Strings and the Real World

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String theory is a candidate theory of everything. It unifies gravity and quantum mechanics and has the potential to provide a fundamental framework for the standard model. With the recent precision cosmological data, and the imminent start of the LHC and the discoveries it will bring, it is all the more pressing that string theory make contact with the real world. In this context, we envision this workshop to focus on the search for string vacua with direct relevance for high energy experiments and/or the early universe. We intend it to cover many of the approaches that have been developed to address these topics, and to hopefully get an understanding of where we stand after many years of work in this direction.

The unique feature of the workshops at the OCTS is that they are broadcast on an interactive network using Access Grid technology. For future reference, you should know that you do not have to come to Columbus to be a full participant in an OCTS workshop. If you have an access grid facility at your institution you can be a full participant in all the discussions and even present your work remotely. There are currently hundreds of access grid installations and you can check to see if there is one near you at http://www.accessgrid.org/community/nodes/nodes.html.

The workshop hotel is the Holiday Inn. Contact information is listed under "Local Information" on the web site. Mention the name of this workshop when making your reservation. Outside the USA e mail listocki@innonthelane.com for reservations. Please note that weekends before and after the workshop are football weekends and all hotels and motels are full.

Please respond to OCTS (octs@osu.edu) and Stuart Raby (raby@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu), who can answer questions about practical matters and scientific organization, respectively.

Organizing Committee :

Stuart Raby (The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA)
Hans Peter Nilles (Universitaet Bonn, Bonn, Germany)
Miriam Cvetic (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
Luis Ibañez (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain)

Presentations:

J.E. Kim, Seoul National U., Korea Review of Heterotic String Constructions

Michael Ratz, U. Bonn, Germany New Results on Orbifold Model Building

Stefan Foerste, IPPP, Durham, UK Model Kit for Orbifolds

Ralph Blumenhagen, MPI, Munich,Germany Statistics Type IIA Intersecting D-Brane Models: Status and Prospects

Bert Schellekens, NIKHEF, The Netherlands Sight-Seeing in the Landscape

Tatsuo Kobayashi, University Kyoto, Japan Flavor Structure in Heterotic Orbifold Models

Tianjun Li, Rutgers University, New Jersey Model Building on Type II Orientifolds

Fernando Marchesano, LMU, Munich, Germany Building Open String Superpotentials

Akin Wingerter, Ohio State, Columbus, Ohio On Gauge Symmetry Breaking with Continuous Wilson Lines

Joseph Conlon, Cambridge University, UK Large Extra Dimensions from Flux Compactifications

Keith R. Dienes, University of Arizona Landscape Discussion

Hassan Firouzjahi, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY The Cosmic Landscape

David Lowe, Brown University, Providence, RI Implications of dS/CFT for Effective Field Theory

O. Lebedev, University of Bonn, Germany Some Issues in Heterotic Model Building

Invited Speakers :

Ignatios Antoniadis
Ralph Blumenhagen
Michael Douglas
Alon Farragi
Luis Ibanez
Jihn E. Kim
Tatsuo Kobayashi
Burt Ovrut
Fernando Quevedo
Bert Schellekens
Gary Shiu
Herman Verlinde
Steve Giddings

Participants :

Stephan Stieberger
Brent Nelson
Fernando Marchesano
Paul Langacker
Fred Cooper
Peter Rosen
Akin Wingerter
Joseph Towe
Gordy Kane
Joseph Conlon
Steven Abel
Lisa Everett
Tianjun Li
Keith Dienes
Yanwen Shang
Stefan Forste
David Lowe
Piyush Kumar