D-branes on the Quintic

We study D-branes on the quintic CY by combining results from several directions: general results on holomorphic curves and vector bundles, stringy geometry and mirror symmetry, and the boundary states in Gepner models recently constructed by Recknagel and Schomerus, to begin sketching a picture of D-branes in the stringy regime. We also make first steps towards computing superpotentials on the D-brane world-volumes.Comment: harvmac, 78 pp (v3: notes added and improved discussion of an example

Deforming, revolving and resolving - New paths in the string theory landscape

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 with h^{1,1}=86 and h^{2,1}=2. We then show how to construct infinite series of continuously connected minima to the mirror quintic potential by moving into this larger moduli space, applying its monodromies, and moving back. We provide an example of such series, and discuss their implications for the string theory landscape.Comment: 41 pages, 5 figures; minor corrections, published versio

The elliptic genus from split flows and Donaldson-Thomas invariants

We analyze a mixed ensemble of low charge D4-D2-D0 brane states on the quintic and show that these can be successfully enumerated using attractor flow tree techniques and Donaldson-Thomas invariants. In this low charge regime one needs to take into account worldsheet instanton corrections to the central charges, which is accomplished by making use of mirror symmetry. All the charges considered can be realized as fluxed D6-D2-D0 and anti-D6-D2-D0 pairs which we enumerate using DT invariants. Our procedure uses the low charge counterpart of the picture developed Denef and Moore. By establishing the existence of flow trees numerically and refining the index factorization scheme, we reproduce and improve some results obtained by Gaiotto, Strominger and Yin. Our results provide appealing evidence that the strong split flow tree conjecture holds and allows to compute exact results for an important sector of the theory. Our refined scheme for computing indices might shed some light on how to improve index computations for systems with larger charges.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figure

Metastable Quivers in String Compactifications

We propose a scenario for dynamical supersymmetry breaking in string compactifications based on geometric engineering of quiver gauge theories. In particular we show that the runaway behavior of fractional branes at del Pezzo singularities can be stabilized by a flux superpotential in compact models. Our construction relies on homological mirror symmetry for orientifolds.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure; v2: references adde

Domain Wall Junctions in Supersymmetric Field Theories in D=4

We study the possible BPS domain wall junction configurations for general polynomial superpotentials of N=1 supersymmetric Wess-Zumino models in D=4. We scan the parameter space of the superpotential and find different possible BPS states for different values of the deformation parameters and present our results graphically. We comment on the domain walls in F/M/IIA theories obtained from the Calabi-Yau fourfolds with isolated singularities and a background flux.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figure

D-branes on some one- and two-parameter Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces

D-branes on one-parameter Calabi-Yau spaces and two-parameter K3-fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds are analyzed from both the Gepner model point of view and the geometric perspective. We compute part of the spectrum of the boundary states and comment on the appearance of the D0-brane as well as on nonsupersymmetric large volume configurations becoming supersymmetric at the Gepner point.Comment: LaTeX2e, 23 pages. v2: typos corrected, references added, JHEP styl

Chirality Change in String Theory

It is known that string theory compactifications leading to low energy effective theories with different chiral matter content ({\it e.g.} different numbers of standard model generations) are connected through phase transitions, described by non-trivial quantum fixed point theories. We point out that such compactifications are also connected on a purely classical level, through transitions that can be described using standard effective field theory. We illustrate this with examples, including some in which the transition proceeds entirely through supersymmetric configurations.Comment: 50 pages, 2 figure