Related papers: M-theory from the Superpoint
We show how the topological string partition function, which is known to capture the degeneracies of a gas of BPS spinning M2-branes in M-theory compactified to 5 dimensions, is related to a 4-dimensional D-brane system that consists of…
After reviewing how M-theory subsumes string theory, I report on some new and interesting developments, focusing on the ``brane-world'': circumventing no-go theorems for supersymmetric brane-worlds, complementarity of the Maldacena and…
We present four-dimensional gauge theories in Minkowski spacetime which effectively generate in certain energy regimes five-dimensional warped geometries whereas, in general, the fifth dimension is latticized. After discussing in detail…
The observable universe could be a 1+3-surface (the "brane") embedded in a 1+3+d-dimensional spacetime (the "bulk"), with standard-model particles and fields trapped on the brane while gravity is free to access the bulk. At least one of the…
We give examples of string compactifications to 4d Minkowski space with different amounts of supersymmetry that can be connected by spherical domain walls. The tension of these domain walls is tunably lower than the 4d Planck scale. The…
In this thesis we discuss some nonperturbative and noncommutative aspects of string theory. We present low-energy background field solutions corresponding to various D-branes (and their bound states) and intersecting branes in flat and…
We find further evidence for the conjecture relating large N Chern-Simons theory on S^3 with topological string on the resolved conifold geometry by showing that the Wilson loop observable of a simple knot on S^3 (for any representation)…
We consider solutions of (super) gravities associated to non-critical (super) string theories in arbitrary space-time dimension D=p+3, that describe generically non extremal black p-branes charged under NSNS or RR gauge fields, embedded in…
We discuss a set of universal couplings between superstring Ramond-Ramond gauge fields and the gauge fields internal to D-branes, with emphasis on their topological consequences, and argue that instanton solutions in these internal theories…
We review a recent proposal towards a microscopic understanding of the entropy of non-supersymmetric spacetimes -- with emphasis on the Schwarzschild black hole. The approach is based at an intermediate step on the description of the…
The braneworld scenario is studied and the effective action of 3-brane living in 5-dim. Minkowski space is constructed. This action is proved to be invariant under spontaneously broken scale and Weyl symmetries and to encode a model of…
We study various bubble solutions in string/M theories obtained by double Wick rotations of (non-)extremal brane configurations. Typically, the geometry interpolates de Sitter space-time times non-compact extra-dimensional space in the…
We have argued previously that black holes may be represented in a D-brane approach by monopole and vortex defects in a sine-Gordon field theory model of Liouville dynamics on the world sheet. Supersymmetrizing this sine-Gordon system, we…
We consider M-theory in the presence of M parallel M5-branes probing a transverse A_{N-1} singularity. This leads to a superconformal theory with (1,0) supersymmetry in six dimensions. We compute the supersymmetric partition function of…
We suggest and motivate a precise equivalence between uncompactified eleven dimensional M-theory and the N = infinity limit of the supersymmetric matrix quantum mechanics describing D0-branes. The evidence for the conjecture consists of…
We construct brane configurations leading to chiral four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories. The brane realizations consist of intersecting Neveu-Schwarz five-branes and Dirichlet four-branes in non-flat spacetime backgrounds. We…
Starting from the eleven dimensional E_{11} non-linear realisation of M-theory we compute all possible forms, that is objects with totally antisymmetrised indices, that occur in four dimensions and above as well as all the 1-forms and…
We describe a mechanism for localising branes in ambient space. When a 3-form flux is turned on in a Taub-NUT space, an M5-brane gets an effective potential that pins it to the center of the space. A similar effect occurs for M2-branes and…
We study two M5-branes on $A_{1}$ ALE space. We introduce some M2-branes suspended between the M5-branes. Then, the boundaries of M2-branes look like strings. We call them "M-strings". The M-strings have $\mathcal{N}=(4,0)$ supersymmetry by…
We consider M theory 5-branes with compact transverse dimensions. In certain limits the theory on the 5-brane decouples and defines ``little string theories'' in 5+1 dimensions. We show that the familiar structure of IIA/IIB,M,F- theory in…