String Theory and Geometry

University Of New Hampshire, Durham NH

Investigators

Abstract

String Theory has emerged as a leading candidate for a quantum theory of gravity This project addresses the interplay between geometry and string theory, focusing on how the geometry of spacetime determines the physics observed in the universe. The problem to be investigates is how to obtain N=1 supersymmetric string vacua when one compactifies 10 dimensional string theory or 11 dimensional M theory. Particular attention will be given to how singularities in the spaces spanning the extra special dimensions affect the physics of our 4-dimensional world. It is hoped that an understanding of the hierarchy of mass and length scales will naturally occur in this description. Cosmological singularities relevant to the big bang will also be investigated.