Related papers: Stringy instanton corrections to N=2 gauge couplin…
We study the classical geometry associated to fractional D3-branes of type IIB string theory on R^4/Z_2 which provide the gravitational dual for N=2 super Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. As one can expect from the lack of conformal…
We discuss the duality between two type I compactifications to four dimensions and an heterotic construction with spontaneous breaking of the N=4 supersymmetry to N=2. This duality allows us to gain insight into the non-perturbative…
We show how Higgs mechanism for non-abelian N=2 gauge theories in four dimensions is geometrically realized in the context of type II strings as transitions among compactifications of Calabi-Yau threefolds. We use this result and T-duality…
We describe a new class of instanton effects in string compactifications that preserve only N=1 supersymmetry in four dimensions. As is well-known, worldsheet or brane instantons in such a background can sometimes contribute to an effective…
We study the instanton effective action in deformed four-dimensional N=2 and N=4 super Yang-Mills (SYM) theories. These deformed gauge theories are defined on the D-brane world-volume in the presence of constant, self-dual Ramond-Ramond…
We give a direct microscopic derivation of the F-theory background that corresponds to four D7 branes of type I' theory by taking into account the D-instanton contributions to the emission of the axio-dilaton field in the directions…
We propose a manifestly U-duality invariant modular form for the D^6 R^4 interaction in the effective action of type IIB string theory compactified on T^2. It receives perturbative contributions upto genus three, as well as non-perturbative…
We investigate the connections between four-dimensional, N=2 M-theory vacua constructed as orbifolds of type II, heterotic, and type I strings. All these models have the same massless spectrum, which contains an equal number of vector…
We investigate the non-perturbative equivalence of some heterotic/type IIA dual pairs with N=2 supersymmetry. We compute R2-like corrections, both on the type IIA and on the heterotic side. The coincidence of their perturbative part…
We study ${\cal F}^4$-threshold corrections in an eight dimensional S-dual pair of string theories, as a prototype of dual string vacua with sixteen supercharges. We show that the orbifold CFT description of D-string instantons gives rise…
Using a $U$-duality symmetry of type II compactification on $T^4$ represented by triality action on the $T$-duality group, and applying the adiabatic argument we construct dual pairs of type II compactifications in lower dimensions. The…
We present new evidence for the conjecture that BPS correlation functions in the N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories are described by an auxiliary two dimensional conformal field theory. We study deformations of the N=2 supersymmetric gauge…
In this paper, which is a revised version of the author's PhD thesis, we analyze two different applications of string theory. In the first part, we focus on four dimensional compactifications of Type II string theories preserving N=1…
In this thesis we will discuss various aspects of noncommutative geometry and compactified Little-String theories. First we will give an introduction to the use of noncommutative geometry in string theory. Thereafter we will present a proof…
I use the universal instanton formalism to discuss quantum effects in the open-closed topological string theory of a Calabi-Yau A-model, in the presence of a multiply-wrapped `Floer' D-brane. This gives a precise meaning (up to the issue of…
We construct two-dimensional N=(2,2) supersymmetric gauge theories with orthogonal and symplectic groups using branes and orientifold planes in Type IIA string theory. A number of puzzles regarding the construction, including the effect of…
String instanton effects in Higgs physics are discussed through a type IIA model based on T^{6}/(Z^{2}\times Z^{'2}) orentifold compactifaction. By inclusion of rigid E2-branes, the model exhibits a MSSM-like spectrum, as well as extra mu…
We study five-dimensional minimally supersymmetric gauge theory compactified on a torus down to three dimensions, and its embedding into string/M-theory using geometric engineering. The moduli space on the Coulomb branch is hyperkaehler…
We construct new supersymmetric NS(-1)-branes supported by the $SU(2)\times SU(2)$ 't Hooft instantons in ${\cal N}=1$, $D=4$ supergravity. We show that although the magnetic 3-form string flux is invariant under the variation of instanton…
Non-perturbative superpotential cross-couplings between visible sector matter and K\"ahler moduli can lead to significant flavour-changing neutral currents in compactifications of type IIB string theory. Here, we compute corrections to…