Non-perturbative F-theory vacua for SU(5) Grand Unified Theories
Timo Weigand (Universitaet Heidelberg)

F-theory provides an intriguing non-perturbative formulation of certain string compactifications to four dimensions. Dynamical aspects of fields and branes are translated into geometric properties of an underlying elliptic fibration, which can be analysed in great detail with the help of algebraic geometry.
At the same time, such constructions offer a connection to phenomenological models of Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) by combining two essential ideas in model building: the importance of exceptional gauge groups and the localisation of matter on so-called brane worlds.

In this talk we give an elementary introduction to brane worlds from the perspective of F-theory and outline some of their phenomenological properties. This includes an outline of the connection between gauge dynamics and the singularities of the compactification space and a survey of recent progress in the construction of explicit F-theory GUT vacua.