Related papers: Expanding F-Theory
We give model-independent arguments, valid in nearly any number of spacetime dimensions, that topological solitons and instantons satisfy Bogomol'nyi-type bounds and, when these bounds are saturated, satisfy self-duality equations. In the…
The analysis of the worldvolume effective actions of the M-theory Kaluza-Klein monopole and 9-brane suggests that it should be possible to describe non-abelian configurations of M2-branes or M5-branes if the M2-branes are transverse to the…
We investigate the effective worldvolume theories of branes in a background given by (the bosonic sector of) 10-dimensional massive IIA supergravity (``massive branes'') and their M-theoretic origin. In the case of the solitonic 5-brane of…
We study compactifications of string theory and M-theory to six dimensions with background fluxes. The nonzero fluxes lead to additional mass parameters. We derive the S- and T-duality rules for the corresponding (massive) supergravity…
We consider, at the linearized level, the superspace formulation of lower-dimensional F-theory. In particular, we describe the embedding of 3D Type II supergravity of the superstring, or 4D, N=1 supergravity of M-theory, into the…
Geometrically non-Higgsable seven-branes carry gauge sectors that cannot be broken by complex structure deformation, and there is growing evidence that such configurations are typical in F-theory. We study strongly coupled physics…
We examine the vacuum structure of 4D effective theories of moduli fields in spacetime compactifications with quantized background fluxes. Imposing the no-scale structure for the volume deformations, we numerically investigate the…
Building on earlier work, we construct linear sigma models for strings on curved spaces in the presence of branes. Our models include an extremely general class of brane-worldvolume gauge field configurations. We explain in an accessible…
In string theory D-branes can be classified by the RR-charge they carry. In the simplest case the quantized RR-charge takes values in K-theory of the spacetime manifold. However, if the D-brane worldvolume is not spin^c or if there is a…
Three-dimensional conformal theories with six supersymmetries and SU(4) R-symmetry describing stacks of M2-branes are here proposed to be related to generalized Jordan triple systems. Writing the four-index structure constants in an…
It has recently been argued that codimension-two braneworlds offer a promising line of attack on the cosmological constant problem, since in such models the Hubble rate is not directly related to the brane tension. We point out challenges…
In string theory it is known that abelian isometries in the sigma model lead to target space duality. We generalize this duality to backgrounds with non--abelian isometries. The procedure we follow consists of gauging the isometries of the…
The $R^2 F^{2g-2}$ terms of Type IIA strings on Calabi-Yau 3-folds, which are given by the corresponding topological string amplitudes (a worldsheet instanton sum for all genera), are shown to have a simple M-theory interpretation. In…
We present an action for a six-dimensional superconformal field theory containing a non-abelian tensor multiplet. All of the ingredients of this action have been available in the literature. We bring these pieces together by choosing the…
Motivated by the Moore-Segal axioms for an open-closed topological field theory, we consider planar open string topological field theories. We rigorously define a category 2Thick whose objects and morphisms can be thought of as open strings…
We develop a systematic algorithm to construct, classify and study exact solutions of type II A/B supergravity which are time--dependent and homogeneous and hence represent candidate cosmological backgrounds. Using the formalism of solvable…
We show that B-model topological strings on local Calabi-Yau threefolds are large N duals of matrix models, which in the planar limit naturally give rise to special geometry. These matrix models directly compute F-terms in an associated N=1…
We review some aspects of the construction of self-dual gravity and the associated field theory of ${\cal N}=2$ strings in terms of two-dimensional sigma models at large $N$. The theory is defined through a large $N$ Wess-Zumino-Witten…
In this paper we examine a certain threebrane solution of type IIB string theory whose long-wavelength dynamics are those of a supersymmetric gauge theory in 2+1 continuous and 1 discrete dimension, all of infinite extent. Low-energy…
The matrix model formulation of M-theory can be generalized by compactification to ten-dimensional type II string theory, formulated in the infinite momentum frame. Both the type IIA and IIB string theories can be formulated in this way. In…