Related papers: A Walk Through Superstring Theory With an Applicat…
We propose a universal geometric formulation of gauged supergravity in terms of a twisted doubled torus. We focus on string theory (M-theory) reductions with generalized Scherk-Schwarz twists residing in the O(n,n) (E_{7(7)}) duality group.…
Synopsis: (i) how superstring theories are unified by M-theory; (ii) how superstring and supermembrane properties follow from the D=10 and D=11 supersymmetry algebras; (iii) how D=10 and D=11 supergravity theories determine the strong…
It is argued that D=10 type II strings and M-theory in D=11 have D-5 branes and 9-branes that are not standard p-branes coupled to anti-symmetric tensors. The global charges in a D-dimensional theory of gravity consist of a momentum $P_M$…
String theory implies that field theories containing gravity are in a certain sense `products' of gauge theories. We make this product structure explicit up to two loops for the relatively simple case of N=8 supergravity four-point…
Based on a generalization of the string theoretic concept of D-brane probe, we propose a new approach to large N gauge theories which makes the holographic properties manifest. For any gauge theory, we define from first principles an…
We study junctions consisting of confining strings in N=1 supersymmetric large N gauge theories by means of the gauge/gravity correspondence. We realize these junctions as D-brane configurations in infrared geometries of the…
These notes give a pedagogical introduction to D-branes and Matrix theory. The development of the material is based on super Yang-Mills theory, which is the low-energy field theory describing multiple D-branes. The main goal of these notes…
We derive leading terms in the effective actions describing the coupling of bulk supergravity fields to systems of arbitrary numbers of Dp-branes and D(p+4)-branes in type IIA/IIB string theory. We use these actions to investigate the…
We review some aspects of the implementation of spacetime symmetries in noncommutative field theories, emphasizing their origin in string theory and how they may be used to construct theories of gravitation. The geometry of canonical…
We develop and study a D-brane realization of 4D N=2 super Yang-Mills theory. It is a type IIB string theory compactified on R^6\times K3 and containing parallel 7-branes. It can also be regarded as a subsector of Vafa's F-theory…
We discuss aspects of global and gauged symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity, focusing on discrete gauge symmetries. An effective Lagrangian description of $\Z_p$ gauge theories shows that they are associated with an…
We propose a method for constructing pairs of nonsupersymmetric gauge theories related by S-duality. Starting from a known S-duality of supersymmetric theories realized on the worldvolume of D3 branes in type IIB string theory, a new…
This article contains an overview of some recent attempts at understanding supergravity and string duals of four dimensional gauge theories using the AdS/CFT correspondence. We discuss the general philosophy underlying the various ways to…
We construct and analyze D-branes in superstring theories in even dimensions less than ten. The backgrounds under study are supersymmetric R^{d-1,1} \times SL(2,R)_k / U(1) where the level of the supercoset is tuned such as to provide bona…
F-theory is the theory proposed to incorporate superstring theory in a way such that STU dualities are manifest. A useful description uses a current superalgebra on a higher-dimensional worldvolume, following from an action for a selfdual…
The presence of a constant background antisymmetric tensor for open strings or D-branes forces the space-time coordinates to be noncommutative. This effect is equivalent to replacing ordinary products in the effective theory by the deformed…
We study the three-pronged strings (three string junctions) from the point of view of D-string worldsheet gauge theory. We justify interpreting kink solutions in the 2-dimensional gauge theory as pronged strings by examining BPS energy…
We analyze the D9-D9bar system in type IIB string theory using Dp-brane probes. It is shown that the world-volume theory of the probe Dp-brane contains two-dimensional and four-dimensional QED in the cases with p=1 and p=3, respectively,…
We review some recent results on the extension of the gauge/gravity correspondence to include matter in the fundamental representation by adding D-branes to the supergravity backgrounds. Working in the quenched approximation, in which the…
We test a variety of blocking and smearing algorithms for constructing glueball and string wave-functionals, and find some with much improved overlaps onto the lightest states. We use these algorithms to obtain improved results on the…