Related papers: String Connections and Chern-Simons Theory
We construct a 2+1 dimensional classical gauge theory on manifolds with spin structure whose action is a refinement of the Atiyah-Patodi- Singer eta-invariant for twisted Dirac operators. We investigate the properties of the Lagrangian…
We summarize the main results of our recent investigation of bundles of real Clifford modules and briefly touch on some applications to string theory and supergravity.
We give a short review of our construction of a higher-loop perturbative invariant of framed 3-manifolds, generalizing the perturbative Chern-Simons invariant of Witten-Axelrod-Singer, associated to an acyclic flat connection, to an…
As of today there exist consistent, gauge-invariant string field theories describing all string theories: bosonic open and closed strings, open superstrings, heterotic strings and type II strings. The construction of these theories require…
This talk begins with some history and basic facts about string theory and its connections with strong interactions. Comparisons of stacks of Dirichlet branes with curved backgrounds produced by them are used to motivate the AdS/CFT…
The exact free energy of SU($N$) Chern-Simons theory at level $k$ is expanded in powers of $(N+k)^{-2}.$ This expansion keeps rank-level duality manifest, and simplifies as $k$ becomes large, keeping $N$ fixed (or vice versa)---this is the…
The possible tensor constructions of open string theories are analyzed from first principles. To this end the algebraic framework of open string field theory is clarified, including the role of the homotopy associative A_\infty algebra, the…
We give a direct calculation of the curvature of the Hitchin connection, in geometric quantization on a symplectic manifold, using only differential geometric techniques. In particular, we establish that the curvature acts as a first-order…
We construct Chern-Simons bundles as $\mathrm{Aut}^{+}P$-equivariant $U(1)$ -bundles with connection over the space of connections $\mathcal{A}_{P}$ on a principal $G$-bundle $P\rightarrow M$. We show that the Chern-Simons bundles are…
In this paper, nonholonomic gerbes will be naturally derived for manifolds and vector bundle spaces provided with nonintegrable distributions (in brief, nonholonomic spaces). An important example of such gerbes is related to distributions…
We explore the dynamics of three-dimensional Chern-Simons gauge theories with N=2 supersymmetry and matter in the fundamental and adjoint representations of the gauge group. Realizing the gauge theories of interest in a setup of threebranes…
Complex Chern-Simons bundles are line bundles with connection, originating in the study of quantization of moduli spaces of flat connections with complex gauge groups. In this paper we introduce and study these bundles in the families…
Superstrings and topological strings with supermanifolds as target space play a central role in the recent developments in string theory. Nevertheless the rules for higher-genus computations are still unclear or guessed in analogy with…
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…
Let $\pi\colon P\to M$ be a principal bundle and $p$ an invariant polynomial of degree r on the Lie algebra of the structure group. The theory of Chern-Simons differential characters is exploited to define an homology map $\chi^{k} :…
In previous work with Schoenfeld, we considered a string-type chain complex of curves on surfaces, with differential given by resolving crossings, and computed the homology of this complex for discs. In this paper we consider the…
3-dimensional BF theory with gauge group $G$ (= Chern-Simons theory with non-compact gauge group $TG$) is a deceptively simple yet subtle topological gauge theory. Formally, its partition function is a sum/integral over the moduli space…
In this paper three dimensional higher spin theories in the Chern-Simons formulation with gauge algebra $sl(N,R)$ are investigated which have Lifshitz symmetry with scaling exponent $z$. We show that an explicit map exists for all $z$ and…
Some gauge theories with Coulomb branches exhibit singularities in perturbation theory, which are usually resolved by nonperturbative physics. In string theory this corresponds to the resolution of timelike singularities near the core of…
We study the large N limit of SO(N) and Sp(N) Chern-Simons gauge theory on S^3 and identify its closed string dual as topological strings on an orientifold of the small resolution of the conifold. Applications to large N dualities for N=1…