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F-Theory and the universal string theory

JM Figueroa-O'Farrill
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Abstract

We apply the techniques of the ``universal string theory'' to the ``manifold'' paradigm for superstring/M-theory and come up with a candidate manifold: the manifold of F-theory vacua, defined in conformal field theoretical terms. It contains the five known superstring theories as particular vacua; although the natural vacua are (10+2)-dimensional. As a byproduct, a natural explanation emerges for the compactness of the extra two coordinates in F-theory.

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JM Figueroa-O'Farrill. 1997-04-01. F-Theory and the universal string theory. https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9704009

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