1997/10/01 by Sunil Mukhi, Mukhi, Sunil
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.hep-th/9710004
harvmac, 15 pages (b), one eps figure; Review based on talks given at Puri (Dec 1996) and Paris (Aug 1997)
arxiv created 1997/10/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
I review some recent developments in our understanding of the dynamics of Z2 orientifolds of type IIA and IIB strings and M-theory. Interesting physical phenomena that occur in each spacetime dimension from 10 to 1 are summarized, along with some relationships to nonperturbative effects and to M- and F-theory. The conceptual aspects that are highlighted are: (i) orientifolds of M-theory, (ii) exceptional gauge symmetry from open strings, (iii) certain similarities between branes and orientifold planes. Some comments are also made on disconnected components of orientifold moduli space.