Related papers: On recursion relations in topological string theor…
The special geometry ($(t,{\bar t})$-equations) for twisted $N=2$ strings are derived as consistency conditions of a new contact term algebra. The dilaton appears in the contact terms of topological and antitopological operators. The…
The problem of interpreting a set of ${\cal W}$-algebra constraints constructed in terms of an arbitrarily twisted scalar field as the recursion relations of a topological theory is addressed. In this picture, the conventional models of…
We compute the worldsheet sphere partition function of string theory on global AdS$_3$ with pure NS-NS flux. Because of an unfixed M\"obius symmetry on the worldsheet, there is a cancellation of infinities and only a part of the answer is…
We show that almost all string theories, including the bosonic string, the superstring and $W$-string theories, possess a twisted N=2 superconformal symmetry. This enables us to establish a connection between topological gravity and the…
We derive how to incorporate topological features of Riemann surfaces in string amplitudes by insertions of bi-local operators called handle operators. The resulting formalism is exact and globally well-defined in moduli space. After a…
The Virasoro operations in Witten's theory of two-dimensional topological gravity have a homotopy-theoretic interpretation as endomorphisms of an ordinary cohomology theory with coefficients in a localization of I. Schur's ring \Delta of…
It is generally known that the holomorphic anomaly equations in topological string theory reflect the quantum mechanical nature of the topological string partition function. We present two new results which make this assertion more precise:…
We investigate a supersymmetric generalisation of topological recursion from two perspectives: algebraic and geometric. The algebraic side concerns a recursive structure encoded in modules of a super Virasoro algebra, and the geometric…
We derive the $t{\bar t}$-equations for generic $N\!=\!2$ topological field theories as consistency conditions for the contact term algebra of topological strings. A generalization of the holomorphic anomaly equation, known for the critical…
Deformations of topological open string theories are described, with an emphasis on their algebraic structure. They are encoded in the mixed bulk-boundary correlators. They constitute the Hochschild complex of the open string algebra -- the…
We show that the BRST structure of the topological string is encoded in the ``small'' $N=4$ superconformal algebra, enabling us to obtain, in a non-trivial way, the string theory from hamiltonian reduction of $A(1|1)$. This leads to the…
In this semi-technical review we discuss string theory (and all that goes by that name) as a framework for a quantum theory of gravity. This is a new paradigm in theoretical physics that goes beyond relativistic quantum field theory. We…
In an odd-dimensional spacetime, gravity can be formulated as a proper gauge theory based on the Chern-Simons action for a suitable gauge group. Performing dimensional reduction, one obtains, as an effective theory, Chamseddine's…
We address the issue of the worldsheet and spacetime covariant formulation for matrix strings. The problem is solved in the limit of vanishing string coupling. To go beyond the g_s = 0 limit, we propose a topological quantum field theory as…
We derive a concrete closed string dual to any interacting Hermitian one-matrix model, away from the double-scaling limit. Matrix and string correlators manifestly agree, to all orders in the genus expansion and all orders in the 't Hooft…
Witten diagrams are basic objects for studying dynamics in AdS space, and also play key roles in the analytic functional bootstrap. However, these diagrams are notoriously hard to evaluate, making it extremely difficult to search for…
In the AdS/CFT correspondence one encounters theories that are not invariant under diffeomorphisms. In the boundary theory this is a gravitational anomaly, and can arise in 4k+2 dimensions. In the bulk, there can be gravitational…
Witten couples the open topological B-model to a holomorphic vector bundle by adding to the boundary of the worldsheet a Wilson loop for an integrable connection on the bundle. Using the descent procedure for boundary vertex operators in…
Witten's twistor string theory gives rise to an enigmatic formula [arXiv:hep-th/0403190] known as the "connected prescription" for tree-level Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes. We derive a link representation for the connected prescription…
Based on prototypical example of Al.Zamolodchikov's recursion relations for the four point conformal block and using recently proposed Alday-Gaiotto-Tachikawa (AGT) conjecture, recursion relations are derived for the generalized…