September 11, 2022
TITLE: On the physics of Joyce-Karigiannis manifolds
ABSTRACT: We will discuss the physics of M-theory compactifications onto G2-orbifolds of the type that can be resolved via the method of Joyce and Karigiannis i.e. orbifolds where one has a singular locus of A1 singularities that admits a nowhere-vanishing (Z2-twisted) harmonic 1-form. We also discuss natural generalisations of these orbifolds (not currently resolvable by the method of Joyce-Karigiannis) and give proposals for the physics in these cases too.