ON THE CONNECTEDNESS OF THE MODULI SPACE OF CALABI-YAU MANIFOLDS

We show that the moduli space of all Calabi-Yau manifolds that can be realized as hypersurfaces described by a transverse polynomial in a fo ur-dimensional weighted projective space, is connected. This is achiev ed by exploiting techniques of toric geometry and the construction of Batyrev that relate Calabi-Yau manifolds to reflexive polyhedra. Taken together with the previously known fact that the moduli space of all CICY's is connected, and is moreover connected to the moduli space of the present class of Calabi-Yau manifolds (since the quintic threefold P-4[5] is both CICY and a hypersurface in a weighted P-4), this stron gly suggests that the moduli space of all simply connected Calabi-Yau manifolds is connected. It is of interest that singular Calabi-Yau man ifolds corresponding to the points in which the moduli spaces meet are often, for the present class, more singular than the conifolds that c onnect the moduli spaces of CICY's.