Search

It is shown that there exist large classes of BPS vacua in heterotic M-theory which have negative tension on the visible orbifold plane, positive tension on the hidden plane and positive tension, physical five-branes in the bulk space. Explicit examples of such vacua are presented. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the ratio, beta/|alpha|, of the bulk five-brane tension to the visible plane tension can, for several large classes of such vacua, be made arbitrarily small. Hence, it is straightforward to find vacua with the properties required in the examples of the Ekpyrotic theory of cosmology - a visible brane with negative tension and beta/|alpha| small. This contradicts recent claims in the literature., Comment: 30 pages

We describe a new algebraically completely integrable system, whose integral manifolds are co-elliptic subvarieties of Jacobian varieties. This is a multi-periodic extension of the Krichever-Treibich-Verdier system, which consists of elliptic solitons.

We consider the compactification of the E8xE8 heterotic string on a K3 surface with "the spin connection embedded in the gauge group" and the dual picture in the type IIA string (or F-theory) on a Calabi-Yau threefold X. It turns out that the same X arises also as dual to a heterotic compactification on 24 point-like instantons. X is necessarily singular, and we see that this singularity allows the Ramond-Ramond moduli on X to split into distinct components, one containing the (dual of the heterotic) tangent bundle, while another component contains the point-like instantons. As a practical application we derive the result that a heterotic string compactified on the tangent bundle of a K3 with ADE singularities acquires nonperturbatively enhanced gauge symmetry in just the same fashion as a type IIA string on a singular K3 surface. On a more philosophical level we discuss how it appears to be natural to say that the heterotic string is compactified using an object in the derived category of coherent sheaves. This is necessary to properly extend the notion of T-duality to the heterotic string on a K3 surface., Comment: 34 pages, 3 figures (published version)

In this talk we discuss the description of the moduli space of principal G-bundles on an elliptic fibration X-->S in terms of cameral covers and their distinguished Prym varieties. We emphasize the close relationship between this problem and the integrability of Hitchin's system and its generalizations. The discussion roughly parallels that of [D2], but additional examples are included and some important steps of the argument are illustrated. Some of the applications to heterotic/F-theory duality were described in the accompanying ICMP talk (hep-th/9802093)., Comment: 17 pages, Latex

The heterotic string compactified on an (n-1)-dimensional elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau Z-->B is conjectured to be dual to F-theory compactified on an n-dimensional Calabi-Yau X-->B, fibered over the same base with elliptic K3 fibers. In particular, the moduli of the two theories should be isomorphic. The cases most relevant to the physics are n=2, 3, 4, i.e. the compactification is to dimensions d=8, 6 or 4 respectively. Mathematically, the richest picture seems to emerge for n=3, where the moduli space involves an analytically integrable system whose fibers admit rather different descriptions in the two theories. The purpose of this talk is to review some of what is known and what is not yet known about this conjectural isomorphism. Some of the underlying mathematics of principal bundles on elliptic fibrations is reviewed in the accompanying Taniguchi talk (hep-th/9802094)., Comment: 9 pages, Latex

The moduli in a 4D N=1 heterotic compactification on an elliptic CY, as well as in the dual F-theoretic compactification, break into "base" parameters which are even (under the natural involution of the elliptic curves), and "fiber" or twisting parameters; the latter include a continuous part which is odd, as well as a discrete part. We interpret all the heterotic moduli in terms of cohomology groups of the spectral covers, and identify them with the corresponding F-theoretic moduli in a certain stable degeneration. The argument is based on the comparison of three geometric objects: the spectral and cameral covers and the ADE del Pezzo fibrations. For the continuous part of the twisting moduli, this amounts to an isomorphism between certain abelian varieties: the connected component of the heterotic Prym variety (a modified Jacobian) and the F-theoretic intermediate Jacobian. The comparison of the discrete part generalizes the matching of heterotic 5brane / F-theoretic 3brane impurities., Comment: Latex, 26 pages. Acknowledgements added

This is a survey of the work of Seiberg and Witten on 4-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory and of some of its recent extensions, written for mathematicians. The point of view is that of algebraic geometry and integrable systems. An introductory chapter tries to describe some of the relevant physics for a reader with no physics background. This is followed by a review of the relevant properties of integrable systems. The remaining chapters describe the specific integrable systems used, and include a detailed study of the applications to quantum field theory., Comment: 41 pages, AMS-TeX. To appear in Proceedings of the Santa Cruz algebraic geometry conference; and to be reprinted in "Surveys in Differential Geometry", ed. S.T.Yau

A central role in recent investigations of the duality of F-theory and heterotic strings is played by the moduli of principal bundles, with various structure groups G, over an elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifold on which the heterotic theory is compactified. In this note we propose a simple algebro-geometric technique for studying the moduli spaces of principal G-bundles on an arbitrary variety X which is elliptically fibered over a base S: The moduli space itself is naturally fibered over a weighted projective base parametrizing spectral covers $\tilde{S}$ of S, and the fibers are identified as translates of distinguished Pryms of these covers. In nice situations, the generic Prym fiber is isogenous to the product of a finite group and an abelian subvariety of $Pic(\tilde{S})$., Comment: 11 pages, Plain TeX. This is the published version, containing minor corrections