The geometry of gauge symmetry breaking in the superstring context

Abstract

The Higgs mechanism has a very natural global formulation: given a principal fiber bundle (P,M,G), with structural group G, a subbundle with the unbroken subgroup as structural group (with the aid of the Higgs fields themselves) can be constructed. In superstring theory, the fundamental E 8 symmetry, as well as the grand unification symmetry, are broken in a very different way. The principal purpose of this work is to construct a global formulation of the superstring gauge vacuum, without Higgs fields. © 1989 American Institute of Physics.