Related papers: Lectures on modular forms and strings
We introduce a new class of non-compact backgrounds of Type IIB string theory preserving eight supercharges by combining S-folds and non-perturbative 7-branes wrapping orbifolds, and study the four-dimensional superconformal field theories…
Using our previous construction of Eisenstein-like automorphic forms we derive formulae for the perturbative and non-perturbative parts for any group and representation. The result is written in terms of the weights of the representation…
In this note we study $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$-invariant functions such as modular graph functions or coefficient functions of higher derivative corrections in type IIB string theory. The functions solve inhomogeneous Laplace equations and we…
We investigate the following three consistency conditions for constructing string theories on orbifolds: i) the invariance of the energy-momentum tensors under twist operators, ii) the duality of amplitudes and iii) modular invariance of…
In these lectures, we review the main properties of the topological theory obtained by twisting the N=2 two-dimensional superconformal algebra, associated to supersymmetric string compactifications. In particular, we describe a set of…
The main limitations of string field theory arise because its present formulation requires a background representing a classical solution, a background defined by a strictly conformally invariant theory. Here we sketch a construction for a…
String theory can accommodate black holes with the black hole parameters related to string moduli. It is a well known but remarkable feature that the near horizon geometry of a large class of black holes arising from string theory contains…
We discuss the form of the string-loop-corrected effective action and the loop-corrected solutions of the equations of motion. At the string-tree level, a solution we consider is the extremal magnetic black hole, in which case the…
We consider a conformal system of a string and a particle defined in D=10+2 space-time dimensions. The extra time-like dimension is a gauge artifact and can be eliminated by choosing a gauge in which the SO(10,1) Lorentz symmetry is…
The first part is an introduction to conformal field theory and string perturbation theory. The second part deals with the search for a deeper answer to the question posed in the title. Contents: 1. Conformal Field Theory 2. String Theory…
These proceedings are based on lectures delivered at the "RTN Winter School on Strings, Supergravity and Gauge Theories", CERN, January 16 - January 20, 2006. The school was mainly aimed at Ph.D. students and young postdocs. The lectures…
This thesis discusses various aspects of duality in quantum field theory and string theory. In the first part we consider duality in topological quantum field theories, concentrating on the Donaldson and Seiberg-Witten theories as (dual)…
These lecture notes are meant to serve as an introduction to some geometric constructions and techniques (in particular the ones of toric geometry) often employed by the physicist working on string theory compactifications. The emphasis is…
This is an introduction to the microscopic techniques of non-rational bulk and boundary conformal field theory which are needed to describe strings moving in non-compact curved backgrounds. The latter arise e.g. in the context of…
This paper is primarily intended as an introduction for the mathematically inclined to some of the rich algebraic combinatorics arising in for instance CFT. It is essentially self-contained, apart from some of the background motivation and…
I review type IIB string compactifications in which the three-form field strengths satisfy a self-duality condition on the internal manifold. I begin with an overview of the models, giving preliminary formulae and several points of view…
We study the correspondence between four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories and two-dimensional conformal field theories in the case of N=2* gauge theory. We emphasize the genus expansion on the gauge theory side, as obtained via…
This thesis is devoted to the study of geometric aspects of black holes and integrable structures in string theory. In the first part, symmetries of the horizon and its bulk extension will be investigated. We investigate the horizon…
The black hole solutions to Einstein's vacuum field equations are also solutions to the equations of motion of the low energy limit of superstring theory. At the same time, string theory boasts a much broader and richer collection of black…
Notes of my 14 `lectures on everything' given at the 1995 Les Houches school. An introductory course in topological and conformal field theory, strings, gauge fields, supersymmetry and more. The presentation is more mathematical then usual…