Cleaver, Gerald B.Moore, Douglas G., 1988-2014-06-112014-06-112014-052014-06-11http://hdl.handle.net/2104/9090A software framework is developed to systematically construct a particular class of weakly coupled free fermionic heterotic string models, dubbed gauge models. In their purest form, these models are maximally supersymmetric (N = 4), and thus only contain superpartners in their matter sector. This feature makes their systematic construction particularly efficient, and they are thus useful in their simplicity. We first provide a brisk introduction to heterotic strings and the spin-structure construction of free fermionic models. Three systematic surveys are then presented, and we conjecture that these surveys are exhaustive modulo redundancies. Finally we present a collection of metaheuristic algorithms for searching the landscape for models with a user-specified spectrum of phenomenological properties, e.g. gauge group and number of spacetime supersymmetries. Such algorithms provide the groundwork for extended generic free fermionic surveys.en-USBaylor University theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact librarywebmaster@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.String theory.Landscape surveys.Heterotic strings.Free fermionic.Gauge models.The gauge framework.ThesisWorldwide access