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TASI Lectures on F-theory

7 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.

7 Pith papers citing it
abstract

F-theory is perhaps the most general currently available approach to study non-perturbative string compactifications in their geometric, large radius regime. It opens up a wide and ever-growing range of applications and connections to string model building, quantum gravity, (non-perturbative) quantum field theories in various dimensions and mathematics. Its computational power derives from the geometrisation of physical reasoning, establishing a deep correspondence between fundamental concepts in gauge theory and beautiful structures of elliptic fibrations. These lecture notes, which are an extended version of my lectures given at TASI 2017, introduce some of the main concepts underlying the recent technical advances in F-theory compactifications and their various applications. The main focus is put on explaining the F-theory dictionary between the local and global data of an elliptic fibration and the physics of 7-branes in Type IIB compactifications to various dimensions via duality with M-theory. The geometric concepts underlying this dictionary include the behaviour of elliptic fibrations in codimension one, two, three and four, the Mordell-Weil group of rational sections, and the Deligne cohomology group specifying gauge backgrounds.

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hep-th 7

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UNVERDICTED 7

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representative citing papers

Alice in Warpland: KK modes, Warped Compactifications and the Swampland

hep-th · 2026-03-11 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0

In codimension-one warped compactifications with exponential potentials, the KK mass decay rate λ_KK is reduced by warping but still satisfies the Sharpened Distance Conjecture precisely when the higher-dimensional potential obeys the Strong de Sitter condition.

Symmetry TFTs from String Theory

hep-th · 2021-12-03 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0

Constructs Symmetry TFTs for M-theory compactifications by reducing the topological sector of 11d supergravity on the boundary of X using differential cohomology, with applications to 7d SYM and 5d SCFTs confirmed via IIB 5-brane webs.

Constraining F-theory Model Building with QCD Axions

hep-th · 2026-05-05 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0 · 2 refs

QCD axions constrain F-theory base threefolds to have rigid or flux-rigidified divisors, yielding typical axion masses around 10^{-9} eV and decay constants near 10^{15} GeV in allowed regions.

Bounds on Discrete Gauge Symmetries in Supergravity

hep-th · 2025-11-12 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0

Upper bounds are placed on the order of enhanced discrete gauge symmetries in supersymmetric supergravity theories with 8 or more supercharges, with some bounds saturated by string theory examples.

citing papers explorer

Showing 7 of 7 citing papers.

  • Alice in Warpland: KK modes, Warped Compactifications and the Swampland hep-th · 2026-03-11 · unverdicted · none · ref 133 · internal anchor

    In codimension-one warped compactifications with exponential potentials, the KK mass decay rate λ_KK is reduced by warping but still satisfies the Sharpened Distance Conjecture precisely when the higher-dimensional potential obeys the Strong de Sitter condition.

  • Symmetry TFTs from String Theory hep-th · 2021-12-03 · unverdicted · none · ref 112 · internal anchor

    Constructs Symmetry TFTs for M-theory compactifications by reducing the topological sector of 11d supergravity on the boundary of X using differential cohomology, with applications to 7d SYM and 5d SCFTs confirmed via IIB 5-brane webs.

  • Bordisms between 9d type IIB supergravities and commutator widths of duality groups hep-th · 2026-05-14 · unverdicted · none · ref 108 · internal anchor

    Proposes a refinement of the Swampland Cobordism Conjecture for Ω1(BG) with duality bundle G, where diverging commutator width of G requires infinitely many duality defects to realize monodromies via gravitational solitons.

  • Quantum obstructions for $N=1$ infinite distance limits -- Part I: $g_s$ obstructions hep-th · 2026-03-12 · unverdicted · none · ref 103 · internal anchor

    Non-perturbative g_s corrections obstruct perturbative Type IIB descriptions and can remove classical infinite distance degenerations in asymptotic regions of the complex structure moduli space.

  • Chern-Simons couplings, modular duality, and anomaly cancellation in abelian F-theory hep-th · 2026-04-11 · unverdicted · none · ref 22

    Chern-Simons couplings from circle-compactified abelian F-theory encode 4D anomalies and Green-Schwarz cancellation, verified by exact matching of M-theory and one-loop calculations and compatible with IIB duality.

  • Constraining F-theory Model Building with QCD Axions hep-th · 2026-05-05 · unverdicted · none · ref 63 · 2 links · internal anchor

    QCD axions constrain F-theory base threefolds to have rigid or flux-rigidified divisors, yielding typical axion masses around 10^{-9} eV and decay constants near 10^{15} GeV in allowed regions.

  • Bounds on Discrete Gauge Symmetries in Supergravity hep-th · 2025-11-12 · unverdicted · none · ref 28 · internal anchor

    Upper bounds are placed on the order of enhanced discrete gauge symmetries in supersymmetric supergravity theories with 8 or more supercharges, with some bounds saturated by string theory examples.