Orientifolds for F-theory on K3 Surfaces

Abstract

We study F-theory orientifolds, starting with products of two elliptic curves, but focusing mostly on a family of K3 surfaces, lattice polarized by the rank-17 lattice $\langle 8 \rangle \oplus 2D_8(-1)$, generalizing the family (to which it degenerates) of Kummer surfaces of products of two non-isogenous elliptic curves. After a thorough study of the complex geometry of this family and its elliptic fibrations, we proceed to study real structures on the K3 surfaces in the family which are equivariant with respect to an elliptic fibration. We also study the physics of the associated F-theory orientifolds with a particular focus on the impact of the real structure on the charge spectrum. We also study how these orientifolds degenerate to the case of isotrivial Kummer surface fibrations.