Related papers: N=2 string amplitudes and the Omega background
We construct $N=2$ super-$W_{n+1}$ strings and obtain the complete physical spectrum, for arbitrary $n \ge 2$. We also derive more general realisations of the super-$W_{n+1}$ algebras in terms of $k$ commuting $N=2$ super energy-momentum…
In this paper we consider gauged N=2 supergravities which arise in the low-energy limit of type II string theories and study examples which exhibit spontaneous partial supersymmetry breaking. For the quantum STU model we derive the scalar…
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…
Talk given at the 26th Workshop: ``From Superstrings to Supergravity", Erice - Sicily, 5-12 December 1992. We review the superconformal properties of 2d matter coupled to gravity, and extensions thereof. Focusing on topological strings, we…
In this paper we make further refinements to the duality proposed between N=1 SQCD and certain string (supergravity plus branes) backgrounds, working in the regime of comparable large number of colors and flavors. Using the string theory…
We study the topological $G_2$ and $Spin(7)$ strings at 1-loop. We define new double complexes for supersymmetric NSNS backgrounds of string theory using generalised geometry. The 1-loop partition function then has a target-space…
We study closed N=2 strings on orbifolds of the form T^4/Z_2 and C^2/Z_2. We compute the torus partition function and prove its modular invariance. We analyse the BRST cohomology of the theory, construct the vertex operators, and compute…
I give an overview of open, closed and heterotic N=2 strings. At the tree level I derive the effective field theories of all the strings, and discuss the group theory of the N=2 open string and the interaction between its open and closed…
For general off-shell N=2 supergravity-matter systems in three spacetime dimensions, a formalism is developed to reduce the corresponding actions from superspace to components. The component actions are explicitly computed in the cases of…
We describe the magnetic phase of SU(N) $\mathcal{N}=2$ Super Yang-Mills theories in the self-dual Omega background in terms of a new class of multi-cut matrix models. These arise from a non-perturbative completion of topological strings in…
These lectures review some of the basic properties of $N=2$ superconformal field theories and the corresponding topological field theories. One of my basic aims is to show how the techniques of topological field theory can be used to…
We examine the properties and symmetries of the lowest order effective theory of 4-dim string backgrounds with axion and dilaton fields and zero cosmological constant. The dimensional reduction yields an O(2,2) current group of…
The four-dimensional superstring solutions define at low energy effective supergravity theories. A class of them extends successfully the validity of the standard model up to the string scale (${\cal O}(10^{17})~TeV$). We stress the…
In this thesis we discuss non-perturbative phenomena emerging in gauge and in string/supergravity theories. We compute the partition function of 5D minimal supersymmetric U(1) gauge theory with extra adjoint matter in general…
We show how to make a topological string theory starting from an $N=4$ superconformal theory. The critical dimension for this theory is $\hat c= 2$ ($c=6$). It is shown that superstrings (in both the RNS and GS formulations) and critical…
Operators in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory with an R-charge of O(N^2) are dual to backgrounds which are asymtotically AdS5xS5. In this article we develop efficient techniques that allow the computation of correlation functions in these…
We construct a covariant formulation of the heterotic superstring on K3 times T^2 with manifest N=2 supersymmetry. We show how projective superspace appears naturally in the hybrid formulation giving a (partially) geometric interpretation…
We construct an N=1 superconformal field theory using branes of type IIA string theory. The IIA construction is related via T-duality to a IIB configuration with 3-branes in a background generated by two intersecting O7-planes and 7-branes.…
We calculate the genus-one three- and four-point amplitudes in the 2+2 dimensional closed N=(2,2) worldsheet supersymmetric string within the RNS formulation. Vertex operators are redefined with the incorporation of spinor helicity…
In this paper, we study open-closed string field theory in the background B-field in the so-called alpha=p^{+} formulation. The string field theory in the infrared gives noncommutative gauge theory in the open string sector. Since this…