Non-supersymmetric heterotic model building

TL;DR

This paper explores non-supersymmetric heterotic string compactifications on Calabi-Yau manifolds and orbifolds, demonstrating the absence of tachyons in smooth cases and constructing a Standard Model-like example.

Contribution

It applies index theorems and cohomology techniques to non-supersymmetric heterotic models, providing new insights into their spectra and explicit Standard Model-like constructions.

Findings

No tachyons in smooth Calabi-Yau compactifications in large volume limit

Twisted tachyons on orbifolds are conjectured to be lifted upon resolution

Constructed a three-generation Standard Model-like theory with one Higgs

Abstract

We investigate orbifold and smooth Calabi-Yau compactifications of the non-supersymmetric heterotic SO(16)xSO(16) string. We focus on such Calabi-Yau backgrounds in order to recycle commonly employed techniques, like index theorems and cohomology theory, to determine both the fermionic and bosonic 4D spectra. We argue that the N=0 theory never leads to tachyons on smooth Calabi-Yaus in the large volume approximation. As twisted tachyons may arise on certain singular orbifolds, we conjecture that such tachyonic states are lifted in the full blow-up. We perform model searches on selected orbifold geometries. In particular, we construct an explicit example of a Standard Model-like theory with three generations and a single Higgs field.