Related papers: $\rm G_2$ holonomy manifolds are superconformal
The main result of this paper is that a Lorentzian manifold is locally conformally equivalent to a manifold with recurrent lightlike vector field and totally isotropic Ricci tensor if and only if its conformal tractor holonomy admits a…
We uncover a general principle, dubbed c-extremization, which determines the exact R-symmetry of a two-dimensional unitary superconformal field theory with N=(0,2) supersymmetry. To illustrate its utility, we study superconformal theories…
We classify the germs of $\mathcal{C}^\infty$ CR manifolds that admit a smooth CR contraction. We show that such a CR manifold is embedded into $\CC^n$ as a real hypersurface defined by a polynomial defining function consisting of monomials…
We study the duality between M-theory on compact holonomy G2-manifolds and the heterotic string on Calabi-Yau three-folds. The duality is studied for K3-fibered G2-manifolds, called twisted connected sums, which lend themselves to an…
We study the dynamics of M-theory on G2 holonomy manifolds, and consider in detail the manifolds realized as the quotient of the spin bundle over S^3 by discrete groups. We analyse, in particular, the class of quotients where the triality…
We study the de Rham complex on a smooth manifold with a periodic end modeled on an infinite cyclic cover X' \to X. The completion of this complex in exponentially weighted L^2-norms is Fredholm for all but finitely many exceptional weights…
We study a supersymmetric theory twisted on a K\"ahler four manifold $M=\Sigma_1 \times \Sigma_2 ,$ where $\Sigma_{1,2}$ are 2D Riemann surfaces. We demonstrate that it possesses a "left-moving" conformal stress tensor on $\Sigma_1$…
This is an invited contribution to the 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics. We review the following algebraic structures which appear in two-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT): The symmetries of two-dimensional…
String backgrounds of the form $\mathbb{M}_3 \times {\cal M}_7$ where $\mathbb{M}_3$ denotes $3$-dimensional Minkowski space while ${\cal M}_7$ is a $7$-dimensional G$_2$-manifold, are characterised by the property that the world-sheet…
Motivated by examples that appeared in the context of string theory - gauge theory duality, we consider corrections to supergravity backgrounds induced by higher derivative R^4+... terms in superstring effective action. We argue that…
Nearly K\"ahler manifolds are the Riemannian 6-manifolds admitting real Killing spinors. Equivalently, the Riemannian cone over a nearly K\"ahler manifold has holonomy contained in G2. In this paper we study the deformation theory of nearly…
The exceptional holonomy groups are G2 in 7 dimensions, and Spin(7) in 8 dimensions. Riemannian manifolds with these holonomy groups are Ricci-flat. This is a survey paper on exceptional holonomy, in two parts. Part I introduces the…
We study the two-dimensional twisted (0,2) sigma-model on various smooth complex flag manifolds G/B, and explore its relevance to the geometric Langlands program. We find that an equivalence - at the level of the holomorphic chiral algebra…
In this paper, we consider a smooth connected finite-dimensional manifold $M$, an affine connection $\nabla$ with holonomy group $H^{\nabla}$ and $\Delta$ a smooth completely non integrable distribution. We define the $\Delta$-horizontal…
Recently, the infinitesimal moduli space of heterotic $G_2$ compactifications was described in supergravity and related to the cohomology of a target space differential. In this paper we identify the marginal deformations of the…
A classification is given of the exceptional $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetric spaces $G/K$ by A.Kollross, where $G$ is an exceptional compact Lie group or $S\!pin(8)$, and moreover the structure of $K$ is determined as Lie…
This is a survey paper. We explain the known constructions for two geometrically different classes of examples of compact Riemannian 7-manifolds with holonomy G2. One method uses resolutions of singularities of appropriately chosen…
Starting from the superconformal algebras associated with $G_2$ manifolds, I extend the algebra to the manifolds with spin(7) holonomy. I show how the mirror symmetry in manifolds with spin(7) holonomy arises as the automorphism in the…
We construct an explicit de Rham isomorphism relating the cohomology rings of Banagl's de Rham and spatial approach to intersection space cohomology for stratified pseudomanifolds with isolated singularities. Intersection space…
We establish an $L^2$-Gamma index theorem for the Dirac operator on a globally hyperbolic manifold $M$ with Cauchy hypersurface $\Sigma$ being a Galois covering of a compact smooth manifold with Galois group $\Gamma$. Our argument rewrites…