Related papers: Supersymmetric Partition Functions and a String Th…
This review summarizes the recent developments in topological string theory from the author's perspective, mostly focused on aspects of research in which the author is involved. After a brief overview of the theory, we discuss two aspects…
We search for $N=2$, $d=4$ theories which can be realized both as heterotic string compactifications on $K_{3}\times T^{2}$ and as type II string compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds. In such cases, the exact non-perturbative…
We consider type IIA/B strings in two-dimensions and their projection with respect to the nilpotent space-time supercharge. Based on the ground ring structure, we propose a duality between perturbed type II strings and the topological…
A free superstring with chiral N=2 supersymmetry in six dimensions is proposed. It couples to a two-form gauge field with a self-dual field strength. Compactification to four dimensions on a two-torus gives a strongly coupled N=4…
We construct a string theory in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space-time that is independent of the boundary metric. It is a topologically twisted theory of quantum gravity. We study string theories with an asymptotic N=2 superconformal…
We study perturbative compactifications of Type II string theory that rely on a fibration structure of the extra dimensions a la SYZ. Non-geometric spaces are obtained by using T-dualities as monodromies. These vacua generically preserve…
We investigate the concept of superconformal symmetry in six dimensions, applied to the interacting theory of (2,0) tensor multiplets and self-dual strings. The action of a superconformal transformation on the superspace coordinates is…
Is string theory uniquely determined by self-consistency? Causality and unitarity seemingly permit a multitude of putative deformations, at least at the level of two-to-two scattering. Motivated by this question, we initiate a systematic…
We reformulate twistor-string theory as a heterotic string based on a twisted (0,2) model. The path integral localizes on holomorphic maps, while the (0,2) moduli naturally correspond to the states of N=4 super Yang-Mills and conformal…
We consider the topological string partition function, including the Nekrasov deformation, for type IIB geometries with an A_{n-1} singularity over a Riemann surface. These models realize the N=2 SU(n) superconformal gauge systems recently…
In a certain kinematic limit, where the effects of spacetime curvature (and other background fields) greatly simplify, the light-cone gauge world-sheet action for a type IIB superstring on AdS_5 x S^5 reduces to that of a free field theory.…
The R^4-type corrections to ten and eleven dimensional supergravity required by string and M-theory imply corrections to supersymmetric supergravity compactifications on manifolds of special holonomy, which deform the metric away from the…
Superstring scattering from orientifold planes requires considering string amplitudes on world-sheets with crosscaps with the lowest order case (in string coupling constant) having the topology of the real projective plane. While amplitudes…
A covariant closed superstring field theory, equivalent to classical ten-dimensional Type II supergravity, is presented. The defining conformal field theory is the ambitwistor string worldsheet theory of Mason and Skinner. This theory is…
In six dimensions, cancellation of gauge, gravitational, and mixed anomalies strongly constrains the set of quantum field theories which can be coupled consistently to gravity. We show that for some classes of six-dimensional supersymmetric…
We demonstrate that type II string theory compactified on a singular Calabi-Yau manifold is related to $c=1$ string theory compactified at the self-dual radius. We establish this result in two ways. First we show that complex structure…
We show the existence of a supersymmetry breaking mechanism in string theory, where N=4 supersymmetry is broken spontaneously to N=2 and N=1 with moduli dependent gravitino masses. The spectrum of the spontaneously broken theory with lower…
In this letter a new class of twisted strings is presented, with an asymmetry between the holomorphic and antiholomorphic sectors parametrized by an integer $N$. Their physical content is given by the massless resonances of the closed…
The tree-level amplitudes in $\beta$-deformed theory are studied from twistor string theory. We first show that a simple generalization of the proposal in hep-th/0410122 gives the correct results for all of the tree-level amplitudes to the…
By studying 2d string compactifications with half-maximal supersymmetry in a variety of duality frames, we find a natural physical setting for understanding Umbral moonshine. Near points in moduli space with enhanced gauge symmetry, we find…