This book is a guide for all those who want to explore the standard model using string theory. The approach pursued is "halfway" between a textbook and advanced research work and, accordingly, the book will allow both graduate students and particle phenomenologists to easily get acquainted with this fascinating field.

In this new edition the authors report on the status quo of the standard model following the discovery of the Higgs Boson, as well as the latest results concerning physics beyond the standard model. They present a formal introduction to string orbifolds and explain in detail how the massless states and the Kaluza-Klein spectra can be derived from the partition function. In turn, they provide an overview of orbifold phenomenology, by introducing the key aspects of string orbifolds in the context of SUSY standard models. In closing, the authors discuss the Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) from orbifolds and share key concepts regarding Calabi-Yau compactifications, M-theory and F-theory.

Autorentext

Kang-Sin Choi is assistant professor division chair of the Scranton Honors Program at Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Rep. of Korea. His research focuses on the Standard Model of particle physics and on how it can be completed by string theory. Jihn E. Kim is professor emeritus at the Seoul National University, Rep. of Korea. As theoretical physicist, his research focuses on fundamental particles and their interactions, based on symmetry principles and superstring models. Some of his research interests concentrate on neutral currents, neutrino magnetic moment, invisible axion, dark matter, grand unification, and the cosmological constant problem.

Klappentext

This book offers a detailed guide on the journey towards the minimal supersymmetric standard model down the orbifold road. It takes the viewpoint that the chirality of matter fermions is an essential aspect that orbifold compactification allows to derive from higher-dimensional string theories in a straightforward manner. Halfway between textbook and tutorial review, the book is intended for the graduate student and particle phenomenologist wishing to get acquainted with this field.

Inhalt

1 Introduction and Summary 2 Standard Model and Beyond 3 Orbifolds and Spinors 4 Field Theoretic Orbifolds 5 Quantization of Strings 6 Strings on Orbifolds 7 Structure of String Orbifold 8 Interactions on Orbifolds 9 String Orbifold Spectra9A A gross view of Orbifold Phenomenology9B Anomaly Cancellation 10 Standard-like Models from Orbifolds10A Z3 Constructions10B Product of prime orbifolds10C Z12-I Constructions10D Z6-II Constructions 11 GUTs from Orbifolds11A GUTs from orbifolds11B Flavors 12 Smooth Compactication12A Calabi-Yau Compactication12B Blowing up 12C M-theory and F-theory Ideas 13 Epilogue Appendix A Fermionic ConstructionsAppendix B Intersecting Brane ModelsAppendix C Ellyptic FunctionsAppendix D Useful Tables for Model BuildingAppendix E Some Algebraic Elements of Lie Groups