Browsing by Author "Anderson, Lara B."
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- Algebroids, heterotic moduli spaces and the Strominger systemAnderson, Lara B.; Gray, James A.; Sharpe, Eric R. (Springer, 2014-07-08)In this paper we study compactifications of heterotic string theory on manifolds satisfying the partial derivative(partial derivative) over bar -lemma. We consider the Strominger system description of the low energy supergravity to first order in alpha' and show that the moduli of such compactifications are subspaces of familiar cohomology groups such as H-1 (TX), H-1 (TXV), H-1 (End(0) (V)) and H-1(End(0) (TX)). These groups encode the complex structure, Kahler moduli, bundle moduli and perturbations of the spin connection respectively in the case of a Calabi-Yau compactification. We investigate the fluctuations of only a subset of the conditions of the Strominger system (expected to correspond physically to F-term constraints in the effective theory). The full physical moduli space is, therefore, given by a further restriction on these degrees of freedom which we discuss but do not explicitly provide. This paper is complementary to a previous tree-level worldsheet analysis of such moduli and agrees with that discussion in the limit of vanishing alpha'. The structure we present can be interpreted in terms of recent work in Atiyah and Courant algebroids, and we conjecture links with aspects of Hitchin's generalized geometry to heterotic moduli.
- Application of Network Reliability to Analyze Diffusive Processes on Graph Dynamical SystemsNath, Madhurima (Virginia Tech, 2019-01-22)Moore and Shannon's reliability polynomial can be used as a global statistic to explore the behavior of diffusive processes on a graph dynamical system representing a finite sized interacting system. It depends on both the network topology and the dynamics of the process and gives the probability that the system has a particular desired property. Due to the complexity involved in evaluating the exact network reliability, the problem has been classified as a NP-hard problem. The estimation of the reliability polynomials for large graphs is feasible using Monte Carlo simulations. However, the number of samples required for an accurate estimate increases with system size. Instead, an adaptive method using Bernstein polynomials as kernel density estimators proves useful. Network reliability has a wide range of applications ranging from epidemiology to statistical physics, depending on the description of the functionality. For example, it serves as a measure to study the sensitivity of the outbreak of an infectious disease on a network to the structure of the network. It can also be used to identify important dynamics-induced contagion clusters in international food trade networks. Further, it is analogous to the partition function of the Ising model which provides insights to the interpolation between the low and high temperature limits.
- Applications of gauged linear sigma modelsChen, Zhuo (Virginia Tech, 2019-05-17)This thesis is devoted to a study of applications of gauged linear sigma models. First, by constructing (0,2) analogues of Hori-Vafa mirrors, we have given and checked proposals for (0,2) mirrors to projective spaces, toric del Pezzo and Hirzebruch surfaces with tangent bundle deformations, checking not only correlation functions but also e.g. that mirrors to del Pezzos are related by blowdowns in the fashion one would expect. Also, we applied the recent proposal for mirrors of non-Abelian (2,2) supersymmetric two-dimensional gauge theories to examples of two-dimensional A-twisted gauge theories with exceptional gauge groups G_2 and E_8. We explicitly computed the proposed mirror Landau-Ginzburg orbifold and derived the Coulomb ring relations (the analogue of quantum cohomology ring relations). We also studied pure gauge theories, and provided evidence (at the level of these topologicalfield-theory-type computations) that each pure gauge theory (with simply-connected gauge group) flows in the IR to a free theory of as many twisted chiral multiplets as the rank of the gauge group. Last, we have constructed hybrid Landau-Ginzburg models that RG flow to a new family of non-compact Calabi-Yau threefolds, constructed as fiber products of genus g curves and noncompact Kahler threefolds. We only considered curves given as branched double covers of P^1. Our construction utilizes nonperturbative constructions of the genus g curves, and so provides a new set of exotic UV theories that should RG flow to sigma models on Calabi-Yau manifolds, in which the Calabi-Yau is not realized simply as the critical locus of a superpotential.
- Applications of Numerical Methods in Heterotic Calabi-Yau CompactificationCui, Wei (Virginia Tech, 2020-08-26)In this thesis, we apply the methods of numerical differential geometry to several different problems in heterotic Calabi-Yau compactification. We review algorithms for computing both the Ricci-flat metric on Calabi-Yau manifolds and Hermitian Yang-Mills connections on poly-stable holomorphic vector bundles over those spaces. We apply the numerical techniques for obtaining Ricci-flat metrics to study hierarchies of curvature scales over Calabi-Yau manifolds as a function of their complex structure moduli. The work we present successfully finds known large curvature regions on these manifolds, and provides useful information about curvature variation at general points in moduli space. This research is important in determining the validity of the low energy effective theories used in the description of Calabi-Yau compactifications. The numerical techniques for obtaining Hermitian Yang-Mills connections are applied in two different fashions in this thesis. First, we demonstrate that they can be successfully used to numerically determine the stability of vector bundles with qualitatively different features to those that have appeared in the literature to date. Second, we use these methods to further develop some calculations of holomorphic Chern-Simons invariant contributions to the heterotic superpotential that have recently appeared in the literature. A complete understanding of these quantities requires explicit knowledge of the Hermitian Yang-Mills connections involved. This feature makes such investigations prohibitively hard to pursue analytically, and a natural target for numerical techniques.
- Chern-Simons invariants and heterotic superpotentialsAnderson, Lara B.; Gray, James A.; Lukas, Andre; Wang, Juntao (2020-09-22)The superpotential in four-dimensional heterotic effective theories contains terms arising from holomorphic Chern-Simons invariants associated to the gauge and tangent bundles of the compactification geometry. These effects are crucial for a number of key features of the theory, including vacuum stability and moduli stabilization. Despite their importance, few tools exist in the literature to compute such effects in a given heterotic vacuum. In this work we present new techniques to explicitly determine holomorphic Chern-Simons invariants in heterotic string compactifications. The key technical ingredient in our computations are real bundle morphisms between the gauge and tangent bundles. We find that there are large classes of examples, beyond the standard embedding, where the Chern-Simons superpotential vanishes. We also provide explicit examples for non-flat bundles where it is non-vanishing and non-integer quantized, generalizing previous results for Wilson lines.
- Chiral Rings of Two-dimensional Field Theories with (0,2) SupersymmetryGuo, Jirui (Virginia Tech, 2017-04-26)This thesis is devoted to a thorough study of chiral rings in two-dimensional (0,2) theories. We first discuss properties of chiral operators in general two-dimensional (0,2) nonlinear sigma models, both in theories twistable to the A/2 or B/2 model, as well as in non-twistable theories. As a special case, we study the quantum sheaf cohomology of Grassmannians as a deformation of the usual quantum cohomology. The deformation corresponds to a (0,2) deformation of the nonabelian gauged linear sigma model whose geometric phase is associated with the Grassmannian. Combined with the classical result, the quantum ring structure is derived from the one-loop effective potential. Supersymmetric localization is also applicable in this case, which proves to be efficient in computing A/2 correlation functions. We then compute chiral operators in general (0,2) nonlinear sigma models, and apply them to the Gadde-Gukov-Putrov triality proposal, which says that certain triples of (0,2) GLSMs should RG flow to nontrivial IR fixed points. As another application, we extend previous works to construct (0,2) Toda-like mirrors to the sigma model engineering Grassmannians.
- The edge of supersymmetry: Stability walls in heterotic theoryAnderson, Lara B.; Gray, James A.; Lukas, Andre; Ovrut, Burt (Elsevier, 2009-06-22)
- Extending the Geometric Tools of Heterotic String Compactification and DualitiesKarkheiran, Mohsen (Virginia Tech, 2020-06-15)In this work, we extend the well-known spectral cover construction first developed by Friedman, Morgan, and Witten to describe more general vector bundles on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau geometries. In particular, we consider the case in which the Calabi-Yau fibration is not in Weierstrass form but can rather contain fibral divisors or multiple sections (i.e., a higher rank Mordell-Weil group). In these cases, general vector bundles defined over such Calabi-Yau manifolds cannot be described by ordinary spectral data. To accomplish this, we employ well-established tools from the mathematics literature of Fourier-Mukai functors. We also generalize existing tools for explicitly computing Fourier-Mukai transforms of stable bundles on elliptic Calabi-Yau manifolds. As an example of these new tools, we produce novel examples of chirality changing small instanton transitions. Next, we provide a geometric formalism that can substantially increase the understood regimes of heterotic/F-theory duality. We consider heterotic target space dual (0,2) GLSMs on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds. In this context, each half of the ``dual" heterotic theories must, in turn, have an F-theory dual. Moreover, the apparent relationship between two heterotic compactifications seen in (0,2) heterotic target space dual pairs should, in principle, induce some putative correspondence between the dual F-theory geometries. It has previously been conjectured in the literature that (0,2) target space duality might manifest in F-theory as multiple $K3$-fibrations of the same elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifold. We investigate this conjecture in the context of both 6-dimensional and 4-dimensional effective theories and demonstrate that in general, (0,2) target space duality cannot be explained by such a simple phenomenon alone. In all cases, we provide evidence that non-geometric data in F-theory must play at least some role in the induced F-theory correspondence while leaving the full determination of the putative new F-theory duality to the future work. Finally, we consider F-theory over elliptically fibered manifolds, with a general conic base. Such manifolds are quite standard in F-theory sense, but our goal is to explore the extent of the heterotic/F-theory duality over such manifolds. We consider heterotic target space dual (0,2) GLSMs on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds. In this context, each half of the ``dual" heterotic theories must, in turn, have an F-theory dual. Moreover, the apparent relationship between two heterotic compactifications seen in (0,2) heterotic target space dual pairs should, in principle, induce some putative correspondence between the dual F-theory geometries. It has previously been conjectured in the literature that (0,2) target space duality might manifest in F-theory as multiple $K3$-fibrations of the same elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifold. We investigate this conjecture in the context of both 6-dimensional and 4-dimensional effective theories and demonstrate that in general, (0,2) target space duality cannot be explained by such a simple phenomenon alone. In all cases, we provide evidence that non-geometric data in F-theory must play at least some role in the induced F-theory correspondence while leaving the full determination of the putative new F-theory duality to the future work. Finally, we consider F-theory over elliptically fibered manifolds, with a general conic base. Such manifolds are quite standard in F-theory sense, but our goal is to explore the extent of the heterotic/F-theory duality over such manifolds.
- Extending the geometry of heterotic spectral cover constructionsAnderson, Lara B.; Gao, Xin; Karkheiran, Mohsen (2020-07)In this work we extend the well-known spectral cover construction first developed by Friedman, Morgan, and Witten to describe more general vector bundles on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau geometries. In particular, we consider the case in which the Calabi-Yau fibration is not in Weierstrass form, but can rather contain fibral divisors or multiple sections (i.e. a higher rank Mordell-Weil group). In these cases, general vector bundles defined over such Calabi-Yau manifolds cannot be described by ordinary spectral data. To accomplish this we employ well established tools from the mathematics literature of Fourier-Mukai functors. We also generalize existing tools for explicitly computing Fourier-Mukai transforms of stable bundles on elliptic Calabi-Yau manifolds. As an example of these new tools we produce novel examples of chirality changing small instanton transitions. The goal of this work is to provide a geometric formalism that can substantially increase the understood regimes of heterotic/F-theory duality. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
- F-theory on quotient threefolds with (2,0) discrete superconformal matterAnderson, Lara B.; Grassi, Antonella; Gray, James A.; Oehlmann, Paul-Konstantin (Springer, 2018-06-20)We explore 6-dimensional compactifications of F-theory exhibiting (2, 0) superconformal theories coupled to gravity that include discretely charged superconformal matter. Beginning with F-theory geometries with Abelian gauge fields and superconformal sectors, we provide examples of Higgsing transitions which break the U(1) gauge symmetry to a discrete remnant in which the matter fields are also non-trivially coupled to a (2, 0) SCFT. In the compactification background this corresponds to a geometric transition linking two fibered Calabi-Yau geometries defined over a singular base complex surface. An elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefold with non-zero Mordell-Weil rank can be connected to a smooth non-simply connected genus one fibered geometry constructed as a Calabi-Yau quotient. These hyperconifold transitions exhibit multiple fibers in co-dimension 2 over the base.
- Fibrations in CICY threefoldsAnderson, Lara B.; Gao, Xin; Gray, James A.; Lee, Seung-Joo (Springer, 2017-10-11)In this work we systematically enumerate genus one fibrations in the class of 7; 890 Calabi-Yau manifolds defined as complete intersections in products of projective spaces, the so-called CICY threefolds. This survey is independent of the description of the manifolds and improves upon past approaches that probed only a particular algebraic form of the threefolds (i.e. searches for "obvious" genus one fibrations as in [1, 2]). We also study K3-fibrations and nested fibration structures. That is, K3 fibrations with potentially many distinct elliptic fibrations. To accomplish this survey a number of new geometric tools are developed including a determination of the full topology of all CICY threefolds, including triple intersection numbers. In 2; 946 cases this involves finding a new "favorable" description of the manifold in which all divisors descend from a simple ambient space. Our results consist of a survey of obvious fibrations for all CICY threefolds and a complete classification of all genus one fibrations for 4; 957 "Kahler favorable" CICYs whose Kahler cones descend from a simple ambient space. Within the CICY dataset, we find 139; 597 obvious genus one fibrations, 30; 974 obvious K3 fibrations and 208; 987 nested combinations. For the Kahler favorable geometries we find a complete classification of 377; 559 genus one fibrations. For one manifold with Hodge numbers (19; 19) we find an explicit description of an in finite number of distinct genus-one fibrations extending previous results for this particular geometry that have appeared in the literature. The data associated to this scan is available here [3].
- Fibrations in non-simply connected Calabi-Yau quotientsAnderson, Lara B.; Gray, James A.; Hammack, Brian (Springer, 2018-08-21)In this work we study genus one fibrations in Calabi-Yau three-folds with a non-trivial first fundamental group. The manifolds under consideration are constructed as smooth quotients of complete intersection Calabi-Yau three-folds (CICYs) by a freely acting, discrete automorphism. By probing the compatibility of symmetries with genus one fibrations (that is, discrete group actions which preserve a local decomposition of the manifold into fiber and base) we find fibrations that are inherited from fibrations on the covering spaces. Of the 7,890 CICY three-folds, 195 exhibit known discrete symmetries, leading to a total of 1,695 quotient manifolds. By scanning over 20,700 fiber/symmetry pairs on the covering spaces we find 17,161 fibrations on the quotient Calabi-Yau manifolds. It is found that the vast majority of the non-simply connected manifolds studied exhibit multiple different genus one fibrations - echoing a similar ubiquity of such structures that has been observed in other data sets. The results are available at [1]. The possible base manifolds are all singular and are catalogued. These Calabi-Yau fibrations generically exhibit multiple fibers and are of interest in F-theory as backgrounds leading to theories with superconformal loci and discretely charged matter.
- Gauged Linear Sigma Model and Mirror SymmetryGu, Wei (Virginia Tech, 2019-07-02)This thesis is devoted to the study of gauged linear sigma models (GLSMs) and mirror symmetry. The first chapter of this thesis aims to introduce some basics of GLSMs and mirror symmetry. The second chapter contains the author's contributions to new exact results for GLSMs obtained by applying supersymmetric localization. The first part of that chapter concerns supermanifolds. We use supersymmetric localization to show that A-twisted GLSM correlation functions for certain supermanifolds are equivalent to corresponding Atwisted GLSM correlation functions for hypersurfaces. The second part of that chapter defines associated Cartan theories for non-abelian GLSMs by studying partition functions as well as elliptic genera. The third part of that chapter focuses on N=(0,2) GLSMs. For those deformed from N=(2,2) GLSMs, we consider A/2-twisted theories and formulate the genuszero correlation functions in terms of Jeffrey-Kirwan-Grothendieck residues on Coulomb branches, which generalize the Jeffrey-Kirwan residue prescription relevant for the N=(2,2) locus. We reproduce known results for abelian GLSMs, and can systematically calculate more examples with new formulas that render the quantum sheaf cohomology relations and other properties manifest. We also include unpublished results for counting deformation parameters. The third chapter is about mirror symmetry. In the first part of the third chapter, we propose an extension of the Hori-Vafa mirrror construction [25] from abelian (2,2) GLSMs they considered to non-abelian (2,2) GLSMs with connected gauge groups, a potential solution to an old problem. We formally show that topological correlation functions of B-twisted mirror LGs match those of A-twisted gauge theories. In this thesis, we study two examples, Grassmannians and two-step flag manifolds, verifying in each case that the mirror correctly reproduces details ranging from the number of vacua and correlations functions to quantum cohomology relations. In the last part of the third chapter, we propose an extension of the Hori-Vafa construction [25] of (2,2) GLSM mirrors to (0,2) theories obtained from (2,2) theories by special tangent bundle deformations. Our ansatz can systematically produce the (0,2) mirrors of toric varieties and the results are consistent with existing examples which were produced by laborious guesswork. The last chapter briefly discusses some directions that the author would like to pursue in the future.
- Generalized vanishing theorems for Yukawa couplings in heterotic compactificationsAnderson, Lara B.; Gray, James A.; Larfors, Magdalena; Magill, Matthew; Schneider, Robin (2021-05-12)Heterotic compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds frequently exhibit textures of vanishing Yukawa couplings in their low energy description. The vanishing of these couplings is often not enforced by any obvious symmetry and appears to be topological in nature. Recent results used differential geometric methods to explain the origin of some of this structure [1, 2]. A vanishing theorem was given which showed that the effect could be attributed, in part, to the embedding of the Calabi-Yau manifolds of interest inside higher dimensional ambient spaces, if the gauge bundles involved descended from vector bundles on those larger manifolds. In this paper, we utilize an algebro-geometric approach to provide an alternative derivation of some of these results, and are thus able to generalize them to a much wider arena than has been considered before. For example, we consider cases where the vector bundles of interest do not descend from bundles on the ambient space. In such a manner we are able to highlight the ubiquity with which textures of vanishing Yukawa couplings can be expected to arise in heterotic compactifications, with multiple different constraints arising from a plethora of different geometric features associated to the gauge bundle.
- Geometric constraints in dual F-theory and heterotic string compactificationsAnderson, Lara B.; Taylor, Washington (Springer, 2014-08-05)We systematically analyze a broad class of dual heterotic and F-theory models that give four-dimensional supergravity theories, and compare the geometric constraints on the two sides of the duality. Specifically, we give a complete classification of models where the heterotic theory is compactified on a smooth Calabi-Yau threefold that is elliptically fibered with a single section and carries smooth irreducible vector bundles, and the dual F-theory model has a corresponding threefold base that has the form of a P 1 bundle. We formulate simple conditions for the geometry on the F-theory side to support an elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfold. We match these conditions with conditions for the existence of stable vector bundles on the heterotic side, and show that F-theory gives new insight into the conditions under which such bundles can be constructed. In particular, we find that many allowed F-theory models correspond to vector bundles on the heterotic side with exceptional structure groups, and determine a topological condition that is only satisfied for bundles of this type. We show that in many cases the F-theory geometry imposes a constraint on the extent to which the gauge group can be enhanced, corresponding to limits on the way in which the heterotic bundle can decompose. We explicitly construct all (4962) F-theory threefold bases for dual F-theory/heterotic constructions in the subset of models where the common twofold base surface is toric, and give both toric and non-toric examples of the general results.
- Low Dimensional Supersymmetric Gauge Theories and Mathematical ApplicationsZou, Hao (Virginia Tech, 2021-05-21)This thesis studies N=(2,2) gauged linear sigma models (GLSMs) and three-dimensional N=2 Chern-Simons-matter theories and their mathematical applications. After a brief review of GLSMs, we systematically study nonabelian GLSMs for symplectic and orthogonal Grassmannians, following up a proposal in the math community. As consistency checks, we have compared global symmetries, Witten indices, and Calabi-Yau conditions to geometric expectations. We also compute their nonabelian mirrors following the recently developed nonabelian mirror symmetry. In addition, for symplectic Grassmannians, we use the effective twisted superpotential on the Coulomb branch of the GLSM to calculate the ordinary and equivariant quantum cohomology of the space, matching results in the math literature. Then we discuss 3d gauge theories with Chern-Simons terms. We propose a complementary method to derive the quantum K-theory relations of projective spaces and Grassmannians from the corresponding 3d gauge theory with a suitable choice of the Chern-Simons levels. In the derivation, we compare to standard presentations in terms of Schubert cycles, and also propose a new description in terms of shifted Wilson lines, which can be generalized to symplectic Grassmannians. Using this method, we are able to obtain quantum K-theory relations, which match known math results, as well as make predictions.
- Matter in transitionAnderson, Lara B.; Gray, James A.; Raghuram, Nikhil; Taylor, Washington (Springer, 2016-04-13)We explore a novel type of transition in certain 6D and 4D quantum field theories, in which the matter content of the theory changes while the gauge group and other parts of the spectrum remain invariant. Such transitions can occur, for example, for SU(6) and SU(7) gauge groups, where matter fields in a three-index antisymmetric representation and the fundamental representation are exchanged in the transition for matter in the two-index antisymmetric representation. These matter transitions are realized by passing through superconformal theories at the transition point. We explore these transitions in dual F-theory and heterotic descriptions, where a number of novel features arise. For example, in the heterotic description the relevant 6D SU(7) theories are described by bundles on K3 surfaces where the geometry of the K3 is constrained in addition to the bundle structure. On the F-theory side, non-standard representations such as the three index antisymmetric representation of SU(N) require Weierstrass models that cannot be realized from the standard SU(N) Tate form. We also briefly describe some other situations, with groups such as Sp(3), SO(12), and SU(3), where analogous matter transitions can occur between different representations. For SU(3), in particular, we find a matter transition between adjoint matter and matter in the symmetric representation, giving an explicit Weierstrass model for the F-theory description of the symmetric representation that complements another recent analogous construction.
- Multiple fibrations in Calabi-Yau geometry and string dualitiesAnderson, Lara B.; Gao, Xin; Gray, James A.; Lee, Seung-Joo (Springer, 2016-10-19)In this work we explore the physics associated to Calabi-Yau (CY) n-folds that can be described as a fibration in more than one way. Beginning with F-theory vacua in various dimensions, we consider limits/dualities with M-theory, type IIA, and heterotic string theories. Our results include many M-/F-theory correspondences in which distinct F-theory vacua - associated to different elliptic fibrations of the same CY n-fold - give rise to the same M-theory limit in one dimension lower. Examples include 5-dimensional correspondences between 6-dimensional theories with Abelian, non-Abelian and superconformal structure, as well as examples of higher rank Mordell-Weil geometries. In addition, in the context of heterotic/F-theory duality, we investigate the role played by multiple K3- and elliptic fibrations in known and novel string dualities in 8-, 6- and 4-dimensional theories. Here we systematically summarize nested fibration structures and comment on the roles they play in T-duality, mirror symmetry, and 4-dimensional compactifications of F-theory with G-flux. This investigation of duality structures is made possible by geometric tools developed in a companion paper [1].
- Physics of F-theory compactifications without sectionAnderson, Lara B.; Garcia-Etxebarria, Inaki; Grimm, Thomas W.; Keitel, Jan (Springer, 2014-12-24)We study the physics of F-theory compactifications on genus-one fibrations without section by using an M-theory dual description. The five-dimensional action obtained by considering M-theory on a Calabi-Yau threefold is compared with a six-dimensional F-theory effective action reduced on an additional circle. We propose that the six-dimensional effective action of these setups admits geometrically massive U(1) vectors with a charged hypermultiplet spectrum. The absence of a section induces NS-NS and R-R three-form fluxes in F-theory that are non-trivially supported along the circle and induce a shift-gauging of certain axions with respect to the Kaluza-Klein vector. In the five-dimensional effective theory the Kaluza-Klein vector and the massive U(1)s combine into a linear combination that is massless. This U(1) is identified with the massless U(1) corresponding to the multi-section of the Calabi-Yau threefold in M-theory. We confirm this interpretation by computing the one-loop Chern-Simons terms for the massless vectors of the five-dimensional setup by integrating out all massive states. A closed formula is found that accounts for the hypermultiplets charged under the massive U(1)s.
- Spectral and Superpotential Effects in Heterotic CompactificationsWang, Juntao (Virginia Tech, 2021-07-16)In this dissertation we study several topics related to the geometry and physics of heterotic string compactification. After an introduction to some of the basic ideas of this field, we review the heterotic line bundle standard model construction and a complex structure mod- uli stabilization mechanism associated to certain hidden sector gauge bundles. Once this foundational material has been presented, we move on to the original research of this disser- tation. We present a scan over all known heterotic line bundle standard models to examine the frequency with which the particle spectrum is forced to change, or "jump," by the hidden sector moduli stabilization mechanism just mentioned. We find a significant percentage of forced spectrum jumping in those models where such a change of particle content is possible. This result suggests that one should consider moduli stabilization concurrently with model building, and that failing to do so could lead to misleading results. We also use state of the art techniques to study Yukawa couplings in these models. We find that a large portion of Yukawa couplings which naively would be expected to be non-zero actually vanish due to certain topological selection rules. There is no known symmetry which is responsible for this vanishing. In the final part of this dissertation, we study the Chern-Simons contribution to the superpotential of heterotic theories. This quantity is very important in determining the vacuum stability of these models. By explicitly building real bundle morphisms between vec- tor bundles over Calabi-Yau manifolds, we show that this contribution to the superpotential vanishes in many cases. However, by working with more complicated, and realistic geome- tries, we also present examples where the Chern-Simons contribution to the superpotential is non-zero, and indeed fractional.