Non-minimal singularities and the four-dimensional F-theory landscape

F-theory, a geometric formulation of strongly-coupled type IIB string vacua in terms of singular elliptic Calabi-Yau spaces, arguably provides the broadest available portrait of the landscape of Standard Model-like constructions in string theory. However, most of our understanding of F-theory has emerged from the mathematical analysis of ``minimal’’ singularities, whereas the physics of severe ’’non-minimal’’ singularities and their role in model building has remained obscure. I will discuss recent and upcoming work exploring the significance of non-minimal singularities in four-dimensional F-theory compactifications, in particular their interplay with background gauge flux profiles and chiral matter fields, and how these mysterious singularities are reshaping our understanding of the four-dimensional string landscape.