I discuss the role of quantum effects in the phenomenology of effective supergravity theories from compactification of the weakly coupled heterotic string. An accurate incorporation of these effects requires a regularization procedure that respects local supersymmetry and BRST invariance and that retains information associated with the cut-off scale, which has physical meaning in an effective theory. I briefly outline the Pauli–Villars regularization procedure, describe some applications, and comment on what remains to be done to fully define the effective quantum field theory.

Pauli-Villars regularization of Yang-Mills theories and of supergravity theories is outlined, with an emphasis on BRST invariance. Applications to phenomenology and the anomaly structure of supergravity are discussed.