Related papers: $\mathcal{N}=2^\star$ from Topological Amplitudes …
We develop techniques to compute higher loop string amplitudes for twisted $N=2$ theories with $\hat c=3$ (i.e. the critical case). An important ingredient is the discovery of an anomaly at every genus in decoupling of BRST trivial states,…
The most general gauge-invariant marginal deformation of four-dimensional abelian BF-type topological field theory is studied. It is shown that the deformed quantum field theory is topological and that its observables compute, in addition…
We propose new topological vertex formalism for Type IIB $(p,q)$ 5-brane web with an O5-plane. We apply our proposal to 5d $\mathcal{N}=1$ Sp(1) gauge theory with $N_f=0,1,8$ flavors to compute the topological string partition functions and…
I present a new class of topological string theories, and discuss them in two dimensions as candidates for the string description of large-$N$ QCD. The starting point is a new class of topological sigma models, whose path integral is…
In this paper we study the dynamics of a statistical ensemble of strings, building on a recently proposed gauge theory of the string geodesic field. We show that this stochastic approach is equivalent to the Carath\'eodory formulation of…
In the usual approach to q-deformed gauge theories, the gauge fields are required to be non-local or non-commutative one's. If we introduce, however, an extended product, which we call `` $\star$-product\rq\rq, among the generators of a…
We construct a (1,2) heterotic string with gauge symmetry and determine its particle spectrum. This theory has a local N=1 worldsheet supersymmetry for left movers and a local N=2 worldsheet supersymmetry for right movers and describes…
We review recent work [1, 2] on obtaining a realisation of the $\Omega$-background in terms of a special series of higher-derivative generalised F-terms in the effective $\mathcal{N}=2$ supergravity action. We discuss the motivation behind…
We calculate the energy spectrum of closed strings in SU(N) gauge theories with N=2,3,4,6,8 in 2+1 dimensions to a high accuracy. We attempt to control all systematic errors, and this allows us to perform a precise comparison with different…
This thesis consists of two parts. In the first part we study some topics in $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmeric gauge theory and the relation to matrix models. We review the relevant non-perturbative techniques for computing effective…
In this work are consider several topics in the Topological Membrane (TM) approach to string theory. The string dynamics is generated from the bulk physics, namely from the 3D Topologically Massive Gauge Theory (TMGT) and Topologically…
We generalize the results of Polchinski and Strassler regarding the N=1-preserving mass deformation of N=4 SU(N) SYM theories and its string theory dual to SO(N) and USp(2N) gauge groups. The string theory duals involve 5-branes wrapped on…
We argue that two four-dimensional strongly coupled superconformal field theories, on the Higgs branch in certain large N limits, become respectively (2,0) theory and (1,1) little string theory in six dimensions. We identify the spectrum of…
We analyze the conjectured duality between a class of double-scaling limits of a one-matrix model and the topological twist of non-critical superstring backgrounds that contain the N=2 Kazama-Suzuki SL(2)/U(1) supercoset model. The…
It was recently shown that the $\mathcal{N}$ = 2 string topological amplitudes in the heterotic weak coupling limit generate a six-dimensional Melvin space, providing a description of the $\Omega$-background in string theory, where string…
The closed topological vertex is the simplest ``off-strip'' case of non-compact toric Calabi-Yau threefolds with acyclic web diagrams. By the diagrammatic method of topological vertex, open string amplitudes of topological string theory…
We develop a systematic framework for understanding symmetries in topological phases in 2+1 dimensions using the string-net model, encompassing both gauge symmetries that preserve anyon species and global symmetries permuting anyon species,…
The one-plaquette Hamiltonian of large N lattice gauge theory offers a constructive model of a $1+1$-dimensional string theory with a stable ground state. The free energy is found to be equivalent to the partition function of a string where…
We discuss the equivalence between a string theory and the two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory with SU(N) gauge group for finite N. We find a sector which can be interpreted as a sum of covering maps from closed string world-sheets to the…
We explore two classes of 6d $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ little string theories obtained from type IIA/IIB NS5-branes probing $D_n$ singularities. Their tensor branches are described by effective gauge theories whose instanton solitons are…