Related papers: GLSM's, gerbes, and Kuznetsov's homological projec…
We study orbifolds of two-dimensional topological field theories using defects. If the TFT arises as the twist of a superconformal field theory, we recover results on the Neveu-Schwarz and Ramond sectors of the orbifold theory as well as…
The issue of non-local GUT symmetry breaking is addressed in the context of open string model building. We study ZNxZM' orbifolds with all the GUT-breaking orbifold elements acting freely, as rotations accompanied by translations in the…
We study two-dimensional topological gauge theories with gauge group equal to the symmetric group $S_n$ and their string theory duals. The simplest such theory is the topological quantum field theory of principal $S_n$ fiber bundles. Its…
We review efforts in string model building, focusing on the heterotic orbifold compactifications. We survey how one can, starting from an explicit string theory, obtain models which resemble Nature. These models exhibit the standard model…
The construction of mirror symmetry in the heterotic string is reviewed in the context of Calabi-Yau and Landau-Ginzburg compactifications. This framework has the virtue of providing a large subspace of the configuration space of the…
Superconductors are the only experimentally accessible systems with spontaneously broken gauge symmetries which support topologically nontrivial defects, namely string defects. We propose two experiments whose aim is the observation of the…
S-folds are generalizations of orientifolds in type IIB string theory, such that the geometric identifications are accompanied by non-trivial S-duality transformations. They were recently used by Garcia-Etxebarria and Regalado to provide…
We discuss duality and mirror symmetry phenomena of Landau-Ginzburg orbifolds considering their elliptic genera. Under the duality (or mirror) transform performed by orbifoldizing the Landau-Ginzburg model via some discrete group of the…
The partition functions of refined topological strings(A-models) are computed, which give rise to the circle-compactified five-dimensional supersymmetric linear quiver gauge theories in generic (not necessarily self-dual) Omega backgrounds.…
A popular way to study N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories is to realize them geometrically in string theory, as suspended brane constructions, D-branes wrapping cycles in Calabi-Yau manifolds, orbifolds, and otherwise. Among the applications…
In this article we review the conditions for the validity of the gauge/gravity correspondence in both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric string models. We start by reminding what happens in type IIB theory on the orbifolds C^2/Z_2 and…
We study two-dimensional ${\cal N}=(2,2)$ gauge theory and its dualized system in terms of complex (linear) superfields and their alternatives. Although this technique itself is not new, we can obtain a new model, the so-called…
Geometric structures and dualities arise naturally in quantum field theories and string theory. In fact, these tools become very useful when studying strong coupling effects, where standard perturbative techniques can no longer be used. In…
In this work we attempt to bridge the gap between heterotic orbifold models and Calabi-Yau compactifications using gauged linear sigma models (GLSMs) with (2,0) worldsheet supersymmetry. We associate a specific GLSM to a heterotic orbifold…
We review the theory and phenomenology of effective supergravity theories based on orbifold compactifications of the weakly-coupled heterotic string. In particular, we consider theories in which the four-dimensional theory displays target…
In this article we briefly survey some developments in gauged linear sigma models (GLSMs). Specifically, we give an overview of progress on constructions of GLSMs for various geometries, GLSM-based computations of quantum cohomology,…
In this paper we apply supersymmetric localization to study gauged linear sigma models (GLSMs) describing supermanifold target spaces. We use the localization method to show that A-twisted GLSM correlation functions for certain…
The 't Hooft expansion of SU(N) Chern-Simons theory on $S^3$ is proposed to be exactly dual to the topological closed string theory on the $S^2$ blow up of the conifold geometry. The $B$-field on the $S^2$ has magnitude $Ng_s=\lambda$, the…
String-string duality dictates that type IIA strings compactified on a K3 surface acquire non-abelian gauge groups for certain values of the K3 moduli. We argue that, contrary to expectation, the theories for which such enhanced gauge…
We consider gauged linear sigma models (GLSM) on $\mathbb{RP}^2$, obtained from a parity projection of $S^2$. The theories admit squashing deformation, much like GLSM on $S^2$, which allows us to interpret the partition function as the…