String-inspired special grand unification

Abstract We discuss a grand unified theory (GUT) based on an $SO(32)$ GUT gauge group broken to its subgroups including a special subgroup. In the $SO(32)$ GUT on the six-dimensional (6D) orbifold space $M^4\times T^2/\mathbb{Z}_2$, one generation of the standard model fermions can be embedded into a 6D bulk Weyl fermion in the $SO(32)$ vector representation. We show that for a three-generation model, all the 6D and 4D gauge anomalies in the bulk and on the fixed points are canceled out without exotic chiral fermions at low energies.