TASI Lectures: Particle Physics from Perturbative and Non-perturbative Effects in D-braneworlds

Abstract

In these notes we review aspects of semi-realistic particle physics from the point of view of type II orientifold compactifications. We discuss the appearance of gauge theories on spacetime filling D-branes which wrap non-trivial cycles in the Calabi-Yau. Chiral matter can appear at their intersections, with a natural interpretation of family replication given by the topological intersection number. We discuss global consistency, including tadpole cancellation and the generalized Green-Schwarz mechanism, and also the importance of related global $U(1)$ symmetries for superpotential couplings. We review the basics of D-instantons, which can generate superpotential corrections to charged matter couplings forbidden by the global $U(1)$ symmetries and may play an important role in moduli stabilization. Finally, for the purpose of studying the landscape, we discuss certain advantages of studying quiver gauge theories which arise from type II orientifold compactifications rather than globally defined models. We utilize the type IIa geometric picture and CFT techniques to illustrate the main physical points, though sometimes we supplement the discussion from the type IIb perspective using complex algebraic geometry.

35 pages. Based on lectures given by M.C. at TASI 2010. v2: added references, fixed typos

References in corpus (16)

• Four-dimensional String Compactifications with D-Branes, Orientifolds and Fluxes
• The Anthropic Landscape of String Theory
• Spacetime Instanton Corrections in 4D String Vacua - The Seesaw Mechanism for D-Brane Models
• Lectures on F-theory compactifications and model building
• GUTs in Type IIB Orientifold Compactifications
• Stringy Instantons and Quiver Gauge Theories
• Progress in D-brane model building
• Orientifolds, hypercharge embeddings and the Standard Model
• Non-perturbative Yukawa Couplings from String Instantons
• Stringy Instantons at Orbifold Singularities
• The Standard Model on the Quintic
• D-Instanton Generated Dirac Neutrino Masses
• On mass hierarchies in orientifold vacua
• The Weinberg Operator and a Lower String Scale in Orientifold Compactifications
• Rigid D6-branes on T6/[Z(2)xZ(2M)xOmegaR] with discrete torsion
• Proton decay via dimension-six operators in intersecting D6-brane models

Cited by in corpus (20)

• Discrete gauge symmetries in D-brane models
• TASI Lectures on Supergravity and String Vacua in Various Dimensions
• Discrete Gauge Symmetries in Discrete MSSM-like Orientifolds
• Toric Construction of Global F-Theory GUTs
• The effective action of D6-branes in N=1 type IIA orientifolds
• The N=1 effective actions of D-branes in Type IIA and IIB orientifolds
• The Intermediate Scale MSSM, the Higgs Mass and F-theory Unification
• Implications of String Constraints for Exotic Matter and Z' s Beyond the Standard Model
• String Constraints on Discrete Symmetries in MSSM Type II Quivers
• The Importance of Being Rigid: D6-Brane Model Building on T6/Z2xZ6' with Discrete Torsion
• Towards the Standard Model in F-theory
• Yukawa couplings and masses of non-chiral states for the Standard Model on D6-branes on T6/Z6'
• TeV-Scale strings
• Ultraviolet Completions of Axigluon Models and Their Phenomenological Consequences
• Revisiting light stringy states in view of the 750 GeV diphoton excess
• More About Branes on a General Magnetized Torus
• On Fermion Mass Hirerachies in MSSM-like Quiver Models with Stringy Corrections
• String Consistency, Heavy Exotics, and the $750$ GeV Diphoton Excess at the LHC
• TeV Scale Strings and Scattering Amplitudes at the LHC
• Magnetized Branes and the Six-Torus