Duality of (0,2) String Vacua

Abstract

We discuss a duality of (0,2) heterotic string vacua which implies that certain pairs of (0,2) Calabi-Yau compactifications on topologically distinct target manifolds yield identical string theories. Some complex structure moduli in one model are interpreted in the dual model as deforming the holomorphic structure of the vacuum gauge bundle (and vice versa). A better understanding of singularity resolution for (0,2) models may reveal that this duality of compactifications on singular spaces is part of a larger story, involving smooth topology-changing processes which interpolate between the (0,2) models on the resolved spaces.