Compactifications of higher dimensional string theories offer perhaps the most promising ``top-down’’ path toward realistic models of our universe. In the way stands the notorious difficulty of computing the 4d effective action beyond tree level, and a lack of concrete embeddings of Standard Model-like physics with a sufficiently long lived vacuum. In this talk, after reviewing the current status of such compactifications (the “string landscape”), I will present recent and ongoing works aimed at these problems. Concretely, I will discuss work on string dualities that can be used as a tool to evaluate certain quantum corrections in flux compactifications, as well as upcoming work featuring new ensembles of top-down Standard Model constructions using type IIB string theory. Finally, I’ll report on progress in evaluating the classical superpotential in type IIB compactifications on Calabi-Yau orientifolds.

Based on works with Federico Compagnin, Jim Halverson, Björn Hassfeld, and Elijah Sheridan