Related papers: Spin(7) and generalized SO(8) instantons in eight …
In this Letter we establish a relationship between symmetric SU(2) Yang--Mills instantons and metrics with Spin(7)-holonomy. Our method is based on a slight extension of that of Bryant and Salamon developed to construct explicit manifolds…
We study smooth fibrations of compact torsion-free Spin(7)-manifolds by Cayley submanifolds. Using geometric and topological constraints coming from the Spin(7)-structure, we show that only two topological configurations can arise. One of…
We derive the precise relation between level matching condition and fractional instanton numbers in six dimensional, abelian and supersymmetric orbifolds of E8 x E8 heterotic string theory. The fractional part of the two E8 instanton…
The worldvolume theory of D3-branes probing four D7-branes and an O7-plane on $\mathbb{C}^2/\mathbb{Z}_2$ is given by a supersymmetric USp x USp gauge theory. We demonstrate that, at least for a particular choice of the holonomy at…
If a $Spin(7)$ manifold $N^8$ admits a free $S^1$ action preserving the fundamental $4$-form then the quotient space $M^7$ is naturally endowed with a $G_2$-structure. We derive equations relating the intrinsic torsion of the…
The geometric Fierz identities are here employed to generate new emergent fermionic fields on the parallelizable (curvatureless, torsionfull) 7-sphere ($S^7$). Employing recently found new classes of spinor fields on the $S^7$ spin bundle,…
We construct a consistent set of monopole equations on eight-manifolds with Spin(7) holonomy. These equations are elliptic and admit non-trivial solutions including all the 4-dimensional Seiberg-Witten solutions as a special case.
In this note, we revisit some well-known examples of instantons on flat space that were originally discovered in the physics literature. In particular, we explain how the basic instanton on $\mathbb{R}^4$, with its flat hyperkaehler…
We study the deformation theory of $\mathrm{G}_2$-instantons on the 7-sphere, specifically those obtained from instantons on the 4-sphere via the quaternionic Hopf fibration. We find that the pullback of the standard ASD instanton lies in a…
Recently the long-standing puzzle about counting the Witten index in N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories was resolved. The resolution was based on existence (for higher orthogonal $SO(N), N \geq 7$ and exceptional gauge groups) of flat…
We consider a family of four-dimensional non-linear sigma models based on an O(5) symmetric group, whose fields take their values on the 4-sphere S4. An SO(4)-subgroup of the model is gauged. The solutions of the model are characterised by…
We consider various aspects of compactifications of the Type I/heterotic $Spin(32)/\Z_2$ theory on K3. One family of such compactifications includes the standard embedding of the spin connection in the gauge group, and is on the same moduli…
Non-compact G_2 holonomy metrics that arise from a T^2 bundle over a hyper-Kahler space are discussed. These are one parameter deformations of the metrics studied by Gibbons, Lu, Pope and Stelle in hep-th/0108191. Seven-dimensional spaces…
M-theory on compact eight-manifolds with $\mathrm{Spin}(7)$-holonomy is a framework for geometric engineering of 3d $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theories coupled to gravity. We propose a new construction of such $\mathrm{Spin}(7)$-manifolds, based…
We construct a five-parameter family of gauge-nonequivalent SU(2) instantons on a noncommutative four sphere $S_\theta^4$ and of topological charge equal to -1. These instantons are critical points of a gauge functional and satisfy…
This paper investigates the geometric structures and properties of 8-dimensional manifolds with Spin(7)-holonomy. We focus on the characterization and implications of 4-planes within these manifolds, which are endowed with an almost…
A topological theory for euclidean gravity in eight dimensions is built by enforcing octonionic self-duality conditions on the spin connection. The eight-dimensional manifold must be of a special type, with G_2 or Spin(7) holonomy. The…
We consider 't Hooft anomalies of four-dimensional gauge theories whose fermion matter content admits $Spin_G(4)$ generalized spin structure, with $G$ either gauged or a global symmetry. We discuss methods to directly compute $w_2\cup w_3$…
The map between the moduli space of F-theory (or type II string) compactifications and heterotic string compactifications can be considerably simplified by using "stable degenerations". We discuss how this method applies to both the E8 x E8…
We establish a general analytic and geometric framework for resolving Spin(7)--orbifolds. These spaces arise naturally as boundary points in the moduli space of exceptional holonomy metrics, and smooth Gromov--Hausdorff resolutions can be…