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Lara Anderson

Lara Anderson

· Professor

Virginia Tech · Physics

Active 1973–2026

h-index30
Citations2.6k
Papers8923 last 5y
Funding$695k

Academic metrics are sourced from OpenAlex and public funding records; values may differ from Google Scholar.

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About

Lara Anderson is a professor in the Department of Physics at Virginia Tech, located in 213 Robeson Hall. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and specializes in Mathematical String Theory, with a focus on Center for Neutrino Physics and related areas. Her research involves theoretical physics, particularly in the realm of string theory, and she is actively engaged in the academic community through her faculty role, contributing to the department's research and educational missions.

Research topics

  • Mathematics
  • Geometry
  • Pure mathematics
  • Mathematical physics
  • Theoretical physics
  • Particle physics
  • Quantum mechanics
  • Physics

Selected publications

  • F-theory on quotient threefolds with (2,0) discrete superconformal matter

    Journal of High Energy Physics · 2018-06-01 · 40 citations

    articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

    A bstract We explore 6-dimensional compactifications of F-theory exhibiting (2, 0) superconformal theories coupled to gravity that include discretely charged superconformal matter. Beginning with F-theory geometries with Abelian gauge fields and superconformal sectors, we provide examples of Higgsing transitions which break the U(1) gauge symmetry to a discrete remnant in which the matter fields are also non-trivially coupled to a (2, 0) SCFT. In the compactification background this corresponds…

    PublisherOA PDFDOI

  • Singular Geometry and Higgs Bundles in String Theory

    Symmetry Integrability and Geometry Methods and Applications · 2018-04-17 · 20 citations

    articleOpen access

    This brief survey aims to set the stage and summarize some of the ideas under discussion at the Workshop on Singular Geometry and Higgs Bundles in String Theory, to be held at the American Institute of Mathematics from October 30th to November 3rd, 2017. One of the most interesting aspects of the duality revolution in string theory is the understanding that gauge fields and matter representations can be described by intersection of branes. Since gauge theory is at the heart of our description of…

    PublisherOA PDFDOI

  • Moduli-dependent Calabi-Yau and SU(3)-structure metrics from machine learning

    arXiv (Cornell University) · 2021 · 8 citations

    1st authorCorresponding

    A bstract We use machine learning to approximate Calabi-Yau and SU(3)-structure metrics, including for the first time complex structure moduli dependence. Our new methods furthermore improve existing numerical approximations in terms of accuracy and speed. Knowing these metrics has numerous applications, ranging from computations of crucial aspects of the effective field theory of string compactifications such as the canonical normalizations for Yukawa couplings, and the massive string spectrum…

    PublisherOA PDF

  • Heterotic/heterotic and heterotic/F-theory duality

    Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2019-12-12 · 8 citations

    articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

    We consider heterotic target space dual (0,2) gauged linear sigma models on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds. In this context, each half of the ``dual'' heterotic theories must in turn have an F-theory dual. Moreover, the apparent relationship between two heterotic compactifications seen in (0,2) heterotic target space dual pairs should, in principle, induce some putative correspondence between the dual F-theory geometries. It has previously been conjectured in the literature that (0,2)…

    PublisherOA PDFDOI

  • Branes and bundles through conifold transitions and dualities in heterotic string theory

    Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2023-11-22 · 5 citations

    articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

    The authors study transitions of particular string compactifications (heterotic theories with $N=1$ supersymmetry in four dimensions) that change the topology and other nonpertubative properties of the internal manifold. This is part of trying to understand the string landscape, here the moduli space of heterotic compactifications, and string effective field theories. The authors provide geometric analyses, which are an important foundations for the physical understanding of these transitions.

    PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

Frequent coauthors

  • James Gray

    Virginia Tech

    38 shared

  • H. Rosi Song

    Communication University of China

    25 shared

  • Rebecca Earle

    25 shared

  • Melissa Fuster

    25 shared

  • Jordana Mendelson

    New York University

    25 shared

  • André Lukas

    University of Oxford

    24 shared

  • Burt A. Ovrut

    University of Pennsylvania

    19 shared

  • Xin Gao

    11 shared

Labs

  • Virginia Tech Department of PhysicsPI

Education

  • PhD, Theoretical Physics, Mathematics

    University of Oxford

    2008

  • MS, Physics

    Utah State University

    2004

  • BS, Mathematics

    Utah State University

    2003

  • BS, Physics

    Utah State University

    2003

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