Lara Anderson, Harvard University, Department of Physics
“Vector bundle deformations and the moduli of heterotic string theory”
I will discuss recent work on the supersymmetric moduli space of Calabi-Yau compactifications of Heterotic string theory. In particular, I will explore features of the moduli space of slope-stable holomorphic vector bundles on Calabi-Yau threefolds, as well as the simultaneous holomorphic deformation theory of the vector bundle and its base manifold (as it arises as a tool for moduli stabilization in heterotic theories). In addition to the local deformation theory, global structure will be explored including relationships between moduli spaces arising from conifold transitions in the Calabi-Yau base geometry.