Related papers: Geometry As Seen By String Theory
The topic of cosmic strings provides a bridge between the physics of the very small and the very large. They are predicted by some unified theories of particle interactions. If they exist, they may help to explain some of the largest-scale…
These notes discuss the emergence of the Polyakov action from the low-energy limit of an array of relativistic particles with harmonic interactions, which is suggestive of a ``microscopic'' description of string theory.
A survey of new geometric flows motivated by string theories is provided. Their settings can range from complex geometry to almost-complex geometry to symplectic geometry. From the PDE viewpoint, many of them can be viewed as intermediate…
In addition to being a prime candidate for a fundamental unified theory of all interactions in nature, string theory provides a natural setting to understand gauge field theories. This is linked to the concept of "D-branes": extended,…
In this paper we study the string topology (\'a la Chas-Sullivan) of an orbifold. We define the string homology ring product at the level of the free loop space of the classifying space of an orbifold. We study its properties (introducing…
We review recent work which has significantly sharpened our geometric understanding and interpretation of the moduli space of certain $N$=2 superconformal field theories. This has resolved some important issues in mirror symmetry and has…
Aspects of duality and mirror symmetry in string theory are discussed. We emphasize, through examples, the importance of loop spaces for a deeper understanding of the geometrical origin of dualities in string theory. Moreover we show that…
You may have seen the words "topological recursion" mentioned in papers on matrix models, Hurwitz theory, Gromov-Witten theory, topological string theory, knot theory, topological field theory, JT gravity, cohomological field theory, free…
This paper tentatively conjectures a possible physical picture that may help explain links between quantum field theories and string theories. A correspondence might occur if the stringy parameters $\tau $ and $\sigma_i $ are interpreted as…
If the vacuum manifold of a field theory has the appropriate topological structure, the theory admits topological structures analogous to the D-branes of string theory, in which defects of one dimension terminate on other defects of higher…
String theory is the leading contemporary framework to explore the synthesis of quantum mechanics with gravity. String phenomenology aims to study string theory while maintaining contact with observational data. The fermionic $Z_2\times…
These notes are based on lectures given at the Les Houches Summer School in 2011, which was centered on the general topic "Theoretical Physics to face the challenge of LHC". In these lectures I reviewed a number of topics in the field of…
Structures in low-dimensional topology and low-dimensional geometry -- often combined with ideas from (quantum) field theory -- can explain and inspire concepts in algebra and in representation theory and their categorified versions. We…
We study a $U(N)$-invariant vector+matrix chain with the color structure of a lattice gauge theory with quarks and interpret it as a theory of open andclosed strings with target space $\Z$. The string field theory is constructed as a…
This is the written version of a set of introductory lectures on string theory.
An attempt to construct a cosmological scenario directly from string theory is made. Cosmological string theory was presented by Antoniadis, Bachas, Ellis and Nanopoulos. They also expect loop effects on cosmological string theory. In this…
Recent progress in string theory has led to a reformulation of quantum-group polynomial invariants for knots and links into new polynomial invariants whose coefficients can be understood in topological terms. We describe in detail how to…
Based on lectures delivered at (1) the AMS meeting at USC, Nov. 1992 (2) Conference on Quantum Aspects of Black Holes, ITP, UC- Santa %Barbara, %%June 1993. (3) 25th Summer Institute, Ecole Normale Superieure, % Paris, Aug. 1992. To appear…
This is a summary of a talk based on hep-th/9305139 and presented at the SUSY-93 International Workshop. We study infinite dimensional unbroken gauge symmetries which arise when time is toroidally compactified in string theory.
We analyze the topological nature of $c=1$ string theory at the self--dual radius. We find that it admits two distinct topological field theory structures characterized by two different puncture operators. We show it first in the…