Related papers: Orientifolds and the Refined Topological String
I discuss tree-level amplitudes in cubic topological string field theory, showing that a certain family of gauge conditions leads to an A-infty algebra of tree-level string products which define a potential describing the dynamics of…
In 2008, Aharony, Bergman, Jafferis, and Maldacena (ABJM) discovered a three-dimensional Chern-Simons theory with N = 6 supersymmetry and conjectured that in a certain limit, this theory is dual to type IIA string theory on AdS4xCP3. Since…
N = 6 superconformal Chern-Simons theory was proposed as gauge theory dual to Type IIA string theory on AdS4*CP3. We study integrability of the theory from conformal dimension spectrum of single trace operators at planar limit. At strong `t…
We revisit Dimofte-Gaiotto-Gukov's construction of 3d gauge theories associated to 3-manifolds with a torus boundary. After clarifying their construction from a viewpoint of compactification of a 6d $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ theory of $A_1$-type…
Certain two dimensional topological field theories can be interpreted as string theory backgrounds in which the usual decoupling of ghosts and matter does not hold. Like ordinary string models, these can sometimes be given space-time…
We study the framing dependence of the Wilson loop observable of U(N) Chern-Simons gauge theory at large N. Using proposed geometrical large N dual, this leads to a direct computation of certain topological string amplitudes in a closed…
We investigate the following three consistency conditions for constructing string theories on orbifolds: i) the invariance of the energy-momentum tensors under twist operators, ii) the duality of amplitudes and iii) modular invariance of…
We study the quantum Riemann-Hilbert problems determined by the refined Donaldson-Thomas theory on the resolved conifold. Using the solutions to classical Riemann-Hilbert problems by Beidgeland, we give explicit solutions in terms of…
We study superstrings with orientifold projections and with generalized open string boundary conditions (D-branes). We find two types of consistency condition, one related to the algebra of Chan-Paton factors and the other to cancellation…
We study difference equations which are obtained from the asymptotic expansion of topological string theory on the deformed and the resolved conifold geometries as well as for topological string theory on arbitrary families of Calabi-Yau…
We study string theory propagating on R^6 times K3 by constructing orientifolds of Type IIB string theory compactified on the T^4/Z_N orbifold limits of the K3 surface. This generalises the Z_2 case studied previously. The orientifold…
We propose the refined topological string correspondence to the expectation values of half-BPS Wilson loop operators in 5d $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theory partition function on the Omega-deformed background $\mathbb{R}^4_{\epsilon_{1,2}}\times…
We set up, purely in A-model terms, a novel formalism for the global solution of the open and closed topological A-model on toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. The starting point is to build on recent progress in the mathematical theory of open…
The Frenet equation governs the extrinsic geometry of a string in three-dimensional ambient space in terms of the curvature and torsion, which are both scalar functions under string reparameterisations. The description engages a local SO(2)…
We show that string duality relates M-theory on a local Calabi-Yau fourfold singularity X4 to type IIA string theory on a Calabi-Yau threefold X3 fibered over a real line, with RR 2-form fluxes turned on. The RR flux encodes how the…
We revisit the 3d ${\cal N}=5$ Chern-Simons-Matter theory with orthosymplectic gauge group and its gravity dual from the perspective of generalized symmetries. We derive the corresponding 4d symmetry topological field theory from the…
We investigate (2+1)-dimensional quiver Chern-Simons theories that arise from the study of M2-branes probing toric Calabi-Yau 4-folds. These theories can be elegantly described using brane tilings. We present several theories that admit a…
We perform a series of dimensional reductions of the 6d, $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ SCFT on $S^2\times\Sigma\times I\times S^1$ down to 2d on $\Sigma$. The reductions are performed in three steps: (i) a reduction on $S^1$ (accompanied by a…
We study the partition function of the ABJ theory, which is the N=6 superconformal Chern-Simons matter theory with gauge group U(N)xU(N+M) and Chern-Simons levels (k,-k). We exactly compute the ABJ partition function on a three sphere for…
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.