Anomalies of discrete R-symmetries appearing in heterotic orbifold models are studied. We find that the mixed anomalies for different gauge groups satisfy the universal Green-Schwarz (GS) condition, indicating that these anomalies are canceled by the GS mechanism. An exact relation between the anomaly coefficients of the discrete R-symmetries and one-loop beta-function coefficients is obtained. We also find that the discrete R-symmetries have a good chance to be unbroken down to the supersymmetry breaking scale. Even below this scale a $Z_2$ subgroup is unbroken, which may be an origin of the R-parity of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. Relations between the R-symmetry anomalies and T-duality anomalies are also investigated.
We study heterotic asymmetric orbifold models. By utilizing the lattice engineering technique, we classify (22,6)-dimensional Narain lattices with right-moving non-Abelian group factors which can be starting points for Z3 asymmetric orbifold construction. We also calculate gauge symmetry breaking patterns.
We study kinetic mixing between massless U(1) gauge symmetries in the bosonic formulation of heterotic orbifold compactifications. For non-prime Z_N factorisable orbifolds, we find a simple expression of the mixing in terms of the properties of the N=2 subsectors, which helps understand under what conditions mixing can occur. With this tool, we analyse Z_6-II heterotic orbifolds and find non-vanishing mixing even without including Wilson lines. We show that some semi-realistic models of the Mini-Landscape admit supersymmetric vacua with mixing between the hypercharge and an additional U(1), wh…
We consider properties of the CKM phase in the heterotic orbifold models. We find that at the renormalizable level the CKM phase vanishes identically for the prime orbifolds, whereas it can be non-zero for some non-prime orbifolds. In particular, we study in detail the Z_6-I orbifold which allows for a non-trivial CKM phase and analyze the modular properties of the corresponding Jarlskog invariant. The CKM phase is shown to vanish if the moduli fields are stabilized at Im T_i=\pm 1/2.
We study spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking in the framework of orbifold compactifcations of heterotic string theory. In particular we investigate the electroweak symmetry breakdown via the Higgs mechanism. Such a breakdown can be achieved by continuous Wilson lines. Exploiting the geometrical properties of this scheme we develop a new technique which simplifies the analysis used in previous discussions.
Using Z3 asymmetric orbifolds in heterotic string theory, we construct N=1 SUSY three-generation models with the standard model gauge group SU(3)_C \times SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y and the left-right symmetric group SU(3)_C \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_{B-L}. One of the models possesses a gauge flavor symmetry for the Z3 twisted matter.
We study systematically the possibility for realizing realistic values of quark mass ratios $m_c/m_t$ and $m_s/m_b$ and the mixing angle $V_{cb}$ by using only renormalizable Yukawa couplings derived from heterotic orbifold models. We assume one pair of up and down sector Higgs fields. We show realistic examples including hierarchical and democratic forms of Yukawa matrices.
The three generation heterotic-string models in the free fermionic formulation are among the most realistic string vacua constructed to date, which motivated their detailed investigation. The classification of free fermion heterotic string vacua has revealed a duality under the exchange of spinor and vector representations of the SO(10) GUT symmetry over the space of models. We demonstrate the existence of the spinor-vector duality using orbifold techniques, and elaborate on the relation of these vacua to free fermionic models.
We use deep autoencoder neural networks to draw a chart of the heterotic $\mathbb{Z}_6$-II orbifold landscape. Even though the autoencoder is trained without knowing the phenomenological properties of the $\mathbb{Z}_6$-II orbifold models, we are able to identify fertile islands in this chart where phenomenologically promising models cluster. Then, we apply a decision tree to our chart in order to extract the defining properties of the fertile islands. Based on this information we propose a new search strategy for phenomenologically promising string models.
Free fermionic models and symmetric heterotic toroidal orbifolds both constitute exact backgrounds that can be used effectively for phenomenological explorations within string theory. Even though it is widely believed that for Z2xZ2 orbifolds the two descriptions should be equivalent, a detailed dictionary between both formulations is still lacking. This paper aims to fill this gap: We give a detailed account of how the input data of both descriptions can be related to each other. In particular, we show that the generalized GSO phases of the free fermionic model correspond to generalized torsi…
The $Z_2\times Z_2$ heterotic string orbifold gives rise to a large space of phenomenological three generation models that serves as a testing ground to explore how the Standard Model of particle physics may be incorporated in a theory of quantum gravity. Recently, we demonstrated the existence of type 0 $Z_2\times Z_2$ heterotic string orbifolds in which there are no massless fermionic states. In this paper we demonstrate the existence of non--supersymmetric tachyon--free $Z_2\times Z_2$ heterotic string orbifolds that do not contain any massless bosonic states from the twisted sectors. We du…
We discuss heterotic strings on Z_2 x Z_2 orbifolds of non factorisable six-tori. Although the number of fixed tori is reduced as compared to the factorisable case, Wilson lines are still needed for the construction of three generation models. An essential new feature is the straightforward appearance of three generation models with one generation per twisted sector. We illustrate our general arguments for the occurrence of that property by an explicit example. Our findings give further support for the conjecture that four dimensional heterotic strings formulated at the free fermionic point ar…
The orbifolder is a program developed in C++ that computes and analyzes the low-energy effective theory of heterotic orbifold compactifications. The program includes routines to compute the massless spectrum, to identify the allowed couplings in the superpotential, to automatically generate large sets of orbifold models, to identify phenomenologically interesting models (e.g. MSSM-like models) and to analyze their vacuum-configurations.
A three-generation Pati-Salam model is constructed by compactifying the heterotic string on a particular T^6/Z_6 Abelian symmetric orbifold with two discrete Wilson lines. The compactified space is taken to be the Lie algebra lattice G_2+SU(3)+SO(4). When one dimension of the SO(4) lattice is large compared to the string scale, this model reproduces many features of a 5d SO(10) grand unified theory compactified on an S^1/Z_2 orbifold. (Of course, with two large extra dimensions we can obtain a 6d SO(10) grand unified theory.) We identify the orbifold parities and other ingredients of the orbif…
We classify N=1 orbifolds on the E_6 root lattice and investigate explicit model constructions on the Z_3xZ_3 orbifold in heterotic string theory. Interestingly some of the twisted sectors from the Z_3xZ_3 orbifold on the E_6 root lattice have just three fixed tori respectively, and generate three degenerate massless states. We also found three point functions with flavor mixing terms. We assume only non-standard gauge embeddings and find that they lead to three-family SU(5) and SO(10) GUT-like models. These models also include strongly coupled sectors in the low energy and messenger states ch…
We report results relating to the trinification scenario in some explicit string constructions that contain SU(3)^3 as a gauge symmetry. These models are obtained from symmetric Z_3 orbifolds of the SO(32) heterotic string with one discrete Wilson line. We highlight the obstacles that were encountered: the absence of the usual Higgs sector that would break SU(3)^3 \to SU(3)_c \times SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y; the presence of exotics that would generically befoul gauge coupling unification and lead to fractionally-charged states in the low energy spectrum.
We give an alternative description of the Schoen manifold as the blow-up of a Z2xZ2 orbifold in which one Z2 factor acts as a roto-translation. Since for this orbifold the fixed tori are only identified in pairs but not orbifolded, four-dimensional chirality can never be obtained in heterotic string compactifications using standard techniques alone. However, chirality is recovered when its tori become magnetized. To exemplify this, we construct an E8xE8' heterotic SU(5) GUT on the Schoen manifold with Abelian gauge fluxes, which becomes an MSSM with three generations after an appropriate Wilso…
We present $Z_3$ orbifold compactifications of $E_8\times E_8^\prime$ heterotic string with three Wilson lines, resulting to the maximum number of SU(3) factors. Here, all the matter spectrums are in the SU(3) trits($\equiv $ three representations ${\bf 3,\bar 3,1}$) of the $SU(3)^8$ GUT. Using this information, we show how three family supersymmetric standard models(SSM) can be obtained. Also, the low lying interesting representations(fundamental and adjoint) of $E_6$ and $E_8$ are given in terms of trits, establishing simple criteria for treating these low lying representations of exceptiona…
We perform the first systematic analysis of particle spectra obtained from heterotic string compactifications on non-Abelian toroidal orbifolds. After developing a new technique to compute the particle spectrum in the case of standard embedding based on higher dimensional supersymmetry, we compute the Hodge numbers for all recently classified 331 non-Abelian orbifold geometries which yield N=1 supersymmetry for heterotic compactifications. Surprisingly, most Hodge numbers follow the empiric pattern h^(1,1) - h^(2,1) = 0 mod 6, which might be related to the number of three standard model genera…
We systematically study the possibility for realizing realistic values of lepton mass ratios and mixing angles by using only renormalizable Yukawa couplings derived from heterotic $Z_6$-I orbifold. We assume one pair of up and down sector Higgs fields. We consider both the Dirac neutrino mass scenario and the seesaw scenario with degenerate right-handed majorana neutrino masses. It is found that realistic values of the charged lepton mass ratios, $m_e/m_τ$ and $m_μ/m_τ$, the neutrino mass squared difference ratio, $Δm^2_{31}/Δm^2_{21}$, and the lepton mixing angles can be obtained in certain c…
We compare heterotic string models on orbifolds with supergravity models on smooth compact spaces, obtained by resolving the orbifold singularities. Our main focus is on heterotic E8xE8 models on the resolution of the compact T^6/Z_3 orbifold with Wilson lines. We explain how different gauge fluxes at various resolved fixed points can be interpreted in blow down as Wilson lines. Even when such Wilson lines are trivial from the orbifold perspective, they can still lead to additional symmetry breaking in blow-up. Full agreement is achieved between orbifold and resolved models, at the level of ga…
We show that non-Abelian discrete symmetries in orbifold string models have a gauge origin. This can be understood when looking at the vicinity of a symmetry enhanced point in moduli space. At such an enhanced point, orbifold fixed points are characterized by an enhanced gauge symmetry. This gauge symmetry can be broken to a discrete subgroup by a nontrivial vacuum expectation value of the Kähler modulus $T$. Using this mechanism it is shown that the $Δ(54)$ non-Abelian discrete symmetry group originates from a $SU(3)$ gauge symmetry, whereas the $D_4$ symmetry group is obtained from a $SU(2)$…
Discovering a selection principle and the origin of flavor symmetries from an ultraviolet completion of particle physics is an interesting open task. As a step in this direction, we classify all possible flavor symmetries of 4D massless spectra emerging from supersymmetric Abelian orbifold compactifications, including roto-translations and non-factorizable compact spaces, for generic moduli values. Although these symmetries are valid in all string theories, we focus on the E8 x E8 heterotic string. We perform the widest known search of E8 x E8 Abelian orbifold compactifications, yielding over …
A Z_2 orbifold compactification of the heterotic string is considered. The resulting 6D GUT groups can be SO(16) or E_7 times SU(2) plus some hidden sector groups. The N=4 supersymmetry is reduced to N=2. In particular, the SO(16) 6D model with one spinor representation 128 can reduce to the previous 5D SO(16) or SO(14) family unification models after compactifying the sixth dimension. To obtain one spinor, we have to take into account the left-over center of SO(16). We also comment on the E_7 times SU(2) model.
We consider D=6, N=1, Z_M orbifold compactifications of heterotic strings in which the usual modular invariance constraints are violated. It is argued that in the presence of non-perturbative effects many of these vacua are nevertheless consistent. The perturbative massless sector can be computed explicitly from the perturbative mass formula subject to an extra shift in the vacuum energy. This shift is associated to a non-trivial antisymmetric B-field flux at the orbifold fixed points. The non-perturbative piece is given by five-branes either moving in the bulk or stuck at the fixed points, gi…
We discuss how to calculate Yukawa couplings in string-derived orbifold GUTs. As an application we investigate the quark mass hierarchies in these models. An interplay of different mechanisms derived from string theory leads to an interesting pattern. We discuss concrete examples in the context of heterotic orbifold compactifications.
We study L-point couplings between twisted sector fields in heterotic orbifold compactifications, using conformal field theory. Selection rules provide an easy way to identify which couplings are non-vanishing. Those used in the current literature are gauge invariance, R-charge conservation and the space group selection rule, but they are not the whole story. We revive and refine a fourth selection rule, due to symmetries in the underlying torus lattice, and introduce a fifth one, due to the existence or not of classical worldsheet instanton solutions to mediate the couplings. We consider brie…
We classify compactification lattices for supersymmetric Z2 times Z2 orbifolds. These lattices include factorisable as well as non-factorisable six-tori. Different models lead to different numbers of fixed points/tori. A lower bound on the number of fixed tori per twisted sector is given by four, whereas an upper bound consists of 16 fixed tori per twisted sector. Thus, these models have a variety of generation numbers. For example, in the standard embedding, the smallest number of net generations among these classes of models is equal to six, while the largest number is 48. Conditions for all…
We explicitly analyse $O(α')$ corrections to heterotic supergravity on toroidal orbifolds and their resolutions, which play important roles in string phenomenology as well as moduli stabilisation. Using a conformal factor ansatz that is valid only for four dimensional geometries, we obtain a closed expression for the $O(α')$ metric corrections in the case of several orbifold limits of K3, namely $T^4/\mathbb{Z}_n$ where $n=2,3,4,6$. However, we find that non-standard embedding requires the inclusion of five-branes on such orbifolds. We also numerically investigate the behaviour around orbifold…
We study the problem of moduli stabilisation in explicit heterotic orbifold compactifications, whose spectra contain the MSSM plus some vector-like exotics that can be decoupled. Considering all the bulk moduli, we obtain the 4D low energy effective action for the compactification, which has contributions from various, computable, perturbative and non-perturbative effects. Hidden sector gaugino condensation and string worldsheet instantons result in a combination of racetrack, KKLT and cusp-form contributions to the superpotential, which lift all the bulk moduli directions. We point out the pr…
Direct and indirect dark matter searches can potentially lead to the discovery of Supersymmetry. In the specific context of heterotic orbifold compactification scenarios, it is even possible to get some clues on the SUSY breaking mechanism of the more fundamental underlying theory. In this paper, we investigate the prospects for indirect detection of neutralino dark matter via gamma-ray (continuum and line) and synchrotron radiation from the Galactic center, in the context of AMSB scenarios in an effective heterotic framework, which constitutes a consistent SUSY model between high energy theor…
Free fermionic construction of four dimensional string vacua, are related to the Z2XZ2 orbifolds at special points in the moduli space, and yielded the most realistic three family string models to date. Using free fermionic construction techniques we are able to classify more than 10^10 string vacua by the net family and anti-family number. Using a montecarlo technique we find that a bell shaped distribution that peaks at vanishing net number of chiral families. We also observe that ~15% of the models have three net chiral families. We find that in addition to mirror symmetry that the distribu…
We study moduli stabilization in combination with inflation in heterotic orbifold compactifications in the light of a large Hubble scale and the favored tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \approx 0.05$. To account for a trans-Planckian field range we implement aligned natural inflation. Although there is only one universal axion in heterotic constructions, further axions from the geometric moduli can be used for alignment and inflation. We argue that such an alignment is rather generic on orbifolds, since all non-perturbative terms are determined by modular weights of the involved fields and the Dedeki…
In this talk we argue that a certain class of heterotic orbifolds can be the underlying fundamental theory for recently studied field theory GUTs. In addition we demonstrate that symmetric heterotic Z2 times Z2 orbifolds can give rise to three generation models if quantised Wilson lines are switched on.
In string-inspired semi-realistic heterotic orbifolds models with an anomalous $U(1)_X$, a nonzero Kobayashi-Masakawa (KM) phase is shown to arise generically from the expectation values of complex scalar fields, which appear in nonrenormalizable quark mass couplings. Modular covariant nonrenormalizable superpotential couplings are constructed. A toy $Z_3$ orbifold model is analyzed in some detail. Modular symmetries and orbifold selection rules are taken into account and do not lead to a cancellation of the KM phase. We also discuss attempts to obtain the KM phase solely from renormalizable i…
This thesis provides a classification of the chiral content of the heterotic $\mathbbm{Z}_2 \times \mathbbm{Z}_2$ orbifold models. We show that the chiral content of the heterotic $\mathbbm{Z}_2 \times \mathbbm{Z}_2$ orbifold models at any point in the moduli space can be described by a free fermionic model. We present a direct translation between the orbifold formulation and the free fermionic construction. We use the free fermionic description for the classification wherein we consider orbifolds with symmetric shifts. We show that perturbative three generation models are not obtained in the …
Recently spatially localized anomalies have been considered in higher dimensional field theories. The question of the quantum consistency and stability of these theories needs further discussion. Here we would like to investigate what string theory might teach us about theories with localized anomalies. We consider the Z_3 orbifold of the heterotic E_8 x E_8 theory, and compute the anomaly of the gaugino in the presence of Wilson lines. We find an anomaly localized at the fixed points, which depends crucially on the local untwisted spectra at those points. We show that non-Abelian anomalies ca…
From the string partition function, we discuss the mass-shell and GSO projection conditions valid for Kaluza-Klein (KK) as well as massless states in the heterotic string theory compactified on a nonprime orbifold. Based on the obtained conditions we construct a 4D string standard model, which is embedded in a 6D SUSY GUT by including KK states above the compactification scale. We discuss the stringy threshold corrections to gauge couplings, including the Wilson line effects.
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 orbifol…
In this paper we discuss the issues of supersymmetry breaking and moduli stabilization within the context of E_8 x E_8 heterotic orbifold constructions and, in particular, we focus on the class of "mini-landscape" models. In the supersymmetric limit, these models admit an effective low energy field theory with a spectrum of states and dimensionless gauge and Yukawa couplings very much like that of the MSSM. These theories contain a non-Abelian hidden gauge sector which generates a non-perturbative superpotential leading to supersymmetry breaking and moduli stabilization. We demonstrate this ef…
We search for a possibility of getting realistic fermion mass ratios and mixing angles from renormalizable couplings on the Z_6-I heterotic orbifold with one pair of Higgs doublets. In the quark sector, we find cases with reasonable m_c/m_t, m_s/m_b, and V_{cb}, if we ignore the first family. In the lepton sector, we can fit the charged lepton mass ratios, the neutrino mass squared difference ratio, and the lepton mixing angles, considering all three families.
The free fermionic classification method provides a powerful tool to investigate string vacua, which led to the discovery of spinor--vector duality and exophobic string models. We extend the classification methodology to both $\mathcal{N}=1$ and $\mathcal{N}=0$ Flipped $SU(5)$ $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ heterotic string orbifolds with asymmetric shifts. The impact of the asymmetric assignments on the phenomenological characteristics of these models is investigated. Of particular interest is the analysis of untwisted moduli fixing for various choices of asymmetric boundary conditions. T…
A review of orbifold geometry is given, followed by a review of the construction of four-dimensional heterotic string models by compactification on a six-dimensional Z_3 orbifold. Particular attention is given to the details of the transition from a classical theory to a first-quantized theory. Subsequently, a discussion is given of the systematic enumeration of all standard-like three generation models subject to certain limiting conditions. It is found that the complete set is described by 192 models, with only five possibilities for the hidden sector gauge group. It is argued that only four…
Motivated by orbifold grand unified theories, we construct a class of three-family Pati-Salam models in a Z6 abelian symmetric orbifold with two discrete Wilson lines. These models have marked differences from previously-constructed three-family models in prime-order orbifolds. In the limit where one of the six compactified dimensions (which lies in a Z2 sub-orbifold) is large compared to the string length scale, our models reproduce the supersymmetry and gauge symmetry breaking pattern of 5d orbifold grand unified theories on an S1/Z2 orbicircle. We find a horizontal 2+1 splitting in the chir…
In the framework of $Z_N$ orbifolds, we discuss effects of heterotic string backgrounds including discrete Wilson lines on the Yukawa matrices and their connection to CP violation.
We study the possibility of realizing the neutrino seesaw mechanism in the E8XE8 heterotic string. In particular, we consider its Z_6 orbifold compactifications leading to the supersymmetric standard model gauge group and matter content. We find that these models possess all the necessary ingredients for the seesaw mechanism, including the required Dirac Yukawa couplings and large Majorana mass terms. We argue that this situation is quite common in heterotic orbifolds. In contrast to the conventional seesaw of grand unified theories (GUTs), no large GUT representations are needed to generate t…
We present a detailed study of the reduction to 4D of 5D supergravity compactified on the S^1/Z_2 orbifold. For this purpose we develop and employ a recently proposed N=1 conformal superfield description of the 5D supergravity couplings to abelian vector and hypermultiplets. In particular, we obtain a unique relation of the "radion" to chiral superfields as in global 5D SUSY and we can embed the universal hypermultiplet into this formalism. In our approach, it is transparent how the superconformal structure of the effective 4D actions is inherited from the one of the original 5D supergravity. …
We examine the structure of the Yukawa couplings in the 11 dimensional Horava-Witten M-theory based on non-standard embeddings. We find that the CKM and quark mass hierarchies can be explained in M Theory without introducing undue fine tuning. A phenomenological example is presented satisfying all CKM and quark mass data requiring the 5-branes cluster near the second orbifold plane, and that the instanton charges of the physical orbifold plane vanish. The latter condition is explicitly realized on a Calabi-Yau manifold with del Pezzo base dP_7.
We search for supersymmetric standard model realizations with extra singlets and extra $ U(1)$ using the heterotic string compactification on the $ Z_{6-II}$ orbifold with two Wilson lines. We analyze the vacuum restabilization mechanism for three representative Pati-Salam string models obtained in the literature and present detailed results for the effective superpotential compatible with the string selection rules. An automated selection of semi-realistic vacua along flat directions in the non-Abelian singlet modes field space is performed by requiring the presence of massless pairs of elect…
We construct two more supersymmetric E6 grand unified models with three generations within the framework of Z12 asymmetric orbifold compactification of the heterotic string theory. Such an asymmetric orbifold is missing in the classification in the literature, which concludes that only one E6 model is possible. In both of the new models, an adjoint Higgs field is obtained in virtue of the diagonal embedding method. This method mods out the three E6 factors of an even self-dual momentum-lattice by a permutation symmetry. In order to realize the E6^3 even self-dual lattice, we utilize the lattic…
We provide a detailed study of the phenomenology of orbifold compactifications of the heterotic string within the context of supergravity effective theories. Our investigation focuses on those models where the soft Lagrangian is dominated by loop contributions to the various soft supersymmetry breaking parameters. Such models typically predict non-universal soft masses and are thus significantly different from minimal supergravity and other universal models. We consider the pattern of masses that are governed by these soft terms and investigate the implications of certain indirect constraints …
We study the constraints on models with extra dimensions arising from local anomaly cancellation. We consider a five-dimensional field theory with a U(1) gauge field and a charged fermion, compactified on the orbifold S^1/(Z_2 x Z_2'). We show that, even if the orbifold projections remove both fermionic zero modes, there are gauge anomalies localized at the fixed points. Anomalies naively cancel after integration over the fifth dimension, but gauge invariance is broken, spoiling the consistency of the theory. We discuss the implications for realistic supersymmetric models with a single Higgs h…
Additional Abelian gauge interactions are generic to string compactifications. In heterotic string models, gauge coupling unification of such forces and other gauge interactions is natural due to their common origin. In this letter we study systematically the 1-loop running of the coupling constants in effective vacua emerging from Z8 heterotic orbifold compactifications that provide the matter spectrum of the MSSM plus some vectorlike exotics, restricting to vacua that yield a non-anomalous U(1)' symmetry, gauge coupling unification and the observed values of known gauge couplings. We determi…
We give a complete classification of Z_N orbifold compactification of the heterotic SO(32) string theory and show its potential for realistic model building. The appearance of spinor representations of SO(2n) groups is analyzed in detail. We conclude that the heterotic SO(32) string constitutes an interesting part of the string landscape both in view of model constructions and the question of heterotic-type I duality.
We apply the path-integral formalism to compute the anomalies in general orbifold gauge theories (including possible non-trivial Scherk-Schwarz boundary conditions) where a gauge group G is broken down to subgroups H_f at the fixed points y=y_f. Bulk and localized anomalies, proportional to δ(y-y_f), do generically appear from matter propagating in the bulk. The anomaly zero-mode that survives in the four-dimensional effective theory should be canceled by localized fermions (except possibly for mixed U(1) anomalies). We examine in detail the possibility of canceling localized anomalies by the …
We study the consistency of orbifold field theories and clarify to what extent the condition of having an anomaly-free spectrum of zero-modes is sufficient to guarantee it. Preservation of gauge invariance at the quantum level is possible, although at the price, in general, of introducing operators that break the 5d local parity. These operators are, however, perfectly consistent with the orbifold projection. We also clarify the relation between localized Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms and anomalies. These terms can be consistently added, breaking neither local supersymmetry nor the gauge symmetr…
