N=2 Heterotic Superstring and its Dual Theory in Five Dimensions

TL;DR

This paper investigates quantum effects in five-dimensional heterotic superstring theory compactified on K_3 x S_1, exploring its duality with eleven-dimensional supergravity and type II string theory, revealing new massless states and singularity behaviors.

Contribution

It provides evidence supporting the duality between heterotic string theory and eleven-dimensional supergravity, and identifies novel massless states and singularities in the Calabi-Yau compactification.

Findings

Disappearance of conifold singularity in the large volume limit.

Existence of additional massless states at strong coupling.

Enhanced gauge symmetries at certain singular points.

Abstract

We study quantum effects in five dimensions in heterotic superstring theory compactified on K_3 x S_1 and analyze the conjecture that its dual effective theory is eleven-dimensional supergravity compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold. This theory is also equivalent to type II superstring theory compactified on the same Calabi-Yau manifold, in an appropriate large volume limit. In this limit the conifold singularity disappears and is replaced by a singularity associated to enhanced gauge symmetries, as naively expected from the heterotic description. Furthermore, we exhibit the existence of additional massless states which appear in the strong coupling regime of the heterotic theory and are related to a different type of singular points on Calabi-Yau threefolds.