Lara B. Anderson

We construct heterotic standard models by compactifying on smooth Calabi-Yau three-folds in the presence of purely Abelian internal gauge fields. A systematic search over complete intersection Calabi-Yau manifolds with less than six Kahler parameters leads to over 200 such models which we present. Each of these models has precisely the matter spectrum of the MSSM, at least one pair of Higgs doublets, the standard model gauge group and no exotics. For about 100 of these models there are, naively, four additional U(1) symmetries, however these are Green-Schwarz anomalous and, hence, massive. In the remaining cases, three U(1) symmetries are anomalous while the fourth, massless one can be spontaneously broken by singlet vacuum expectation values. The presence of additional global U(1) symmetries, together with the possibility of switching on singlet vacuum expectation values, leads to a rich phenomenology which is illustrated for a particular example. Our database of standard models, which can be further enlarged by simply extending the computer-based search, allows for a detailed and systematic phenomenological analysis of string standard models, covering issues such as the structure of Yukawa couplings, R-parity violation, proton stability and neutrino masses.

Holomorphic gauge fields in N=1 supersymmetric heterotic compactifications can constrain the complex structure moduli of a Calabi-Yau manifold. In this paper, the tools necessary to use holomorphic bundles as a mechanism for moduli stabilization are systematically developed. We review the requisite deformation theory -- including the Atiyah class, which determines the deformations of the complex structure for which the gauge bundle becomes non-holomorphic and, hence, non-supersymmetric. In addition, two equivalent approaches to this mechanism of moduli stabilization are presented. The first is an efficient computational algorithm for determining the supersymmetric moduli space, while the second is an F-term potential in the four-dimensional theory associated with vector bundle holomorphy. These three methods are proven to be rigorously equivalent. We present explicit examples in which large numbers of complex structure moduli are stabilized. Finally, higher-order corrections to the moduli space are discussed.

We further develop the numerical algorithm for computing the gauge connection of slope-stable holomorphic vector bundles on Calabi-Yau manifolds. In particular, recent work on the generalized Donaldson algorithm is extended to bundles with Kahler cone substructure on manifolds with h^{1,1}>1. Since the computation depends only on a one-dimensional ray in the Kahler moduli space, it can probe slope-stability regardless of the size of h^{1,1}. Suitably normalized error measures are introduced to quantitatively compare results for different directions in Kahler moduli space. A significantly improved numerical integration procedure based on adaptive refinements is described and implemented. Finally, an efficient numerical check is proposed for determining whether or not a vector bundle is slope-stable without computing its full connection.

We propose a scenario to stabilize all geometric moduli - that is, the complex structure, Kahler moduli and the dilaton - in smooth heterotic Calabi-Yau compactifications without Neveu-Schwarz three-form flux. This is accomplished using the gauge bundle required in any heterotic compactification, whose perturbative effects on the moduli are combined with non-perturbative corrections. We argue that, for appropriate gauge bundles, all complex structure and a large number of other moduli can be perturbatively stabilized - in the most restrictive case, leaving only one combination of Kahler moduli and the dilaton as a flat direction. At this stage, the remaining moduli space consists of Minkowski vacua. That is, the perturbative superpotential vanishes in the vacuum without the necessity to fine-tune flux. Finally, we incorporate non-perturbative effects such as gaugino condensation and/or instantons. These are strongly constrained by the anomalous U(1) symmetries which arise from the required bundle constructions. We present a specific example, with a consistent choice of non-perturbative effects, where all remaining flat directions are stabilized in an AdS vacuum.