This talk is based on the paper arXiv:1504.05593 with Lawrie and Wong, as well as work in progress with Krippendorf and Wong on a systematic and comprehensive analysis of U(1) symmetries in global F-theory GUT models, and their phenomenological viability.
The first part will cover the mathematical classification of rational sections, which realize U(1) symmetries in F-theory.
In the second part I will use this classification to study the phenomenology of the resulting models, including viability with regards to anomalies, proton decay as well as -- using the U(1)s in a Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism -- the generation of realistic Yukawa textures.
We find that there is indeed a small subclass of F-theory models that satisfy all these constraints, which provide an ideal starting point for further phenomenological studies.
