Quantum Foam and Topological Strings
High Energy Physics - Theory
2009-07-09 v2
Abstract
We find an interpretation of the recent connection found between topological strings on Calabi-Yau threefolds and crystal melting: Summing over statistical mechanical configuration of melting crystal is equivalent to a quantum gravitational path integral involving fluctuations of Kahler geometry and topology. We show how the limit shape of the melting crystal emerges as the average geometry and topology of the quantum foam at the string scale. The geometry is classical at large length scales, modified to a smooth limit shape dictated by mirror geometry at string scale and is a quantum foam at area scales g_s \alpha'.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.hep-th/0312022,
title = {Quantum Foam and Topological Strings},
author = {A. Iqbal and N. Nekrasov and A. Okounkov and C. Vafa},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-th/0312022},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
55 pages