Exploring the SO(32) Heterotic String

We give a complete classification of Z_N orbifold compactification of the heterotic SO(32) string theory and show its potential for realistic model building. The appearance of spinor representations of SO(2n) groups is analyzed in detail. We conclude that the heterotic SO(32) string constitutes an interesting part of the string landscape both in view of model constructions and the question of heterotic-type I duality.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure

Iwahori-Hecke algebras for Kac-Moody groups over local fields

We define the Iwahori-Hecke algebra for an almost split Kac-Moody group over a local non-archimedean field. We use the hovel associated to this situation, which is the analogue of the Bruhat-Tits building for a reductive group. The fixer K of some chamber in the standard apartment plays the role of the Iwahori subgroup. We can define the Iwahori-Hecke algebra as the algebra of some K-bi-invariant functions on the group with support consisting of a finite union of double classes. As two chambers in the hovel are not always in a same apartment, this support has to be in some large subsemigroup of the Kac-Moody group. In the split case, we prove that the structure constants of the multiplication in this algebra are polynomials in the cardinality of the residue field, with integer coefficients depending on the geometry of the standard apartment. We give a presentation of this algebra, similar to the Bernstein-Lusztig presentation in the reductive case, and embed it in a greater algebra, algebraically defined by the Bernstein-Lusztig presentation. In the affine case, this algebra contains the Cherednik's double affine Hecke algebra. Actually, our results apply to abstract "locally finite" hovels, so that we can define the Iwahori-Hecke algebra with unequal parameters.Comment: Version 2: Section on the extended affine case added, containing the relationship with the DAHAs, to appear in Pacific Journal of Mathematic

The Role of Spin(9) in Octonionic Geometry

Starting from the 2001 Thomas Friedrich's work on Spin(9), we review some interactions between Spin(9) and geometries related to octonions. Several topics are discussed in this respect: explicit descriptions of the Spin(9) canonical 8-form and its analogies with quaternionic geometry as well as the role of Spin(9) both in the classical problems of vector fields on spheres and in the geometry of the octonionic Hopf fibration. Next, we deal with locally conformally parallel Spin(9) manifolds in the framework of intrinsic torsion. Finally, we discuss applications of Clifford systems and Clifford structures to Cayley-Rosenfeld planes and to three series of Grassmannians.Comment: 25 page

A Recipe for Constructing Frustration-Free Hamiltonians with Gauge and Matter Fields in One and Two Dimensions

State sum constructions, such as Kuperberg's algorithm, give partition functions of physical systems, like lattice gauge theories, in various dimensions by associating local tensors or weights, to different parts of a closed triangulated manifold. Here we extend this construction by including matter fields to build partition functions in both two and three space-time dimensions. The matter fields introduces new weights to the vertices and they correspond to Potts spin configurations described by an $\mathcal{A}$-module with an inner product. Performing this construction on a triangulated manifold with a boundary we obtain the transfer matrices which are decomposed into a product of local operators acting on vertices, links and plaquettes. The vertex and plaquette operators are similar to the ones appearing in the quantum double models (QDM) of Kitaev. The link operator couples the gauge and the matter fields, and it reduces to the usual interaction terms in known models such as $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory with matter fields. The transfer matrices lead to Hamiltonians that are frustration-free and are exactly solvable. According to the choice of the initial input, that of the gauge group and a matter module, we obtain interesting models which have a new kind of ground state degeneracy that depends on the number of equivalence classes in the matter module under gauge action. Some of the models have confined flux excitations in the bulk which become deconfined at the surface. These edge modes are protected by an energy gap provided by the link operator. These properties also appear in "confined Walker-Wang" models which are 3D models having interesting surface states. Apart from the gauge excitations there are also excitations in the matter sector which are immobile and can be thought of as defects like in the Ising model. We only consider bosonic matter fields in this paper.Comment: 52 pages, 58 figures. This paper is an extension of arXiv:1310.8483 [cond-mat.str-el] with the inclusion of matter fields. This version includes substantial changes with a connection made to confined Walker-Wang models along the lines of arXiv:1208.5128 and subsequent works. Accepted for publication in JPhys