Grand Unified Theories From Superstrings

Abstract

I review how traditional grand unified theories, which require adjoint (or higher representation) Higgs fields for breaking to the standard model, can be contained within string theory. The status (as of January 1996) of the search for stringy free fermionic three generation SO(10) SUSY--GUT models is discussed. Progress in free fermionic classification of both SO(10)$_2$ charged and uncharged embeddings and in $N=1$ spacetime solutions is presented. Based on talks presented at the Workshop on SUSY Phenomena and SUSY GUTs, Santa Barbara, California, Dec. 7-11, 1995, and at the Orbis Scientiae, Coral Gables, Florida, January 25-28, 1996. Appearing in the Proceedings of Orbis Scientiae, 1996.