Grand Unified Theories From Superstrings

TL;DR

This paper reviews how string theory can incorporate traditional grand unified theories, focusing on progress in constructing realistic SO(10) SUSY-GUT models within free fermionic string frameworks as of 1996.

Contribution

It discusses the status and progress in embedding GUTs into string theory, especially in classifying SO(10) models and finding N=1 spacetime solutions.

Findings

Progress in classifying SO(10) embeddings.

Development of N=1 spacetime solutions.

Analysis of three-generation string models.

Abstract

I review how traditional grand unified theories, which require adjoint (or higher representation) Higgs fields for breaking to the standard model, can be contained within string theory. The status (as of January 1996) of the search for stringy free fermionic three generation SO(10) SUSY--GUT models is discussed. Progress in free fermionic classification of both SO(10)$_2$ charged and uncharged embeddings and in $N=1$ spacetime solutions is presented. Based on talks presented at the Workshop on SUSY Phenomena and SUSY GUTs, Santa Barbara, California, Dec. 7-11, 1995, and at the Orbis Scientiae, Coral Gables, Florida, January 25-28, 1996. Appearing in the Proceedings of Orbis Scientiae, 1996.