Compactifications of string theory
Résumé
I’ll present an introduction to the problem of string theory compactifications with an emphasis on the low energy description of compactifications of type II strings on Calabi-Yau manifolds. In particular, I’ll describe the Kaluza-Klein reduction procedure, basic facts about Calabi-Yau manifolds and why they are important in string theory, effective actions arising in the low energy limit, their moduli spaces, their symmetries and dualities between them. Depending on time, I may also touch the problem of quantum corrections and compactifications with fluxes.