Related papers: A vanishing result for a Casson-type instanton inv…
Liko and Wesson have recently introduced a new 5-dimensional induced matter solution of the Einstein equations, a negative curvature Robertson-Walker space embedded in a Riemann flat 5-dimensional manifold. We show that this solution is a…
This paper presents a simple framework that organizes thin-wall Coleman-De Luccia instantons based on the Euclidean geometries of their original and tunneled vacuum patches. We consider all a priori allowed vacuum pairs (de Sitter or…
Kontsevich and Soibelman defined the notion of Donaldson-Thomas invariants of a 3d Calabi-Yau category with a stability condition. A family of examples of such categories can be constructed from an arbitrary cluster variety. The…
Discrete symmetries of Calabi-Yau moduli spaces, generated by isomorphic flops, constrain the instanton expansion of the 4D $\mathcal{N}=2$ Type~IIA prepotential. We show that the Coxeter-invariant functions into which the prepotential…
We present the simplest non-abelian version of Seiberg-Witten theory: Quaternionic monopoles. These monopoles are associated with Spin^h(4)-structures on 4-manifolds and form finite-dimensional moduli spaces. On a Kahler surface the…
We define a $\mathbb{Z}_2$-valued invariant for transversely-intersecting coassociative $4$-folds equipped with spin structures. Our main result shows this invariant provides an obstruction to separating two such coassociatives through a…
We survey recent results on quantum corrections to the hypermultiplet moduli space M in type IIA/B string theory on a compact Calabi-Yau threefold X, or, equivalently, the vector multiplet moduli space in type IIB/A on X x S^1. Our main…
This article surveys invariants of four-manifolds and their relation to Donaldson-Witten theory, and other topologically twisted Yang-Mills theories. The article is written for the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics,…
To every $k$-dimensional modular invariant vector space we associate a modular form on $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ of weight $2k$. We explore number theoretic properties of this form and find a sufficient condition for its vanishing which yields…
We introduce the moduli space of quasi-parabolic $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$-Higgs bundles over a compact Riemann surface $\Sigma$ and consider a natural involution, studying its fixed point locus when $\Sigma$ is $\mathbb{C} \mathbb{P}^1$ and…
Motivated by the recent D-brane constructions of world-volume monopoles and instantons, we study the supersymmetric SU(N) Yang-Mills theory on $S^1 \times R^{3+1}$, spontaneously broken by a Wilson loop. In addition to the usual N-1…
It is known that self-duality equations for multi-instantons on a line in four dimensions are equivalent to minimal surface equations in three dimensional Minkowski space. We extend this equivalence beyond the equations of motion and show…
We consider new instantons that appear as a result of accounting for quantum fluctuations. These fluctuations naturally regularize the O(4) singular solutions abandoned in Coleman's theory. In the previous works [3,4] we showed how new…
In this article the cohomological Donaldson-Thomas theory of local multibanana threefolds is computed using Descombes' hyperbolic localisation formula. The resulting expression is precisely given by the elliptic genus of the moduli space of…
We show that a U(1) instanton on non-commutative R^4 corresponds to a supersymmetric non-singular U(1) gauge field on a commutative Kahler manifold X which is a blowup of C^2 at a finite number of points. For instanton charge k the manifold…
We analyze the u-plane contribution to Donaldson invariants of a four-manifold X. For $b_2^+(X)>1$, this contribution vanishes, but for $b_2^+=1$, the Donaldson invariants must be written as the sum of a u-plane integral and an SW…
For a smooth projective toric surface we determine the Donaldson invariants and their wallcrossing in terms of the Nekrasov partition function. Using the solution of the Nekrasov conjecture math.AG/0306198, hep-th/0306238, math.AG/0409441…
New estimates are derived concerning the behavior of self-dual hamonic 2-forms on a compact Riemannian 4-manifold with non-trivial Seiberg-Witten invariants. Applications include a vanishing theorem for certain Seiberg-Witten invariants on…
Taubes proved that all compact oriented four-manifolds admit non-flat instantons. We show that there exists a non-compact oriented four-manifold having no non-flat instanton.
The goal of this paper is to give a new proof of a theorem of Meng and Taubes that identifies the Seiberg-Witten invariants of 3-manifolds with Milnor torsion. The point of view here will be that of topological quantum field theory. In…