figures

We give a ``physics proof'' of a conjecture made by the first author at Strings 2005, that the moduli spaces of certain conformal field theories are finite volume in the Zamolodchikov metric, using an RG flow argument., Comment: 8 pages, latex, JHEP