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For compactifications of heterotic string theory, we elucidate simple cohomological conditions that lead to the vanishing of superpotential n-point couplings for all n. These results generalize some vanishing theorems for Yukawa couplings that have previously appeared in the literature to all higher orders. In some cases, these results are enough to show that certain fields do not appear in the perturbative superpotential at all. We illustrate our discussion with a number of concrete examples. In some cases, our results can be confirmed by showing that symmetries indeed forbid the couplings that vanish. In many, however, no such symmetries are known to exist and, as such, the infinite sets of vanishing couplings that are found are surprising from a four-dimensional perspective. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

In this work we investigate 5-dimensional theories obtained from M-theory on genus one fibered threefolds which exhibit twisted algebras in their fibers. We provide a base-independent algebraic description of the threefolds and compute light 5D BPS states charged under finite sub-algebras of the twisted algebras. We further construct the Jacobian fibrations that are associated to 6-dimensional F-theory lifts, where the twisted algebra is absent. These 6/5-dimensional theories are compared via twisted circle reductions of F-theory to M-theory. In the 5-dimensional theories we discuss several geometric transitions that connect twisted with untwisted fibrations. We present detailed discussions of $$e_6^{(2)}$$, $$so(8)^{(3)}$$ and $$su(3)^{(2)}$$ twisted fibers and provide several explicit example threefolds via toric constructions. Finally, limits are considered in which gravity is decoupled, including Little String Theories for which we match 2-group symmetries across twisted T-dual theories. 

Geometric transitions between Calabi-Yau manifolds have proven to be a powerful tool in exploring the intricate and interconnected vacuum structure of string compactifications. However, their role in N=1, four-dimensional string compactifications remains relatively unexplored. In this work we present a novel proposal for transitioning the background geometry (including NS5-branes and holomorphic, slope-stable vector bundles) of four-dimensional, N=1 heterotic string compactifications through a conifold transition connecting Calabi-Yau threefolds. Our proposal is geometric in nature but informed by the heterotic effective theory. Central to this study is a description of how the cotangent bundles of the deformation and resolution manifolds in the conifold can be connected by an apparent small instanton transition with a 5-brane wrapping the small resolution curves. We show that by a “pair creation” process 5-branes can be generated simultaneously in the gauge and gravitational sectors and used to describe a coupled minimal change in the manifold and gauge sector. This observation leads us to propose dualities for 5-branes and gauge bundles in heterotic conifolds which we then confirm at the level of spectrum in large classes of examples. While the 5-brane duality is novel, we observe that the bundle correspondence has appeared before in the target space duality exhibited by (0, 2) gauged linear sigma models. Thus our work provides a geometric explanation of (0, 2) target space duality. 

A bstract Non-simply connected Calabi-Yau threefolds play a central role in the study of string compactifications. Such manifolds are usually described by quotienting a simply connected Calabi-Yau variety by a freely acting discrete symmetry. For the Calabi-Yau threefolds described as complete intersections in products of projective spaces, a classification of such symmetries descending from linear actions on the ambient spaces of the varieties has been given in [16]. However, which symmetries can be described in this manner depends upon the description that is being used to represent the manifold. In [24] new, favorable, descriptions were given of this data set of Calabi-Yau threefolds. In this paper, we perform a classification of cyclic symmetries that descend from linear actions on the ambient spaces of these new favorable descriptions. We present a list of 129 symmetries/non-simply connected Calabi-Yau threefolds. Of these, at least 33, and potentially many more, are topologically new varieties. 

We provide an overview of recent work which aims to understand patterns of vanishing Yukawa couplings that arise in models of particle physics derived from string theory. These patterns are seemingly linked to a plethora of different geometrical structures and our understanding of the subject has yet to be consolidated in a unified framework. This short note is based upon a talk that was given by one of the authors at the Nankai Symposium on Mathematical Dialogues. Therefore it is aimed at a mathematical audience of mixed academic background. 

Vector bundle cohomology represents a key ingredient for string phenomenology, being associated with the massless spectrum arising in string compactifications on smooth compact manifolds. Although standard algorithmic techniques exist for performing cohomology calculations, they are laborious and ill-suited for scanning over large sets of string compactifications to find those most relevant to particle physics. In this article we review some recent progress in deriving closed-form expressions for line bundle cohomology and discuss some applications to string phenomenology. 

A bstract Heterotic compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds frequently exhibit textures of vanishing Yukawa couplings in their low energy description. The vanishing of these couplings is often not enforced by any obvious symmetry and appears to be topological in nature. Recent results used differential geometric methods to explain the origin of some of this structure [1, 2]. A vanishing theorem was given which showed that the effect could be attributed, in part, to the embedding of the Calabi-Yau manifolds of interest inside higher dimensional ambient spaces, if the gauge bundles involved descended from vector bundles on those larger manifolds. In this paper, we utilize an algebro-geometric approach to provide an alternative derivation of some of these results, and are thus able to generalize them to a much wider arena than has been considered before. For example, we consider cases where the vector bundles of interest do not descend from bundles on the ambient space. In such a manner we are able to highlight the ubiquity with which textures of vanishing Yukawa couplings can be expected to arise in heterotic compactifications, with multiple different constraints arising from a plethora of different geometric features associated to the gauge bundle. 

A bstract We use machine learning to approximate Calabi-Yau and SU(3)-structure metrics, including for the first time complex structure moduli dependence. Our new methods furthermore improve existing numerical approximations in terms of accuracy and speed. Knowing these metrics has numerous applications, ranging from computations of crucial aspects of the effective field theory of string compactifications such as the canonical normalizations for Yukawa couplings, and the massive string spectrum which plays a crucial role in swampland conjectures, to mirror symmetry and the SYZ conjecture. In the case of SU(3) structure, our machine learning approach allows us to engineer metrics with certain torsion properties. Our methods are demonstrated for Calabi-Yau and SU(3)-structure manifolds based on a one-parameter family of quintic hypersurfaces in ℙ 4 . 

A bstract The superpotential in four-dimensional heterotic effective theories contains terms arising from holomorphic Chern-Simons invariants associated to the gauge and tangent bundles of the compactification geometry. These effects are crucial for a number of key features of the theory, including vacuum stability and moduli stabilization. Despite their importance, few tools exist in the literature to compute such effects in a given heterotic vacuum. In this work we present new techniques to explicitly determine holomorphic Chern-Simons invariants in heterotic string compactifications. The key technical ingredient in our computations are real bundle morphisms between the gauge and tangent bundles. We find that there are large classes of examples, beyond the standard embedding, where the Chern-Simons superpotential vanishes. We also provide explicit examples for non-flat bundles where it is non-vanishing and non-integer quantized, generalizing previous results for Wilson lines.