Non-perturbative Gauge Groups and Local Mirror Symmetry

We analyze D-brane states and their central charges on the resolution of C^2/Z_n by using local mirror symmetry. There is a point in the moduli space where all n(n-1)/2 branches of the principal component of the discriminant locus coincide. We argue that this is the point where compactifications of Type IIA theory on a K3 manifold containing such a local geometry acquire a non-perturbative gauge symmetry of the type A_{n-1}. This analysis, which involves an explicit solution of the GKZ system of the local geometry, explains how the quantum geometry exhibits all positive roots of A_{n-1} and not just the simple roots that manifest themselves as the exceptional curves of the classical geometry. We also make some remarks related to McKay correspondence.Comment: 14 pp, LaTex2

Landau-Ginzburg orbifolds with discrete torsion

We complete the classification of (2,2) vacua that can be constructed from Landau--Ginzburg models by abelian twists with arbitrary discrete torsions. Compared to the case without torsion the number of new spectra is surprisingly small. In contrast to a popular expectation mirror symmetry does not seem to be related to discrete torsion (at least not in the present compactification framework): The Berglund-H"ubsch construction naturally extends to orbifolds with torsion; for more general potentials, on the other hand, the new spectra neither have nor provide mirror partners in our class of models.Comment: 12 pages, LaTe

F-theory, SO(32) and Toric Geometry

We show that the F-theory dual of the heterotic string with unbroken Spin(32)/Z_2 symmetry in eight dimensions can be described in terms of the same polyhedron that can also encode unbroken E_8\times E_8 symmetry. By considering particular compactifications with this K3 surface as a fiber, we can reproduce the recently found `record gauge group' in six dimensions and obtain a new `record gauge group' in four dimensions. Our observations relate to the toric diagram for the intersection of components of degenerate fibers and our definition of these objects, which we call `tops', is more general than an earlier definition by Candelas and Font

Searching for K3 Fibrations

We present two methods for studying fibrations of Calabi-Yau manifolds embedded in toric varieties described by single weight systems. We analyse 184,026 such spaces and identify among them 124,701 which are K3 fibrations. As some of the weights give rise to two or three distinct types of fibrations, the total number we find is 167,406. With our methods one can also study elliptic fibrations of 3-folds and K3 surfaces. We also calculate the Hodge numbers of the 3-folds obtaining more than three times as many as were previously known.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX2e, 4 eps figures, uses packages amssymb,latexsym,cite,epi

An Abundance of K3 Fibrations from Polyhedra with Interchangeable Parts

Even a cursory inspection of the Hodge plot associated with Calabi-Yau threefolds that are hypersurfaces in toric varieties reveals striking structures. These patterns correspond to webs of elliptic-K3 fibrations whose mirror images are also elliptic-K3 fibrations. Such manifolds arise from reflexive polytopes that can be cut into two parts along slices corresponding to the K3 fibers. Any two half-polytopes over a given slice can be combined into a reflexive polytope. This fact, together with a remarkable relation on the additivity of Hodge numbers, explains much of the structure of the observed patterns.Comment: 30 pages, 15 colour figure

The web of Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric varieties

Recent results on duality between string theories and connectedness of their moduli spaces seem to go a long way toward establishing the uniqueness of an underlying theory. For the large class of Calabi-Yau 3-folds that can be embedded as hypersurfaces in toric varieties the proof of mathematical connectedness via singular limits is greatly simplified by using polytopes that are maximal with respect to certain single or multiple weight systems. We identify the multiple weight systems occurring in this approach. We show that all of the corresponding Calabi-Yau manifolds are connected among themselves and to the web of CICY's. This almost completes the proof of connectedness for toric Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces.Comment: TeX, epsf.tex; 24 page

String Dualities and Toric Geometry: An Introduction

This note is supposed to be an introduction to those concepts of toric geometry that are necessary to understand applications in the context of string and F-theory dualities. The presentation is based on the definition of a toric variety in terms of homogeneous coordinates, stressing the analogy with weighted projective spaces. We try to give both intuitive pictures and precise rules that should enable the reader to work with the concepts presented here.Comment: 17 pages, Latex, 7 figures, invited paper to appear in the special issue of the Journal of Chaos, Solitons and Fractals on "Superstrings, M, F, S, ... Theory" (M.S. El Naschie and C. Castro, editors

Localized Tachyons and the g_cl conjecture

We consider C/Z_N and C^2/Z_N orbifolds of heterotic string theories and Z_N orbifolds of AdS_3. We study theories with N=2 worldsheet superconformal invariance and construct RG flows. Following Harvey, Kutasov, Martinec and Moore, we compute g_cl and show that it decreases monotonically along RG flows- as conjectured by them. For the heterotic string theories, the gauge degrees of freedom do not contribute to the computation of g_cl.Comment: Corrections and clarifications made, 19 page