N=1 Dual String Pairs and their Modular Superpotentials

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We review the duality between heterotic and F--theory string vacua with N=1 space-time supersymmetry in eight, six and four dimensions. In particular, we discuss two chains of four-dimensional F--theory/heterotic dual string pairs, where F--theory is compactified on certain elliptic Calabi-Yau fourfolds, and the dual heterotic vacua are given by compactifications on elliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds plus the specification of the E₈× E₈ gauge bundles. We show that the massless spectra of the dual pairs agree by using, for one chain of models, an index formula to count the heterotic bundle moduli and determine the dual F--theory spectra from the Hodge numbers of the fourfolds and of the type IIB base spaces. Moreover as a further check, we demonstrate that for one particular heterotic/F--theory dual pair the N=1 superpotentials are the same.