Gauge Coupling Constant Unification With Planck Scale Values Of Moduli

Convergence of the standard model gauge coupling constants to a common value at around $2\times 10^{16}$ GeV is studied in the context of orbifold theories where the modular symmetry groups for $T$ and $U$ moduli are broken to subgroups of $PSL(2, Z)$. The values of the moduli required for this unification of coupling constants are studied for this case and also for the case where string unification is accompanied by unification to a gauge group larger then $SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1).$Comment: Tex, 15 pages, minor typos corrected and some references adde

CP-violating phases in the CKM matrix in orbifold compactifications

The picture of CP-violation in orbifold compactifications in which the $T$-modulus is at a complex fixed point of the modular group is studied. CP-violation in the neutral kaon system and in the neutron electric dipole moment are both discussed. The situation where the $T$-modulus takes complex values on the unit circle which are not at a fixed point is also discussed.Comment: LaTeX file 17 page

Phase Structure of Color Superconductivity

We investigate color superconductivity and chiral symmetry restoration at finite temperature and baryon density in the frame of standard two flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. We derive the diquark mass in RPA, discuss its constraint on the coupling constant in the diquark channel, and find a strong competition between the two phase transitions when the coupling constant is large enough.Comment: Talk presented at Conference on Non-Perturbative Quantum Field Theory: Lattice and Beyond, Guangzhou, China, Dec.16--18, 200

An exact renormalization group approach to frustrated magnets

Frustrated magnets are a notorious example where usual perturbative methods fail. Having recourse to an exact renormalization group approach, one gets a coherent picture of the physics of Heisenberg frustrated magnets everywhere between d=2 and d=4: all known perturbative results are recovered in a single framework, their apparent conflict is explained while the description of the phase transition in d=3 is found to be in good agreement with the experimental context.Comment: 4 pages, Latex, invited talk at the Second Conference on the Exact Renormalization Group, Rome, September 2000, for technical details see http://www.lpthe.jussieu.fr/~tissie

Dark Matter Constraints in Heterotic M-Theory with Five-Brane Dominance

The phenomenological implications of the M-theory limit in which supersymmetry is broken by the auxiliary fields of five-brane moduli is investigated. Assuming that the lightest neutralino provides the dark matter in the universe, constraints on the sparticle spectrum are obtained. Direct detection rates for dark matter are estimated.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX file plus 8 EPS figure

Vacuum fluctuations in a supersymmetric model in FRW spacetime

We study a noninteracting supersymmetric model in an expanding FRW spacetime. A soft supersymmetry breaking induces a nonzero contribution to the vacuum energy density. A short distance cutoff of the order of Planck length provides a scale for the vacuum energy density comparable with the observed cosmological constant. Assuming the presence of a dark energy substance in addition to the vacuum fluctuations of the field an effective equation of state is derived in a selfconsistent approach. The effective equation of state is sensitive to the choice of the cut-off but no fine tuning is needed.Comment: 19 pages, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

CP Violation and Moduli Stabilization in Heterotic Models

The role of moduli stabilization in predictions for CP violation is examined in the context of four-dimensional effective supergravity models obtained from the weakly coupled heterotic string. We point out that while stabilization of compactification moduli has been studied extensively, the determination of background values for other scalars by dynamical means has not been subjected to the same degree of scrutiny. These other complex scalars are important potential sources of CP violation and we show in a simple model how their background values (including complex phases) may be determined from the minimization of the supergravity scalar potential, subject to the constraint of vanishing cosmological constant.Comment: 8 Pages. Based on a talk given at the CP Violation Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, November 4-18, 2001, correction to Eq. (27