Related papers: Five-Branes in M-Theory and a Two-Dimensional Geom…
In Part I, we extend our analysis in [arXiv:0807.1107], and show that a mathematically conjectured geometric Langlands duality for complex surfaces in [1], and its generalizations -- which relate some cohomology of the moduli space of…
Montonen-Olive duality implies that the categories of A-branes on the moduli spaces of Higgs bundles on a Riemann surface C for a pair of Langlands-dual groups are equivalent. We reformulate this as a statement about categories of B-branes…
We further explore the implications of our framework in [arXiv:1301.1977, arXiv:1309.4775], and physically derive, from the principle that the spacetime BPS spectra of string-dual M-theory compactifications ought to be equivalent, (i) a 5d…
We study the M-theory five-brane wrapped around the Seiberg-Witten curves for pure classical and exceptional groups given by an integrable system. Generically, the D4-branes arise as cuts that collapse to points after compactifying the…
The Langlands Program was launched in the late 60s with the goal of relating Galois representations and automorphic forms. In recent years a geometric version has been developed which leads to a mysterious duality between certain categories…
We study F-theory duals of heterotic line bundle models on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds. These models necessarily contain NS5-branes which are geometrised in the dual F-theory compactifications. We initiate a systematic study…
Geometric transitions between Calabi-Yau manifolds have proven to be a powerful tool in exploring the intricate and interconnected vacuum structure of string compactifications. However, their role in N=1, 4-dimensional string…
We argue that G_2 manifolds for M-theory admitting string theory Calabi-Yau duals are fibered by coassociative submanifolds. Dual theories are constructed using the moduli space of M5-brane fibers as target space. Mirror symmetry and…
We show how the topological string partition function, which is known to capture the degeneracies of a gas of BPS spinning M2-branes in M-theory compactified to 5 dimensions, is related to a 4-dimensional D-brane system that consists of…
This submission is a PhD dissertation. Kapustin and Witten conjectured that there is a mirror symmetry relation between the hyperk\"ahler structures on certain Higgs bundle moduli spaces. As a consequence, they conjecture an equivalence…
We consider the topological and geometric structures associated with cohomological and homological objects in M-theory. For the latter, we have M2-branes and M5-branes, the analysis of which requires the underlying spacetime to admit a…
We explain how multiplicative bundle gerbes over a compact, connected and simple Lie group $G$ lead to a certain fusion category of equivariant bundle gerbe modules given by pre-quantizable Hamiltonian $LG$-manifolds arising from…
The $\mathcal{A}$-theory takes U-duality symmetry as a guiding principle, with the SL(5) U-duality symmetry being described as the world-volume theory of a 5-brane. Furthermore, by unifying the 6-dimensional world-volume Lorentz symmetry…
We construct intersecting D-brane configurations that encode the gauge groups and field content of dual N=4 supersymmetric gauge theories in three dimensions. The duality which exchanges the Coulomb and Higgs branches and the…
We describe a duality relation between configurations of M5-branes in M-theory and type IIB theory on Taub-NUT geometries with NSNS and RR 3-form field strength fluxes. The flux parameters are controlled by the angles between the M5-brane…
We discuss various dual {\it pairs} of $M$-theory compactifications. Each pair consists of a compactification in which the two-brane plays the crucial role in relation to a string theory and a compactification in which the five-brane takes…
The effective action for five-dimensional heterotic M-theory in the presence of five-branes is systematically derived from Horava-Witten theory coupled to an M5-brane world-volume theory. This leads to a five-dimensional N=1 gauged…
We present a survey of the calibrated geometries arising in the study of the local singularity structure of supersymmetric fivebranes in M-theory. We pay particular attention to the geometries of 4-planes in eight dimensions, for which we…
Decoupling limits of physical interest occur in regions of space--time where the string coupling diverges. This is illustrated in the celebrated example of five-branes. There are several ways to overcome this strong-coupling problem. We…
We consider the realization of four-dimensional theories with N = 2 supersymmetry as M-theory configurations including a five-brane. Our emphasis is on the spectrum of massive states, that are realized as two-branes ending on the…