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 STRING THEORY AND PARTICLE PHYSICS

String theory is one of the most active branches of theoretical physics, and has the potential
to provide a unified description of all known particles and interactions. This book is a
systematic introduction to the subject, focused on the detailed description of how string
theory is connected to the real world of particle physics.
Aimed at graduate students and researchers working in high-energy physics, it provides
explicit models of physics beyond the Standard Model. No prior knowledge of string theory
is required as all necessary material is provided in the introductory chapters. The book pro-
vides particle phenomenologists with the information needed to understand string theory
model building, and describes in detail several alternative approaches to model build-
ing, such as heterotic string compactifications, intersecting D-brane models, D-branes at
singularities, and F-theory.

LUIS E. IBÁÑEZ is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Universidad Autónoma de

Madrid and member of the Instituto de Física Teórica-UAM/CSIC. One of the world lead-
ers in physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, he has made important
contributions to the construction of the supersymmetric Standard Model and superstring
phenomenology.

ANGEL M. URANGA is Research Professor at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones

Científicas at the Instituto de Física Teórica-UAM/CSIC. He is one of the leading young
string theorists working in the construction of models of particle physics, in particular due
to his contribution on the use of D-branes to build realistic brane-world models.

Cover illustration: the authors thank Jorge Ibáñez-Albajar for his help with the design of
the cover image for this book.

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STRING THEORY AND PARTICLE PHYSICS:
AN INTRODUCTION TO STRING
PHENOMENOLOGY

LUIS E. IBÁÑEZ
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Instituto de Física Teórica IFT-UAM/CSIC

ANGEL M. URANGA
Instituto de Física Teórica IFT-UAM/CSIC

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 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore,
São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521517522

© L. Ibáñez and A. Uranga 2012

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2012

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data

Ibáñez, Luis E., 1952–
String theory and particle physics : an introduction to string phenomenology / Luis E. Ibáñez, Angel M. Uranga.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-521-51752-2 (Hardback)
1. String models. I. Uranga, A. (Angel) II. Title.
QC794.6.S85I23 2012
539.7 258–dc23
2011035562

ISBN 978-0-52151752-2 Hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or

accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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 To our families

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 [. . .] vi el Aleph, desde todos los puntos, vi en el Aleph la tierra, y en la tierra otra vez el Aleph y
en el Aleph la tierra [. . .] porque mis ojos habían visto ese objeto secreto y conjetural, cuyo nombre
usurpan los hombres, pero que ningún hombre ha mirado: el inconcebible universo.
Excerpt from El Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges,
© 1995, Maria Kodama © 2011, Random House Mondadori, S.A.

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 Contents

Preface page xi
1 The Standard Model and beyond 1
1.1 The Standard Model of particle physics 1
1.2 Grand Unified Theories 4
1.3 The SM fine-tuning puzzles 12
1.4 Extra dimensions 18
2 Supersymmetry 25
2.1 Four-dimensional N = 1 supersymmetry 25
2.2 SUSY breaking 32
2.3 N = 1 Supergravity 35
2.4 Extended supersymmetry and supergravity 37
2.5 Non-perturbative dynamics in supersymmetric theories 41
2.6 Low-energy supersymmetry and the MSSM 44
3 Introduction to string theory: the bosonic string 62
3.1 Generalities 63
3.2 Closed bosonic string 72
3.3 Open bosonic string 91
3.4 Unoriented bosonic string theory 97
4 Superstrings 103
4.1 Fermions on the worldsheet 103
4.2 Type II string theories 104
4.3 Heterotic string theories 117
4.4 Type I string theory 126
4.5 Summary 134
5 Toroidal compactification of superstrings 136
5.1 Type II superstrings 136
5.2 Heterotic superstrings 141
5.3 Type I toroidal compactification and D-branes 146

vii

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viii Contents

6 Branes and string duality 155

6.1 D-branes in string theory 155
6.2 Supergravity description of non-perturbative states 165
6.3 Strings at strong coupling and 10d string duality 168
6.4 AdS/CFT and gauge/gravity dualities 178
6.5 Brane–antibrane systems and non-BPS D-branes 180
7 Calabi–Yau compactification of heterotic superstrings 185
7.1 A road map for string compactifications 185
7.2 Generalities on Calabi–Yau compactification 186
7.3 Heterotic CY compactifications: standard embedding 199
7.4 Heterotic CY compactifications: non-standard embedding 206
7.5 CY compactifications of Hor̆ava–Witten theory 211
8 Heterotic string orbifolds and other exact CFT constructions 215
8.1 Toroidal orbifolds 215
8.2 Heterotic compactification on toroidal orbifolds 218
8.3 Non-standard embeddings and Wilson lines 235
8.4 Asymmetric orbifolds 242
8.5 The fermionic construction 246
8.6 Gepner models 252
9 Heterotic string compactifications: effective action 264
9.1 A first look at the heterotic 4d N = 1 effective action 264
9.2 Heterotic M-theory effective action 272
9.3 Effective action of orbifold models 273
9.4 Gauge couplings and Kac–Moody level 280
9.5 Anomalous U (1)s and Fayet–Illiopoulos terms 282
9.6 T-duality and the effective action 286
9.7 Orbifold model building revisited 293
9.8 Higher Kac–Moody level models and string GUTs 296
10 Type IIA orientifolds: intersecting brane worlds 298
10.1 Type II on CY and orientifolding 298
10.2 Intersecting D6-branes in flat 10d space 302
10.3 Compactification and an example of a toroidal model 306
10.4 Introducing O6-planes 314
10.5 Non-supersymmetric particle physics models 320
10.6 Supersymmetric particle physics models in T 6 /Z 2 × Z 2 orientifolds 325
10.7 Generalizations and related constructions 329
11 Type IIB orientifolds 340
11.1 Generalities of type IIB orientifold actions 340
11.2 Type IIB toroidal orientifolds 341
11.3 D-branes at singularities 356

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 Contents ix

11.4 Magnetized D-brane models 370

11.5 F-theory model building 381
12 Type II compactifications: effective action 396
12.1 The closed string moduli in type II orientifolds 396
12.2 Kähler metrics of matter fields in toroidal orientifolds 404
12.3 The gauge kinetic function 408
12.4 U (1)’s and FI terms 412
12.5 Superpotentials and Yukawa couplings in type II orientifolds 416
12.6 Effective action of an MSSM-like example 426
12.7 Yukawa couplings in local F-theory models 429
13 String instantons and effective field theory 432
13.1 Instantons in field theory and string theory 432
13.2 Fermion zero modes for D-brane instantons 441
13.3 Phenomenological applications 446
14 Flux compatifications and moduli stabilization 455
14.1 Type IIB with 3-form fluxes 455
14.2 Fluxes in type II toroidal orientifolds 467
14.3 D-branes and fluxes 475
14.4 Mirror symmetry, T-duality, and non-geometric fluxes 479
14.5 Fluxes in other string constructions 482
15 Moduli stabilization and supersymmetry breaking in string theory 483
15.1 SUSY and SUSY breaking in string compactifications 483
15.2 SUSY breaking and moduli fixing in heterotic models 485
15.3 SUSY breaking and moduli fixing in type II orientifolds 489
15.4 Soft terms from fluxes in type IIB orientifolds 495
15.5 General parametrization of moduli/dilaton induced SUSY
breaking 501
15.6 Modulus/dilaton dominated SUSY breaking spectra and the LHC 510
15.7 Other mediation mechanisms in string theory 515
16 Further phenomenological properties. Strings and cosmology 518
16.1 Scales and unification in string theory 518
16.2 Axions in string theory 528
16.3 R-parity and B/L-violation 531
16.4 Extra U (1) gauge bosons 534
16.5 Strings at the weak scale 540
16.6 Strings and cosmology 543
17 The space of string vacua 558
17.1 General properties of the massless spectrum in string
compactifications 558
17.2 The flavour landscape 566

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x Contents

17.3 The flux landscape 570

17.4 Outlook 573
Appendix A Modular functions 576
Appendix B Some topological tools 579
B.1 Forms and cycles: cohomology and homology 579
B.2 Hodge dual 584
B.3 Application: p-form gauge fields 585
B.4 Homotopy groups 588
Appendix C Spectrum and charges of a semi-realistic Z3 heterotic orbifold 589
Appendix D Computation of RR tadpoles 592
D.1 RR tadpoles in type I theory 592
D.2 Tadpoles for T 6 /Z N type IIB orientifolds 595
Appendix E CFT toolkit 597
E.1 Conformal symmetry and conformal fields 597
E.2 Vertex operators and structure of scattering amplitudes 599
E.3 Kac–Moody algebras 602
E.4 N = 2 superconformal field theories 604
E.5 Rational conformal field theory and simple currents 604
Bibliography 608
References 624
Index 657

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 Preface

String theory is the leading candidate for a consistent quantum theory of gravity. It has
also become a central area of research in mathematical physics, with different additional
applications which range from heavy ion physics to condensed matter, cosmology or math-
ematics. Notwithstanding this, the excitement fostered in 1984 actually came from the
coexistence of chiral anomaly free gauge theories and gravity in string theory, raising the
expectation of an ultimate unification of Standard Model (SM) and gravitational inter-
actions into a consistent string quantum theory. The enthusiasm was thus motivated by
particle physics phenomenological goals.
Since then much effort has been dedicated to explore the possible embedding of the
SM of particle physics in string theory, a field commonly known as string phenomenology.
However, although there are by now several excellent books introducing the general field of
string theory, there is no systematic and detailed coverage of the large body of knowledge
accumulated in string phenomenology. This lack has become particularly acute after the
duality revolution of 1995, when the advent of D-branes made the string engineering of
non-trivial gauge theories more flexible, thus providing new avenues to realize the SM in
string theory.
Consequently, and due to the seemingly imposing complexity of string theory, this field
has not permeated much to many particle physics phenomenologists and model builders,
who feel reluctant to struggle with a jungle of papers and reviews to extract the phenomeno-
logical aspects of string theory.
The main purpose of this book is to provide an elementary introduction to string theory,
and to string phenomenology, in a systematic and self-contained way. It should be useful to
particle phenomenologists and model builders, both senior and fresh. It will also be useful
to string theorists interested in learning how (and how far) string theory may reproduce the
observed SM physics.
The book has six chapters with introductory material. The first presents a brief summary
of the SM structure, its puzzles, and several of its extensions, including Grand Unified
Theories and extra dimensions. The second introduces the basic aspects of supersymmetry
and its application to particle physics models, most notably the Minimal Supersymmetric

xi

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xii Preface

Standard Model (MSSM). These first two chapters serve to fix the notation and
introduce concepts, appearing later when building string theory models of particle
physics.
Chapters 3 to 6 constitute an introduction to the basics of string theory including the
bosonic string (Chapter 3), and the heterotic, type II and type I superstrings (Chapter 4).
The simplest toroidal compactification to four dimensions is described in Chapter 5, which
also provides a first glimpse of D-branes. Chapter 6 describes D-branes and their role in
string theory, as well as the different non-perturbative dualities in the theory. Our presen-
tation in these chapters aims at getting the main physical results in the most comfortable
way for the non-initiated, avoiding the machinery of conformal field theory (partly cov-
ered in an appendix). These four chapters are self-contained and constitute by themselves
an introductory course on string theory, useful also to graduate students searching for a first
contact with the formalism of string theory. String theorists acquainted with this material
may safely jump over to Chapter 7.
Chapters 7 to 12 give a relatively detailed description of string compactifications giving
rise to chiral theories in four dimensions, with emphasis on those with N = 1 supersym-
metry and a particle content close to the SM. They include different heterotic constructions,
in Chapters 7 and 8, whose low-energy effective action is covered in Chapter 9, as well as
type II orientifolds (and M- and F-theory related constructions), in Chapters 10 and 11,
with their effective action discussed in Chapter 12. Detailed explicit examples of MSSM-
like models are presented for the different compactification methods. The purpose is to
enable the reader to obtain the massless spectrum and effective lagrangian of these string
constructions, so as to grasp their contact to SM physics.
Chapters 13 and 14 introduce additional ingredients, most notably string instantons and
closed string fluxes. Those ingredients give rise to extra contributions to the effective
action relevant for aspects like Yukawa couplings, neutrino masses and moduli stabiliza-
tion. Chapter 15 continues the study of moduli fixing and its interplay with supersymmetry
breaking, reaching up to the generation of low-energy supersymmetry breaking masses in
MSSM-like models. Further phenomenological issues are discussed in Chapter 16, and
Chapter 17 contains a general discussion of the space of string vacua, in particular those
resembling the SM or MSSM.
The optimum use of this book requires basic background of quantum field theory, group
theory, and elementary notions of the SM of particle physics and general relativity. We have
attempted to reduce the mathematics to a minimum, and to introduce the necessary defi-
nitions where required (including an appendix with the main geometrical and topological
concepts used in the text).
We mark with an asterisk ∗ those sections or subsections containing relevant mate-
rial which may be skipped in a first reading of the book. Concerning the references, we
have preferred not to insert citations in the main text and give a Bibliography for each
chapter at the end of the book. These include some references to original literature, but
mostly to reviews useful to the reader interested in further details. The list of references is
(admittedly and necessarily) very incomplete and we apologize to many of our colleagues

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 Preface xiii

whose relevant work has not been cited. Finally, we have set up a webpage to publish
corrections and errata for this book:
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Many people and institutions have contributed to make this book possible. We thank
our home institutions, the Departamento de Física Teórica of the Universidad Autónoma
de Madrid (UAM), and the Instituto de Física Teórica IFT-UAM/CSIC of the Consejo
Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and UAM. We thank our colleagues there, for cre-
ating a supportive and stimulating environment. A.M.U. also thanks the CERN TH group,
for being “home” during the first half of this project. We are grateful to our colleagues
and collaborators, for all the discussions during these years. In particular, we thank Luis
Aparicio, Gerardo Aldazabal, Pablo G. Cámara, David G. Cerdeño, Anamaria Font, Iñaki
Garcia-Etxebarria, Fernando Marchesano, Christoffer Petersson, Fernando Quevedo, Gra-
ham Ross, and Pablo Soler, for carefully reading selected chapters and making many
improving suggestions. We also thank Bert Schellekens for discussions and for provid-
ing us with edited figures from his work. We are also grateful to the Cambridge University
Press team, and especially to Simon Capelin, for suggesting the project, and for the gentle
management throughout the process of writing. We finally thank our families, for giving
the patience and support that is always required in such a demanding enterprise.

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Other documents randomly have
different content
days of Armageddon. They lived on camels; they always slept near,
and often on camels; and camels carried their tucker, their water,
their clothes, their blankets. The last thing they saw as they fell
asleep at night was a string of long-necked camels silhouetted
against the bare horizon. The first thing they heard after reveille was
the raucous noise of a camel lifting up its voice in the wilderness.
Nothing but camel, day and night, from the Senussi stunt to the
Jerusalem-Jericho-Jordan scrapping.
None of us really liked our camels. Frankly, most of us loathed
them. They were a necessary evil. In a desert campaign they were
indispensable: so they were tolerated. But for many, many months
the Cameleers cursed them without ceasing for the vilest, stupidest,
craziest beasts that ever cumbered the earth.
Then, suddenly—it was about midsummer, 1918—we began to
realize some of the many virtues of the much-maligned camel. We
remembered that even on the scorching sands of Sinai, we were
rarely short of water. We reminded each other that, while Light
Horsemen shivered on the freezing Judean Hills, we snuggled cosily
’neath a bivvy and four blankets. We thought of all the little extra
canteen delicacies we had carried in our capacious saddle-bags. And
we talked about the good times we had at the camel sports with
Horace, and Mange Dressing and Starlight.
The reason for this volte-face, this sudden revulsion of feeling in
favour of the camel, lay in the fact that our camels were to be taken
away from us. We were to be transformed into cavalry for that Big
Push which we hoped would result in the smashing of the Turkish
Army. And remembering the comparative luxury of the Cameleer’s
life, we tried to make the amende honorable and say kind things of
and to our old hooshtas.
 THE MIDDAY HALT

The Australian Camel Corps was formed early in 1916, when the
Senussi became troublesome. Four companies of infantry just back
from Gallipoli formed the nucleus of the corps. They proved a most
valuable asset, so more were demanded. But it was not certain that a
sufficient number of Australians could be provided, so the 2nd
Battalion was composed of English and Scotch Territorials, and the
force became known as the Imperial Camel Corps. Later, a third
Battalion was made up of Australians and New Zealanders, and, at
the end of the year, a fourth Battalion, of Australians.

BRIG.-GENERAL G L. SMITH, V.C., M.C.

 OUR WATER SUPPLY

The Camel Corps was handicapped because of the general

ignorance concerning it. The A.I.F. in Sinai knew little of it; Australia
knew less. Often it was confused with and mistaken for the Camel
Transport Corps, a valuable unit, which has done splendid work, but
is not a fighting unit like the I.C.C. The members of the Imperial
Camel Corps had all left their parent Regiments, and so, for a long
time, missed those welcome parcels that the different Comfort Funds
so generously sent to the boys. Later, however, the A.I.F. Comforts
took a kindly interest in the poor Cameleers—and the Cameleers
were unfeignedly grateful.
Coming back to Egypt from the Western Desert, the Cameleers
spelled awhile, then moved over the Canal to Sinai and participated
in the Romani-Bir-el-Abd fighting. Then came the big trek east
towards El Arish with its attendant patrols and skirmishes. When
Abdul bolted from El Arish the Army followed, the Light Horse and
the Camel Corps in the van.
Maghdaba and Rafa followed, two of the most
picturesque and decisive battles of the campaign; and
in each the Camel Corps distinguished itself greatly.
Then on to Khan Yunis—where lived Delilah of old—
and then to historic Gaza: the lion in our path. The
story of the three battles of Gaza has already been
told. There is no need to recapitulate here the part
played by the Camelry in those engagements, save to
mention that in the second battle the I.C.C. rushed and captured
their objective, suffering about 75 per cent. casualties; while in the
third, and victorious, battle, they held the line at Kouelphi and Ras el
Nagb in face of heavy counter-attacks.
The army had now turned the corner, and, under General
Allenby’s inspiring leadership, the Camel Brigade pushed north with
the remainder of the force until Jerusalem was captured. Then the
army settled down in the stalemate line of trenches stretching from
just north of Jaffa to the Jordan near Jericho; by which time the
Cameleers had suffered so many casualties, and the camels were in
such deplorable condition, that they were sent back to Rafa to
recuperate—and hold a sports meeting.
Mention should be made of the Hong Kong-Singapore Indian
Mounted Battery, known to the Camel Corps as “The Bing Boys.”
These Indian soldiers participated in all the fighting in Palestine.

WATERING TIME, CAMEL BRIGADE

 “PREPARE TO MOUNT”

In March, 1918, the Camel Corps trekked through Palestine to

Richon, where they sampled the wine of the country. Then, after the
rains, they ploughed their way through mud and slush and wire to
Bethlehem. From the wintry heights of Judea they descended by way
of Jericho to the midsummer of the Jordan Valley and on to Amman.
Much has been written about the adventure, or misadventure, into
the hills of Moab. Never will the Cameleers forget that night journey
over slippery goat-tracks to Es Salt. Never before or since was there
ever such a journey. Hour after hour the cavalcade struggled onward
and upward, crawling round ugly devil’s-elbows on mountain tracks,
slipping and floundering in the mud. Time and again camels would
collapse, bogged and helpless, and some toppled over the precipice.
But the Brigade got to Amman and blew up the Hedjaz Railway.
Back to the Jordan Valley again, the prey of snakes and scorpions
and spiders, mosquitos and flies and Turkish shells—but the
mosquitos were the worst. Scores and scores of men went sick with
malaria, which recurred during subsequent operations. The last big
scrap of the I.C.C. was the defence of Musallabeh, which the Turks
attacked with grim determination. In spite of very heavy casualties,
the Cameleers held on and beat off the enemy. Because of this gallant
defence, General Allenby decreed that henceforth Musallabeh should
be called “The Camel’s Hump.”
With Sinai far behind and well-watered country ahead, it was seen
that the Camel Brigade had outlived its usefulness. So, in May, the
Cameleers returned westward towards Jaffa, handed over their
camels, and were mounted on horses and armed with swords for the
Big Push.
“TROOPER BLUEGUM.”

PORTION OF CONVOY
OF 8,000 CAMELS
BEARING SUPPLIES
ON THE PHILISTINE
PLAIN

Australian
Official
Photograph
 RESTING

here’s a delightful sound about that little word

“Rest.” It conjures up delicious visions of
breakfast in bed, scrambled eggs on toast,
lying about in the sun, nice books to read, etc.,
etc., as the imagination wills. Now, we didn’t
expect all these things, but when we got the
word, “The regiment is going for a rest behind
the lines,” everybody’s ears pricked up, and we
were all on the qui vive for the few days
following.
Sure enough, we moved out all right, and
camped one moonlight night on a gently-
sloping plateau to the west of the hills, taking
up our abode comfortably in bell tents, six of
us to a tent. We’d had a long day, so soon turned in and slept the
sleep of the conscienceless. Behold us next morning, at that cold,
cheerless grey hour which just precedes the dawn, lying in various
picturesque attitudes, with the cold wind playing on us, as yet
untouched by the sun’s compensating warmth. A bugle gave out its
brass-mouthed message, and one of those necessary evils known as
corporals invited us to “turn out and fall in.” Now, it was the witching
hour of 4 a.m., and we didn’t like “turning out” or “falling in,” or any
kindred mysterious movement; but necessity knows no law, so, to
the accompaniment of many an ungracious “Blarst the war,” “What
sort of a rest is this?” we crawled out of bed, dressed, and wended
our weary way to the stables.
BEDOUINS CAPTURED AT HASSANIYA
STREET MARKET, JERUSALEM

BEDOUIN VILLAGE

TURKISH PRISONERS, NABLUS

 The next hour or two saw us busy among the horses—removing the
superfluous dirt from their coats, cleaning up the stable lines, and
watering and feeding our jaded mounts. We were then marched to
the Q.M.’s to be issued with an extra blanket. In the usual way of
Q.M.’s, this just allowed us back in time for six o’clock breakfast.
During the meal they broke the news gently to us that there was a
mounted parade at seven, to go through a “little training.” More
grumbles, of course, but the time was too short to allow of any delay
for grousing, so we got out for our “little training.” This delightful
exercise consisted of a gruelling couple of hours in the sun, after
which we had to groom and stable our horses, had a quarter of an
hour’s “smoke-o,” and then the pleasure of lecture for half an hour or
so.
Dismissed to our tents, we distributed ourselves behind the covers
of various journals—ranging, according to taste, from “War Cry” to
the “Bulletin.” Hardly was our interest fixed, when there was borne
in on our ears a stentorian cry which resolved itself into the voice of
our two-bar artist yelling “Fall in for water!” and away we went again
like lambs. A struggle with four horses, two on each side of you, and
each couple desiring to go in a different direction, is not calculated to
improve one’s temper; but we got the job done and returned for
dinner. This meal was not the one of our dreams, but we settled
down after it as though we’d lunched at “Shepheards,” and began to
think that the “rest” part of the stunt was at hand. Then the orderly
sergeant announced that there would be a grazing parade at two
o’clock. So out we all had to turn again and spend a couple of hours
on the grassy slope a mile or so away, thinking sad thoughts and
uttering strong utterances.
Back again, stable the horses, we finished just in
time for tea, to which we did ample justice, and
allowed ourselves to drift into a better frame of mind.
After tea we at last settled down in our tents, and had
just dealt the cards for a quiet game of poker, when,
lo and behold! the orderly corporal looked in and
said, quite pleasantly and off-hand, too, “There will be an inspection
at 9 a.m. to-morrow; all saddlery and gear to be cleaned and placed
outside tents at 8 a.m.” Well, we looked at one another—we were
past words. Slowly the hands were thrown in; more in sorrow than in
anger we cleared the card-blanket away, and the last scene saw six
queerly silent figures listlessly polishing up bits and stirrup irons and
greasing leather gear, with the mutely suffering look in each face akin
to the look of the dog which has just received a kick in the ribs as the
grand finale to a series of ill-usages. So ended a day of rest. In that
tent, that night, men went to bunk murmuring, “If this is rest, send
us back to work.”
“TRALAS.”
 THE MUKHTAR’S GOATS

Said Breezy Bob to Baldy Bill, “I’m giving you the oil;
There’s whips of blinking eatables on this ’ere virgin soil.
So what abart a forage hunt, me bold and noble chief?
It’s time we had some mutton now instead of bully-beef.”

Now, Baldy Bill was leader of an enterprising mess;

His cobbers all would back him up in deeds of wickedness.
So when Old Bob suggested that the gang should have a hunt
For tasty chops and cutlets, they agreed upon the stunt.

It happened that the n’th Light Horse were camping in a grove

Of olives, figs and oranges, the hedges interwove
With prickly pear grown very thick, and on the other side
The grazing land by cattle, sheep and goats was occupied.

An Arab Chief, or Mukhtar, was the owner of the flock,

Named “Abdul el Mahomed,” a monopolist in stock.
Now Baldy Bill and Breezy Bob were socialistic coves
Who spouted on equality amongst the olive groves.

And so in tones of ecstasy the plot was duly laid,

And in the hedge of prickly pear a hole was quickly made.
Then Bob and Baldy sallied forth—a ration bag of oats
Was carried by the doughty pair to snare the Mukhtar’s goats.

They crawled along in silence, seeking shade from tree to tree,

Until they came upon the flock all feeding peacefully.
The Mukhtar, squatting in the shade, engaged in silent thought,
Was dreaming of the prosperous times the “awful war” had brought.

Now, Baldy in the ration bag had made a little spout,

And as they crawled along the grass the oats were trickling out;
But as they neared the Mukhtar’s flock they rose upon their feet,
Salaamed in true Australian style, the pastoralist to greet.

In friendly pidgin-Arabic they talked a little while,

Then bade farewell to Abdul in the dinkum Aussie style;
And as they sauntered back to camp they noticed with a grin,
That Abdul’s goats had found the oats, and all were “wiring in.”

The feeding flock came slowly towards the hedge of prickly pear.
A fine big “billy” led the lot, quite eager for his share,
And as he wandered close enough the prickly pear to feel,
He “got it” quickly in the neck—a blade of polished steel.

Then Bill and Breezy dragged their prize into the Squadron’s lines,
Cut up the mass of quivering flesh in various designs.
With plenty swords available they soon got off the hide;
In less time than it takes to tell the billy-goat was fried.

That night the stew was “counted out” and mutton reigned instead,
And when old Abdul “counted in” his flock he hit his head
In anger, for he came upon the remnants of the oats
That Breezy Bob distributed to snare the Mukhtar’s goats.

Since then the Military Police are looking for a clue;

They never made enquiries about discarded stew,
Or else they might have found the truth; and Bill and Breezy gloat,
To tell the yarn in secrecy about the Mukhtar’s goat.

“2469”
 BUYING ORANGES,
JAFFA

By W. O. David Barker
 The Batman

by W. M. W.

With “stand to Arms” at half past three,

in cold and wet and misery,
Who brings a nice, warm cup of tea?
“My Batman.”

Who knows the movement of all troops

and brings the dinkum with my boots?
Who finds but never, never, loots.
“My Batman.”

The last to sleep, the first to rise,

 who sorts the rumor as it flies,
and in a whisper puts me wise.
“My Batman.”

Fount of all wisdom without doubt

who knows just what we are about
but very seldom lets it out.
The General’s Batman.
 Damascus

The first charm of Damascus as a whole city lies in the contrast

which those brown sandhills behind it make with the green strip of
the Barada Valley. Journeying from Ludd through the monotony of
lank, brown growth that straggles to the horizon from the road, you
give up hope of ever seeing foliage again, until you pass El Kunneitra.
Then you see the green of Barada; and it is the richer for the hills
behind it—browner, more desolate by far, than any landscape
skirting Galilee or the Jordan. Far up the clay feet of those rocky hills
straggles the brown-and-white suburb of Salahiye, all square-built
and flat-topped—from the distance like bricks inserted in the clay
soil. The line of hills is cleft cleanly by the Pass, the scene of that
hideous slaughter by our machine guns. If you climb into the fringe
of Salahiye you see the curious shape of Damascus—a jagged comet-
form, all the angles and serrations of the brown tail defined with
unnatural clearness by the depth of the green about it. In the
amorphous head are a few minarets—like jewels. In Cairo there are
too many minarets as you look from the Bey’s Leap: they protrude
like a porcupine’s quills. In Damascus the city’s flat brownness is just
relieved by them. When we came to Damascus it was drought-
stricken. Soon afterward, it rained torrentially for a day. Then the
sun shone and drew from the city such colour as we never dreamed
was there. Nor had we dreamed that the trees were dusty—so green
they seemed after the southern country. But, washed, they helped to
throw up the wonderful colour of “that great city,” as it is called in
Scripture.
It is a relief to be delivered from the sight of the everlasting cactus-
hedge of the southern towns. The cactus does flourish in Damascus;
but so thick is the foliage that it is lost in the mass. You cannot look
down on Nazareth without being obsessed by the ubiquitous pest.
You can look down on Damascus and be unconscious of it. It
straggles about the leafy roads in patches beside the mud walls. That
you can bear, because it does not rise above the all-enclosing foliage.
The smells of Damascus you will remember for ever. Cairo is clean
by comparison: the alleys of Cairo are not foul. The stinks of
Damascus are literally overpowering. There is offal, refuse, foul
puddles in every street of the Bazaars. The Abana is a foul river. “Are
not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the
waters of Israel”? The answer is: Certainly not. There is an ill-
kemptness about the place that carries Oriental slackness a bit too
far. In the streets that thread the heart of the city are ruts and holes
that break the springs of M.T. every day. The tramline protrudes
eight inches. This gives rise to deadlocks in traffic that hold up
movement for an hour. Incredibly narrow and tortuous are the
highways of the city. The only decent road is that which skirts the
fountained promenade near the Hedjaz Station. I am sure the
Damascans look on this bit of orderliness as a Western intrusion;
just as I am sure that if they found themselves in an English town
guileless of smells they would call it insipid....
In the bazaars there is a baffling complexity of colour, of race, of
wares. The Mousky is less heterogeneous. In the Square, in the street
which is called Strait, in the gold bazaar, grain bazaar, sweets bazaar,
silk bazaar, you have all the various colour of tarbooshed Cairo, and
more. Here the soldiers of the King of the Hedjaz throng; there is
endless variety in their clothes and their flowing head-dress. The
Moslem women, who veil their faces, affect far more variety than the
Mohamedan women of Cairo, with their yashmaks. The French are
here. The Australian hat and plume is everywhere. I never saw so
great a number of Australian soldiers moving at random in any city.
There is great jostling in these narrow streets, more than the normal
jostling you get in any crowd.
The dusty bazaars are in semi-darkness; their streets bear a
covered roof of iron; they must get protection from rain. In Cairo all
is open; for there it rains but rarely. Not only are the bazaar streets in
Cairo without roofs that would stop a shower, but the shops,
themselves, full of treasures. Here the rain comes in a deluge. From
some of the street roofs the enemy had taken the iron for military
use. What the state of these roofless streets will be when the rains
come is sad to think. They will be flooded all winter.
Except that there is greater diversity of peoples—both buyers and
sellers—the bazaars of Damascus are much like those of the Mousky.
There are the same well-defined areas for specific commodities; the
same little cubicles for shops, where vendors squat and “reach for
things”; there is the same voluble haggling—the same conversations
carried on in tones that you would first mistake for quarrelsome;
there are the same crying, peripatetic vendors of limonade, quoit-
shaped cakes and toffee; the shoe-blacks are here, but they are ahead
of Cairo, with their gongs to attract the uncleanly-shod. There is a
more incessant stream of laden donkeys through the bazaars here. In
Cairo the donkeys are chiefly for pleasure riding; here they are
mercantile, over-laden with the striped sacks of grain and fabric.
There are additions to the bazaars of Cairo in the goldsmiths’ bazaar,
the sweets bazaar. The goldsmiths work with their blowpipes and
tiny forges and tiny tools, moulding and fashioning. It is curious to
see the workshop as part of the sale-shop. The belts, brooches, rings
and trays exposed for sale in a showcase were made two yards away
by that cunning Oriental fashioner squatting on his haunches. The
sweets bazaar tempts you hideously. Eastern nutted sweets and
Turkish-delight and toffees look as well as they taste. Mere assorted
chocolates—such as you get at Groppi’s—are crude by comparison.
There are great serpentine coils of Turkish-delight lurking in icing-
sugar—nut toffee that is all nuts—none of your miserable paucity of
nuts such as one gets in English almond-rock: nuts form the matrix
here.... But enough of that; here, if ever, you are tempted to generate
a liver the size of your hat.
Public baths abound in the heart of the bazaars. Fronting the street
is the final, open, divaned, cooling-off room—an amphitheatre of
couches upholstered with a kind of gay-coloured towelling. A
fountain plays in the midst. The bathed sit swaying in the ecstasy of
reaction from the steam, with closed eyes. No Roman ever bathed
more voluptuously. No one minds your going in nor your penetrating
to the bowels of the establishment. Room after room you pass, with
swinging doors; each is hotter than the last. In the last, and hottest
room, the smell of man is overpowering; you hastily retrace your
steps through the series of chambers and regain the comparative
sweetness of the bazaars.
Foul as this city may be, there is beauty in every foot of it. The
beauty of Cairo lies rather in the view you get of “chunks” of it—the
vista of the street, the space of a market-place, the mass of a mosque.
Here the beauty lies in little pieces of wall, looked at minutely, in a
tiny piece of domestic architecture. It is a beauty in colour rather
than in form. Form in Cairo counts for much—in Damascus for
almost nothing. Here there is dilapidation in a degree undreamt of in
Cairo. But dilapidation does not necessarily make for beauty, though
some people think it does. I believe the beauty of colour in Damascus
lies in extreme age—in the mellowing of age. After Cairo, the intense
antiquity of the older city—of every fragment of it—comes to you
impressively. You feel the age of it as you pace every yard of its alleys.
Cairo is comparatively modern, and comparatively garish. There is a
fine, if filthy, harmony in Damascus.
Intimate in the memory of most Light Horsemen will always be
certain features of Damascus. Our men will not forget the Hedjaz
Headquarters in the heart of the city, the German Club, the Local
Resources Office, the filthy Turkish hospital, the English and French
hospitals in the suburb, the littered railway station, the suburban
roads, unspeakably rough and muddy, the afternoon perambulations
of blatant under-dressed bints in gharries, the guards—on the
aerodrome, on the Ottoman Bank, on the captured grain stores, on
the captured guns—the plentiful lack of ordnance and canteen stores,
the corpses of dogs and horses in open spaces, the multitudinous
beggars, the exorbitant prices asked for German razors that cost their
vendors nothing, the moderate cost of silver and brass ware, the
Hedjaz recruiting processions, the glut of matches, the potency of
arak, the cunning of the plausible English-speaking small boys, the
puzzling complexity and fluctuation of the currency, the paucity of
mails, the liberty and the usefulness of Turkish prisoners, the fitful
and lawless discharge of firearms about the city all through the night,
the suddenness with which sickness made its descent upon the
apparently immune, the daily receipt and despatch to time-table of
official mails by air, the dancing lights of Salahiye that burned till
dawn....
H. W. D.
 Malaria

You, with your winding, creeping course,

What of the men of our Southern Horse?
Valley of night, with your wingèd pest,
What of our heroes now at rest,
Down by your Dead, salt Sea?
What of the ones we have left behind?
What of these men of our kith and kind,
Nigh where your blood streams hiss?
Better the true and unerring shot!
Better the Death when their blood runs hot—
Than this,
Malaria! Malaria!

You, with your agèd river’s flow,

What of our Riders laid below?
Valley of Death, with your torpid heat,
Look where your swirling hill streams meet,
Down by your Dead, salt Sea!
Look to the ones on your mounded knoll!
Look to the ones of your chosen toll!
Those of your fevered kiss!
Better the blast of the rending shell!
Better the toll of the War God’s knell,
Than this,
Malaria! Malaria!

“KOOLAWARRA.”
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