Publications (118)
Angular momentum and long-range gravitational interactions in Matrix theory
Washington Taylor, Mark Van Raamsdonk
We consider subleading terms in the one-loop Matrix theory potential between a classical membrane state and a supergraviton. Nontrivial terms arise at order v/r^8 and v^3/r^8 which…
Generic construction of the Standard Model gauge group and matter representations in F-theory
Washington Taylor, Andrew P. Turner
We describe general classes of 6D and 4D F-theory models with gauge group . We prove t…
The F-theory geometry with most flux vacua
Washington Taylor, Yi-Nan Wang
Applying the Ashok-Denef-Douglas estimation method to elliptic Calabi-Yau fourfolds suggests that a single elliptic fourfold gives rise to ${\cal O} (10^{272,0…
Charge completeness and the massless charge lattice in F-theory models of supergravity
David R. Morrison, Washington Taylor
We prove that, for every 6D supergravity theory that has an F-theory description, the property of charge completeness for the connected component of the gauge group (meaning that a…
D-brane field theory on compact spaces
Washington Taylor
We consider Dirichlet p-branes in type II string theory on a space which has been toroidally compactified in d dimensions. We give an explicit construction of the field theory desc…
Automatic Enhancement in 6D Supergravity and F-theory Models
Nikhil Raghuram, Washington Taylor, Andrew P. Turner
We observe that in many F-theory models, tuning a specific gauge group and matter content under certain circumstances leads to an automatic enhancement to a larger gauge gr…
Natural F-theory constructions of Standard Model structure from flux breaking
Shing Yan Li, Washington Taylor
We describe a broad class of 4D F-theory models in which an gauge group is broken through fluxes to the Standard Model gauge group. These models are ubiquitous in the 4D F-th…
Supergravity currents and linearized interactions for Matrix Theory configurations with fermionic backgrounds
Washington Taylor, Mark Van Raamsdonk
The leading terms in the long-range interaction potential between an arbitrary pair of matrix theory objects are calculated at one-loop order. This result generalizes previous calc…
Geometric constraints in dual F-theory and heterotic string compactifications
Lara B. Anderson, Washington Taylor
We systematically analyze a broad class of dual heterotic and F-theory models that give four-dimensional supergravity theories, and compare the geometric constraints on the two sid…
Strings between branes
Koji Hashimoto, Washington Taylor
D-brane configurations containing fundamental strings are constructed as classical solutions of Yang-Mills theory. The fundamental strings in these systems stretch between D-branes…
Inflationary Constraints on Type IIA String Theory
Mark P. Hertzberg, Shamit Kachru, Washington Taylor +1
We prove that inflation is forbidden in the most well understood class of semi-realistic type IIA string compactifications: Calabi-Yau compactifications with only standard NS-NS 3-…
String Field Theory
Washington Taylor
This elementary introduction to string field theory highlights the features and the limitations of this approach to quantum gravity as it is currently understood. String field theo…
Identifying equivalent Calabi--Yau topologies: A discrete challenge from math and physics for machine learning
Vishnu Jejjala, Washington Taylor, Andrew Turner
We review briefly the characteristic topological data of Calabi--Yau threefolds and focus on the question of when two threefolds are equivalent through related topological data. Th…
Statistics of Base Polytopes in F-theory
Washington Taylor, Yi-Nan Wang, Yihang Yu
We propose a new statistical ensemble of toric bases for elliptic Calabi-Yaus used in F-theory models, by focusing on only the convex hull of the base, i.e., the base polytope. Thi…
Calabi-Yau threefolds with large h^{2, 1}
Samuel B. Johnson, Washington Taylor
We carry out a systematic analysis of Calabi-Yau threefolds that are elliptically fibered with section ("EFS") and have a large Hodge number h^{2, 1}. EFS Calabi-Yau threefolds liv…
Comparing elliptic and toric hypersurface Calabi-Yau threefolds at large Hodge numbers
Yu-Chien Huang, Washington Taylor
We compare the sets of Calabi-Yau threefolds with large Hodge numbers that are constructed using toric hypersurface methods with those can be constructed as elliptic fibrations usi…
Adhering 0-branes to 6-branes and 8-branes
Washington Taylor
A Yang-Mills solution is constructed on T^6 which corresponds to a brane configuration composed purely of 0-branes and 6-branes. This configuration breaks all supersymmetries and h…
Large U(1) charges from flux breaking in 4D F-theory models
Shing Yan Li, Washington Taylor
We study the massless charged spectrum of U(1) gauge fields in F-theory that arise from flux breaking of a nonabelian group. The U(1) charges that arise in this way can be very lar…
Virasoro Representations on (Diff S1)/S1 Coadjoint Orbits
Washington Taylor
A new set of realizations of the Virasoro algebra on a bosonic Fock space are found by explicitly computing the Virasoro representations associated with coadjoint orbits of the for…
Longitudinal 5-branes as 4-spheres in Matrix theory
Judith Castelino, Sangmin Lee, Washington Taylor
We present a construction in Matrix theory of longitudinal 5-branes whose geometry in transverse space corresponds to a 4-sphere. We describe these branes through an explicit const…
Abelian and nonabelian vector field effective actions from string field theory
Erasmo Coletti, Ilya Sigalov, Washington Taylor
The leading terms in the tree-level effective action for the massless fields of the bosonic open string are calculated by integrating out all massive fields in Witten's cubic strin…
Coadjoint Orbits and Conformal Field Theory
Washington Taylor
This thesis describes a new approach to conformal field theory. This approach combines the method of coadjoint orbits with resolutions and chiral vertex operators to give a constru…
Matter and singularities
David R. Morrison, Washington Taylor
We analyze the structure of matter representations arising from codimension two singularities in F-theory, focusing on gauge groups SU(N). We give a detailed local description of t…
A Quantum Lattice-Gas Model for the Many-Particle Schroedinger Equation
Bruce M. Boghosian, Washington Taylor
We consider a general class of discrete unitary dynamical models on the lattice. We show that generically such models give rise to a wavefunction satisfying a Schroedinger equation…
Generalized Flux Vacua
Jessie Shelton, Washington Taylor, Brian Wecht
We consider type II string theory compactified on a symmetric T^6/Z_2 orientifold. We study a general class of discrete deformations of the resulting four-dimensional supergravity…
Snowmass White Paper: String Theory and Particle Physics
Mirjam Cvetic, James Halverson, Gary Shiu +1
We review recent developments and outstanding questions regarding connecting the top-down UV complete physical framework of string theory with the observed physics of the Standard…
6D F-theory models and elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds over semi-toric base surfaces
Gabriella Martini, Washington Taylor
We carry out a systematic study of a class of 6D F-theory models and associated Calabi-Yau threefolds that are constructed using base surfaces with a generalization of toric struct…
D-brane effective field theory from string field theory
Washington Taylor
Open string field theory is considered as a tool for deriving the effective action for the massless or tachyonic fields living on D-branes. Some simple calculations are performed i…
Taming the Tachyon in Cubic String Field Theory
Erasmo Coletti, Ilya Sigalov, Washington Taylor
We give evidence based on level-truncation computations that the rolling tachyon in cubic open string field theory (CSFT) has a well-defined but wildly oscillatory time-dependent s…
General F-theory models with tuned symmetry
Nikhil Raghuram, Washington Taylor, Andrew P. Turner
We construct a general form for an F-theory Weierstrass model over a general base giving a 6D or 4D supergravity theory with gauge group $(\operatorname{SU}(3) \times \operatorname…
Lectures on D-branes, tachyon condensation, and string field theory
Washington Taylor
These lectures provide an introduction to the subject of tachyon condensation in the open bosonic string. The problem of tachyon condensation is first described in the context of t…
Towards natural and realistic GUTs in F-theory
Shing Yan Li, Washington Taylor
We consider phenomenological aspects of a natural class of Standard Model-like supersymmetric F-theory vacua realized through flux breaking of rigid gauge factors. Three gene…
The M(atrix) model of M-theory
Washington Taylor
These lecture notes give a pedagogical and (mostly) self-contained review of some basic aspects of the Matrix model of M-theory. The derivations of the model as a regularized super…
Scanning the skeleton of the 4D F-theory landscape
Washington Taylor, Yi-Nan Wang
Using a one-way Monte Carlo algorithm from several different starting points, we get an approximation to the distribution of toric threefold bases that can be used in four-dimensio…
Chiral spectrum of the universal tuned 4D F-theory model
Patrick Jefferson, Washington Taylor, Andrew P. Turner
We use the recently developed methods of 2108.07810 to analyze vertical flux backgrounds and associated chiral matter spectra in the 4D universal $(\text{SU}(3) \times \text{SU}(2)…
Mapping 6D N = 1 supergravities to F-theory
Vijay Kumar, David R. Morrison, Washington Taylor
We develop a systematic framework for realizing general anomaly-free chiral 6D supergravity theories in F-theory. We focus on 6D (1, 0) models with one tensor multiplet whose gauge…
Branes in the bulk of Anti-de Sitter space
Michael R. Douglas, Washington Taylor
We consider (3 + 1)-dimensional N=4 super Yang-Mills theory with a nonvanishing scalar Higgs vacuum expectation value, and compare this theory to AdS supergravity with branes in th…
A geometric approach to free variable loop equations in discretized theories of 2D gravity
Sean M. Carroll, Miguel E. Ortiz, Washington Taylor
We present a self-contained analysis of theories of discrete 2D gravity coupled to matter, using geometric methods to derive equations for generating functions in terms of free (no…
D-Branes, Tachyons, and String Field Theory
Washington Taylor, Barton Zwiebach
In these notes we provide a pedagogical introduction to the subject of tachyon condensation in Witten's cubic bosonic open string field theory. We use both the low-energy Yang-Mill…
TASI Lectures on Supergravity and String Vacua in Various Dimensions
Washington Taylor
These lectures aim to provide a global picture of the spaces of consistent quantum supergravity theories and string vacua in higher dimensions. The lectures focus on theories in th…
Mirror symmetry and elliptic Calabi-Yau manifolds
Yu-Chien Huang, Washington Taylor
We find that for many Calabi-Yau threefolds with elliptic or genus one fibrations mirror symmetry factorizes between the fiber and the base of the fibration. In the simplest exampl…
Non-toric bases for elliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds and 6D F-theory vacua
Washington Taylor, Yi-Nan Wang
We develop a combinatorial approach to the construction of general smooth compact base surfaces that support elliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds. This extends previous analyses that hav…
General U(1)xU(1) F-theory Compactifications and Beyond: Geometry of unHiggsings and novel Matter Structure
Mirjam Cvetic, Denis Klevers, Hernan Piragua +1
We construct the general form of an F-theory compactification with two U(1) factors based on a general elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifold with Mordell-Weil group of rank two.…
Renormalization of Lattice Gas Transport Coefficients
Bruce M. Boghosian, Washington Taylor
A method is described for calculating corrections to the Boltzmann/Chapman-Enskog analysis of lattice gases due to the buildup of correlations. It is shown that renormalized transp…
Renormalized Equilibria of a Schloegl Model Lattice Gas
Bruce M. Boghosian, Washington Taylor
A lattice gas model for Schloegl's second chemical reaction is described and analyzed. Because the lattice gas does not obey a semi-detailed-balance condition, the equilibria are n…
Anomaly constraints and string/F-theory geometry in 6D quantum gravity
Washington Taylor
Quantum anomalies, determined by the Atiyah-Singer index theorem, place strong constraints on the space of quantum gravity theories in six dimensions with minimal supersymmetry. Th…
Simulating quantum mechanics on a quantum computer
Bruce M. Boghosian, Washington Taylor
Algorithms are described for efficiently simulating quantum mechanical systems on quantum computers. A class of algorithms for simulating the Schrodinger equation for interacting m…
An elliptic approach to Reid's fantasy
Lara Anderson, James Gray, Richard Nally +1
It is a long-standing problem to prove that the number of distinct topological types of Calabi-Yau threefolds is finite. A related proposition, Reid's fantasy, conjectures that all…
6D supergravity without tensor multiplets
Vijay Kumar, Daniel S. Park, Washington Taylor
We systematically investigate the finite set of possible gauge groups and matter content for N = 1 supergravity theories in six dimensions with no tensor multiplets, focusing on no…
Quantum lattice-gas models for the many-body Schrodinger equation
Bruce M. Boghosian, Washington Taylor
A general class of discrete unitary models are described whose behavior in the continuum limit corresponds to a many-body Schrodinger equation. On a quantum computer, these models…
Sections, multisections, and U(1) fields in F-theory
David R. Morrison, Washington Taylor
We show that genus-one fibrations lacking a global section fit naturally into the geometric moduli space of Weierstrass models. Elliptic fibrations with multiple sections (nontrivi…
Fibration structure in toric hypersurface Calabi-Yau threefolds
Yu-Chien Huang, Washington Taylor
We find through a systematic analysis that all but 29,223 of the 473.8 million 4D reflexive polytopes found by Kreuzer and Skarke have a 2D reflexive subpolytope. Such a subpolytop…
Twists and Wilson Loops in the String Theory of Two Dimensional QCD
David J. Gross, Washington Taylor
Many Texo's have been corrected and a reference added.
Absorption of dilaton partial waves by D3-branes
Igor Klebanov, Washington Taylor, Mark Van Raamsdonk
We calculate the leading term in the low-energy absorption cross section for an arbitrary partial wave of the dilaton field by a stack of many coincident D3-branes. We find that it…
Tadpoles and Closed String Backgrounds in Open String Field Theory
Ian Ellwood, Jessie Shelton, Washington Taylor
We investigate the quantum structure of Witten's cubic open bosonic string field theory by computing the one-loop contribution to the open string tadpole using both oscillator and…
D-particle polarizations with multipole moments of higher-dimensional branes
Karl Millar, Washington Taylor, Mark Van Raamsdonk
We study the polarization states of the D0-brane in type IIA string theory. In addition to states with angular momentum and magnetic dipole moments, there are polarization states o…
Level truncation and the tachyon in open bosonic string field theory
Nicolas Moeller, Washington Taylor
The tachyonic instability of the open bosonic string is analyzed using the level truncation approach to string field theory. We have calculated all terms in the cubic action of the…
String Universality in Six Dimensions
Vijay Kumar, Washington Taylor
In six dimensions, cancellation of gauge, gravitational, and mixed anomalies strongly constrains the set of quantum field theories which can be coupled consistently to gravity. We…
Minimal model of self-organized clusters with phase transitions in ecological communities
Shing Yan Li, Mehran Kardar, Zhijie Feng +1
In complex ecological communities, species may self-organize into clusters or clumps where highly similar species can coexist. The emergence of such species clusters can be capture…
Enumerating Flux Vacua with Enhanced Symmetries
Oliver DeWolfe, Alexander Giryavets, Shamit Kachru +1
We study properties of flux vacua in type IIB string theory in several simple but illustrative models. We initiate the study of the relative frequencies of vacua with vanishing sup…
D2-branes in B fields
Washington Taylor
This note focuses on the coupling of a type IIA D2-brane to a background B field. It is shown that the D0-brane charge arising from the integral over the D2-brane of the pullback o…
Generic matter representations in 6D supergravity theories
Washington Taylor, Andrew P. Turner
In six-dimensional supergravity, there is a natural sense in which matter lying in certain representations of the gauge group is "generic," in the sense that other "exotic" matter…
Non-Higgsable QCD and the Standard Model Spectrum in F-theory
Antonella Grassi, James Halverson, Julius Shaneson +1
Many four-dimensional supersymmetric compactifications of F-theory contain gauge groups that cannot be spontaneously broken through geometric deformations. These "non-Higgsable clu…
Gauge Invariance and Tachyon Condensation in Open String Field Theory
Ian Ellwood, Washington Taylor
The gauge invariance of open string field theory is considered from the point of view of level truncation, and applications to the tachyon condensation problem are discussed. We sh…
Large U(1) charges in F-theory
Nikhil Raghuram, Washington Taylor
We show that massless fields with large abelian charges (up to at least q = 21) can be constructed in 6D F-theory models with a U(1) gauge group. To show this, we explicitly constr…
Dimensional Reduction of B-Fields in F-theory
Sheldon Katz, Washington Taylor
We describe the dimensional reduction of the IIB B-fields in F-theory using a conjectured description of normalizable B-fields in terms of perverse sheaves. Computations are facili…
Matter in transition
Lara B. Anderson, James Gray, Nikhil Raghuram +1
We explore a novel type of transition in certain 6D and 4D quantum field theories, in which the matter content of the theory changes while the gauge group and other parts of the sp…
Branes, Fluxes and Duality in M(atrix)-Theory
Ori J. Ganor, Sanjaye Ramgoolam, Washington Taylor
We use the T-duality transformation which relates M-theory on T^3 to M-theory on a second T^3 with inverse volume to test the Banks-Fischler-Shenker-Susskind suggestion for the mat…
Gauge symmetry breaking with fluxes and natural Standard Model structure from exceptional GUTs in F-theory
Shing Yan Li, Washington Taylor
We give a general description of gauge symmetry breaking using vertical and remainder fluxes in 4D F-theory models. The fluxes can break a geometric gauge group to a smaller group…
Two Dimensional QCD is a String Theory
David J. Gross, Washington Taylor
The partition function of two dimensional QCD on a Riemann surface of area is expanded as a power series in and . It is shown that the coefficients of this expansion a…
On the Hodge structure of elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds
Washington Taylor
The Hodge numbers of generic elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds over toric base surfaces fill out the "shield" structure previously identified by Kreuzer and Skarke. The co…
M(atrix) Theory: Matrix Quantum Mechanics as a Fundamental Theory
Washington Taylor
A self-contained review is given of the matrix model of M-theory. The introductory part of the review is intended to be accessible to the general reader. M-theory is an eleven-dime…
An infinite swampland of U(1) charge spectra in 6D supergravity theories
Washington Taylor, Andrew P. Turner
We analyze the anomaly constraints on 6D supergravity theories with a single abelian U(1) gauge factor. For theories with charges restricted to and no tensor multi…
Classifying bases for 6D F-theory models
David R. Morrison, Washington Taylor
We classify six-dimensional F-theory compactifications in terms of simple features of the divisor structure of the base surface of the elliptic fibration. This structure controls t…
Type IIA Moduli Stabilization
Oliver DeWolfe, Alexander Giryavets, Shamit Kachru +1
We demonstrate that flux compactifications of type IIA string theory can classically stabilize all geometric moduli. For a particular orientifold background, we explicitly construc…
Lectures on D-branes, Gauge Theory and M(atrices)
Washington Taylor
These notes give a pedagogical introduction to D-branes and Matrix theory. The development of the material is based on super Yang-Mills theory, which is the low-energy field theory…
Fluctuation Spectra of Tilted and Intersecting D-branes from the Born-Infeld Action
Akikazu Hashimoto, Washington Taylor
We consider the spectra of excitations around diagonal and intersecting D-brane configurations on tori. These configurations are described by constant curvature connections in a du…
Non-Higgsable clusters for 4D F-theory models
David R. Morrison, Washington Taylor
We analyze non-Higgsable clusters of gauge groups and matter that can arise at the level of geometry in 4D F-theory models. Non-Higgsable clusters seem to be generic features of F-…
-bundle bases and the prevalence of non-Higgsable structure in 4D F-theory models
James Halverson, Washington Taylor
We explore a large class of F-theory compactifications to four dimensions. We find evidence that gauge groups that cannot be Higgsed without breaking supersymmetry, often accompani…
Perturbative computations in string field theory
Washington Taylor
These notes describe how perturbative on-shell and off-shell string amplitudes can be computed using string field theory. Computational methods for approximating arbitrary amplitud…
A perturbative analysis of tachyon condensation
Washington Taylor
Tachyon condensation in the open bosonic string is analyzed using a perturbative expansion of the tachyon potential around the unstable D25-brane vacuum. Using the leading terms in…
Varieties of vacua in classical supersymmetric gauge theories
Markus A. Luty, Washington Taylor
We give a simple description of the classical moduli space of vacua for supersymmetric gauge theories with or without a superpotential. The key ingredient in our analysis is the ob…
Spin/disorder correlations and duality in the c=1/2 string
Sean M. Carroll, Miguel E. Ortiz, Washington Taylor
We use the method of discrete loop equations to calculate exact correlation functions of spin and disorder operators on the sphere and on the boundary of a disk in the st…
Perturbative diagrams in string field theory
Washington Taylor
A general algorithm is presented which gives a closed-form expression for an arbitrary perturbative diagram of cubic string field theory at any loop order. For any diagram, the res…
Spherical membranes in Matrix theory
Daniel Kabat, Washington Taylor
We consider membranes of spherical topology in uncompactified Matrix theory. In general for large membranes Matrix theory reproduces the classical membrane dynamics up to 1/N corre…
Non-Higgsable abelian gauge symmetry and F-theory on fiber products of rational elliptic surfaces
David R. Morrison, Daniel S. Park, Washington Taylor
We construct a general class of Calabi--Yau threefolds from fiber products of rational elliptic surfaces with section, generalizing a construction of Schoen to include all Kodaira…
Toric bases for 6D F-theory models
David R. Morrison, Washington Taylor
We find all smooth toric bases that support elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds, using the intersection structure of the irreducible effective divisors on the base. These ba…
Three-Index Symmetric Matter Representations of SU(2) in F-Theory from Non-Tate Form Weierstrass Models
Denis Klevers, Washington Taylor
We give an explicit construction of a class of F-theory models with matter in the three-index symmetric (4) representation of SU(2). This matter is realized at codimension two loci…
Mass generation from tachyon condensation for vector fields on D-branes
Washington Taylor
The level truncation approach to string field theory is used to study the zero-momentum action for vector excitations on a bosonic D-brane which has been annihilated by tachyon con…
A Monte Carlo exploration of threefold base geometries for 4d F-theory vacua
Washington Taylor, Yi-Nan Wang
We use Monte Carlo methods to explore the set of toric threefold bases that support elliptic Calabi-Yau fourfolds for F-theory compactifications to four dimensions, and study the d…
Constraints on 6D Supergravity Theories with Abelian Gauge Symmetry
Daniel S. Park, Washington Taylor
We study six-dimensional N=(1,0) supergravity theories with abelian, as well as non-abelian, gauge group factors. We show that for theories with fewer than nine tensor multiplets,…
Structure in 6D and 4D N=1 supergravity theories from F-theory
Thomas W. Grimm, Washington Taylor
We explore some aspects of 4D supergravity theories and F-theory vacua that are parallel to structures in the space of 6D theories. The spectrum and topological terms in 4D supergr…
Charge Lattices and Consistency of 6D Supergravity
Nathan Seiberg, Washington Taylor
We extend the known consistency conditions on the low-energy theory of six-dimensional N = 1 supergravity. We review some facts about the theory of two-form gauge fields and conclu…
Emergent self-inhibition governs the landscape of stable states in complex ecosystems
Nitesh Kumar Patro, Washington Taylor, Akshit Goyal
Species-rich ecosystems often exhibit multiple stable states with distinct species compositions. Yet, the factors determining the likelihood of each state's occurrence remain poorl…
Exotic matter on singular divisors in F-theory
Denis Klevers, David R. Morrison, Nikhil Raghuram +1
We analyze exotic matter representations that arise on singular seven-brane configurations in F-theory. We develop a general framework for analyzing such representations, and work…
Efficient tilings of de Bruijn and Kautz graphs
Washington Taylor, Jud Leonard, Lawrence C. Stewart
Kautz and de Bruijn graphs have a high degree of connectivity which makes them ideal candidates for massively parallel computer network topologies. In order to realize a practical…
Classifying Fibers and Bases in Toric Hypersurface Calabi-Yau Threefolds
Fatima Abbasi, Richard Nally, Washington Taylor
We carry out a complete analysis of the toric elliptic and genus-one fibrations of all 474 million reflexive polytopes in the Kreuzer-Skarke database. Earlier work with Huang showe…
Diversity in the Tail of the Intersecting Brane Landscape
Vladimir Rosenhaus, Washington Taylor
Techniques are developed for exploring the complete space of intersecting brane models on an orientifold. The classification of all solutions for the widely-studied T^6/Z_2 x Z_2 o…
The Ising model with a boundary magnetic field on a random surface
Sean M. Carroll, Miguel E. Ortiz, Washington Taylor
The bulk and boundary magnetizations are calculated for the critical Ising model on a randomly triangulated disk in the presence of a boundary magnetic field h. In the continuum li…
Open string field theory without open strings
Ian Ellwood, Washington Taylor
Witten's cubic open string field theory is expanded around the perturbatively stable vacuum, including all scalar fields at levels 0, 2, 4 and 6. The (approximate) BRST cohomology…