In their proposed compactification of superstrings [4], Candelas, Horowitz, Strominger and Witten took the matric product of a maximal symmetric four dimensional spacetime M with a six dimensional CalabiYau vacua X as the ten dimensional spacetime; they identified the YangMills connection with the SU (3) connection of the CalabiYau metric and set the dilaton to be a constant. To make this theory compatible with the standard grand unified field theory, Witten [28] and HoravaWitten [20] proposed to use higher rank bundles for strong coupled heterotic string theory so that the gauge groups can be SU (4) or SU (5). Mathematically, this approach relies on UhlenbeckYaus theorem on constructing HermitianYangMills connections on stable bundles [27]. Many authors, including Friedman, Morgan and Witten [18]; Donagi, Ovrat, Pantev and Reinbacher [12]; Andreas [1], Kachru [21] and others, have worked

We study some arithmetic properties of the mirror maps and the quantum Yukawa couplings for some 1-parameter deformations of Calabi-Yau manifolds. First we use the Schwarzian differential equation, which we derived previously, to characterize the mirror map in each case. For algebraic K3 surfaces, we solve the equation in terms of the<i>J</i>-function. By deriving explicit modular relations we prove that some K3 mirror maps are algebraic over the genus zero function field<b>Q</b>(<i>J</i>). This leads to a uniform proof that those mirror maps have integral Fourier coefficients. Regarding the maps as Riemann mappings, we prove that they are genus zero functions. By virtue of the Conway-Norton conjecture (proved by Borcherds using Frenkel-Lepowsky-Meurman's Moonshine module), we find that these maps are actually the reciprocals of the Thompson series for certain conjugacy classes in the Griess-Fischer group

Motivated by the important work of Brown and York on quasilocal energy, we propose definitions of quasilocal energy and momentum surface energy of a spacelike 2-surface with a positive intrinsic curvature in a spacetime. We show that the quasilocal energy of the boundary of a compact spacelike hypersurface which satisfies the local energy condition is strictly positive unless the spacetime is flat along the spacelike hypersurface.

We provide an explicit desingularization and study the resulting fiber geometry of elliptically fibered four-folds defined by Weierstrass models admitting a split ilde {A} _4 singularity over a divisor of the discriminant locus. Such varieties are used to geometrically engineer SU (5) grand unified theories in F-theory. The desingularization is given by a small resolution of singularities. The ilde {A} _4 fiber naturally appears after resolving the singularities in codimension-one in the base. The remaining higher codimension singularities are then beautifully described by a four-dimensional affine binomial variety which leads to six different small resolutions of the elliptically fibered four-fold. These six small resolutions define distinct four-folds connected to each other by a network of flop transitions forming a dihedral group. The location of these exotic fibers in the base is mapped to conifold points of the three-folds that defines the type IIB

We consider the Einstein/Yang-Mills equations in 3+1 space time dimensions with<i>SU</i>(2) gauge group and prove rigorously the existence of a globally defined smooth static solution. We show that the associated Einstein metric is asymptotically flat and the total mass is finite. Thus, for non-abelian gauge fields the Yang-Mills repulsive force can balance the gravitational attractive force and prevent the formation of singularities in spacetime.