Related papers: Instantons, Topological Strings and Enumerative Ge…
We review the string/gauge theory duality relating Chern-Simons theory and topological strings on noncompact Calabi-Yau manifolds, as well as its mathematical implications for knot invariants and enumerative geometry.
In this expository review we discuss various aspects of gauge theory. While the focus is on mathematics, wherever possible we make contact with theoretical high energy physics. Particular emphasis is placed on instantons and monopoles,…
We use the exact instanton expansion to illustrate various string characteristics of noncommutative gauge theory in two dimensions. We analyse the spectrum of the model and present some evidence in favour of Hagedorn and fractal behaviours.…
We study the instanton counting in four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories on the blow-up of $\mathbb{C}^2$: we start by formulating the instanton moduli space as a quiver variety, which we regularise by introducing…
We introduce and study tetrahedron instantons, which can be realized in string theory by D$1$-branes probing a configuration of intersecting D$7$-branes in flat spacetime with a proper constant $B$-field. Physically they capture instantons…
We survey some of the AGT relations between N=2 gauge theories in four dimensions and geometric representations of symmetry algebras of two-dimensional conformal field theory on the equivariant cohomology of their instanton moduli spaces.…
We calculate instanton corrections to three dimensional gauge theories with N=4 and N=8 supersymmetry and SU(n) gauge groups. The N=4 results give new information about the moduli space of n BPS SU(2) monopoles, including the leading order…
We study a system of fractional D3 and D(-1) branes in a Ramond-Ramond closed string background and show that it describes the gauge instantons of N=2 super Yang-Mills theory and their interactions with the graviphoton of N=2 supergravity.…
An enumerative invariant theory in Algebraic Geometry, Differential Geometry, or Representation Theory, is the study of invariants which 'count' $\tau$-(semi)stable objects $E$ with fixed topological invariants $[E]=\alpha$ in some…
We study the representation theory of the nested instantons quiver presented in [1], which describes a particular class of surface defects in four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories. We show that the moduli space of its stable…
All five-dimensional non-abelian gauge theories have a $U(1)_I$ global symmetry associated with instantonic particles. We describe an obstruction to coupling $U(1)_I$ to a classical background gauge field that occurs whenever the theory has…
We review work done over the last years on the macroscopic and microscopic entropy of supersymmetric black holes in fourdimensional N=2 supergravity and in N=2 compactifications of string theory and M-theory. Particular emphasis is put on…
We review recent progress concerning the quantum entropy of a large class of supersymmetric black holes in string theory both from the microscopic and macroscopic sides. On the microscopic field theory side, we present new results…
The correlation functions of supersymmetric gauge theories on a four-manifold X can sometimes be expressed in terms of topological invariants of X. We show how the existence of superconformal fixed points in the gauge theory can provide…
Symplectic invariants introduced in math-ph/0702045 can be computed for an arbitrary spectral curve. For some examples of spectral curves, those invariants can solve loop equations of matrix integrals, and many problems of enumerative…
We study a class of torsion-free sheaves on complex projective spaces which generalize the much studied mathematical instanton bundles. Instanton sheaves can be obtained as cohomologies of linear monads and are shown to be semistable if its…
We continue our study of the noncommutative algebraic and differential geometry of a particular class of deformations of toric varieties, focusing on aspects pertinent to the construction and enumeration of noncommutative instantons on…
We use string duality to describe instanton induced spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in string compactifications with additional background fields. Dynamical supersymmetry breaking by space-time instantons in the heterotic string theory…
We use the gauged linear sigma model introduced by Witten to calculate instanton expansions for correlation functions in topological sigma models with target space a toric variety $V$ or a Calabi--Yau hypersurface $M \subset V$. In the…
Many quantum field theories in one, two and four dimensions possess remarkable limits in which the instantons are present, the anti-instantons are absent, and the perturbative corrections are reduced to one-loop. We analyze the…