Related papers: TASI lectures on complex structures
These are significantly expanded lecture notes for the author's minicourse at MSRI in June 2012, as published in the MSRI lecture note series, with some minor additional corrections. In these notes, we give an example-motivated review of…
A new class of noncommutative $k$-algebras (for $k$ an algebraically closed field) is defined and shown to contain some important examples of quantum groups. To each such algebra, a first order theory is assigned describing models of a…
A novel algebraic topology approach to supersymmetry (SUSY) and symmetry breaking in quantum field and quantum gravity theories is presented with a view to developing a wide range of physical applications. These include: controlled nuclear…
These lectures review the main motivations for future high-energy colliders, focusing on the understanding of electroweak symmetry breaking and on the search for physics beyond the Standard Model. The open questions and the challenges are…
We give an introductory review of topological strings and their application to various aspects of superstrings and supersymmetric gauge theories. This review includes developing the necessary mathematical background for topological strings,…
We develop some computational methods for the integrals over the 3-chains on the compact Calabi-Yau 3-folds that plays a prominent role in the analysis of the topological B-model in the context of the open mirror symmetry. We discuss such…
We consider type IIA string theory on a Calabi-Yau 2-fold with D6-branes wrapping 2-cycles in the 2-fold. We find a complete set of conditions on the supergravity solution for any given wrapped brane configuration in terms of SU(2)…
In these lectures we start with a pedagogical introduction of the properties of open and closed superstrings and then, using the open/closed string duality, we construct the boundary state that provides the description of the maximally…
The purpose of this manuscript is to review my recent activity on three main research topics. The first concerns the nature of low temperature amorphous solids and their relation with the spin glass transition in a magnetic field. This is…
A certain class of $A$-branes in mirrors of toric Calabi-Yau threefolds can be described through the framework of foliations. This allows to develop an explicit description of their moduli spaces based on a cell decomposition, with strata…
Configurations of two or more branes wrapping different homology cycles of space-time are considered and the amount of supersymmetry preserved is analysed, generalising the analysis of multiple branes in flat space. For K3…
This review is devoted to strings and branes. Firstly, perturbative string theory is introduced. The appearance of various types of branes is discussed. These include orbifold fixed planes, D-branes and orientifold planes. The connection to…
Intersecting branes have been the subject of string model building for several years. This work introduces in detail the toroidal and Z_N-orientifolds, where the main discussion employs the picture of intersecting D6-branes. The derivation…
We discuss the realization of $2d$ $(0,2)$ gauge theories in terms of branes focusing on Brane Brick Models, which are T-dual to D1-branes probing toric Calabi-Yau 4-folds. These brane setups fully encode the infinite class of $2d$ $(0,2)$…
This note is an informal presentation of spin glasses and of the Parisi formula. We also discuss some models for which the Parisi formula is not well-understood, and some partial progress that relies upon a connection with partial…
We review recent attempts to try to combine global issues of string compactifications, like moduli stabilisation, with local issues, like semi-realistic D-brane constructions. We list the main problems encountered, and outline a possible…
An infinite class of $4d$ $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theories can be engineered on the worldvolume of D3-branes probing toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds. This kind of setup has multiple applications, ranging from the gauge/gravity correspondence to…
In this talk, I review how four dimensional stationary supergravity solutions that are more general than spherically symmetric black holes emerge naturally in the low energy description of BPS states in type II Calabi-Yau compactifications.…
In this paper we study a special class of Calabi-Yau algebras (in the sense of Ginzburg): those arising as the fundamental group algebras of acyclic manifolds. Motivated partly by the usefulness of `superpotential descriptions' in motivic…
This is a series of remedial lectures on open and unoriented strings for the heterotic string generation. The particular focus is on the interesting features that arise under T-duality---D-branes and orientifolds. The final lecture…