Constraints on Four Dimensional Effective Field Theories From String and F-theory

This thesis is a study of string theory compactifications to four dimensions and the constraints the Effective Field theories must exhibit, exploring both the closed and open sectors. In the former case, we focus on axion monodromy scenarios and the impact the backreaction of the energy density induced by the vev of an axion has on its field excursions. For all the cases studied, we find that the backreaction is small up to a critical value, and the proper field distance is flux independent and at most logarithmic in the axion vev. We then move to the open sector, where we use the framework of F-theory. We first explore the relation between the spectra arising from F-theory GUTs and those coming from a decomposition of the adjoint of E_8 to SU(5)x U(1)^n. We find that extending the latter spectrum with new SU(5)-singlet fields, and classifying all possible ways of breaking the Abelian factors, all the spectra coming from smooth elliptic fibration constructed in the literature fit in our classification. We then explore generic properties of the spectra arising when breaking SU(5) to the Standard Model gauge group while retaining some anomaly properties. We finish by a study of F-theory compactications on a singular elliptic fibration via Matrix Factorisation, and find the charged spectrum of two non-Abelian examples