Related papers: Probing M-theory with tetrahedron instantons
The arcane ADHM construction of Yang-Mills instantons can be very naturally understood in the framework of D-brane dynamics in string theory. In this point-of-view, the mysterious auxiliary symmetry of the ADHM construction arises as a…
We describe the modern formalism, ideas and applications of the instanton calculus for gauge theories with, and without, supersymmetry. Particular emphasis is put on developing a formalism that can deal with any number of instantons. This…
We analyse supermembrane instantons (fully wrapped supermembranes) by computing the partition function of the three-dimensional supersymmetrical U(N) matrix model under periodic boundary conditions. By mapping the model to a cohomological…
We propose a set of novel expansions of Nekrasov's instanton partition functions. Focusing on 5d supersymmetric pure Yang-Mills theory with unitary gauge group on $\mathbb{C}^2_{q,t^{-1}} \times \mathbb{S}^1$, we show that the instanton…
We study non-perturbative effects in four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric orientifold compactifications due to D-brane instantons which are generically not invariant under the orientifold projection. We show that they can yield…
The Taub-NUT geometry corresponds to the Kaluza-Klein monopole solution of M-theory and on dimension reduction along the Taub-NUT circle direction it becomes the D6 brane of type IIA string theory. We show that the Taub-NUT geometry can be…
Recently, O. Aharony, O. Bergman, D. L. Jafferis and J. Maldacena (ABJM) proposed three-dimensional super Chern-Simons-matter theory, which at level k is supposed to describe the low energy limit of N M2-branes. For large N and k, but fixed…
We study compactifications of string theory and M-theory to six dimensions with background fluxes. The nonzero fluxes lead to additional mass parameters. We derive the S- and T-duality rules for the corresponding (massive) supergravity…
A while ago, examples of N=1 vacua in D=6 were constructed as orientifolds of Type IIB string theory compactified on the K3 surface. Among the interesting features of those models was the presence of D5-branes behaving like small…
We study the partition function of type IIA string theory on 10-manifolds of the form T^2 x X where X is 8-dimensional, compact, and spin. We pay particular attention to the effects of the topological phases in the supergravity action…
Using U-duality, the properties of the matrix theories corresponding to the compactification of M-theory on $T^d$ are investigated. The couplings of the $d+1$ dimensional effective Super-Yang-Mills theory to all the M-theory moduli is…
In this paper we study several issues related to the generation of superpotential induced by background Ramond-Ramond fluxes in compactification of Type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau four-folds. Identifying BPS solitons with D-branes…
We investigate, at the microscopic level, the compatibility between D-term potentials from world-volume fluxes on D7-branes and non-perturbative superpotentials arising from gaugino condensation on a different stack of D7-branes. This is…
We study the phase transition between G-instantons and D3-branes. A G-instanton is a classical solution to the self-dual equation of the M/F-theory four-form field strength G in the complex fourfold. This phase transition is dual to that…
We find an exact solution, with a nonzero net D-brane charge, in the boundary string field theory of brane-anti-brane pairs on a torus. We explicitly take the T-dual of this configuration. The Nahm-transformation of the instantons is…
We discuss the role of Abelian gauge symmetries in type IIB orientifold compactifications and their F-theory uplift. Particular emphasis is placed on U(1)s which become massive through the geometric St\"uckelberg mechanism in type IIB. We…
We study the Type IIA NS five-brane wrapped on a Calabi-Yau manifold X in a double-scaled decoupling limit. We calculate the euclidean partition function in the presence of a flat RR 3-form field. The classical contribution is given by a…
In this review article we study type IIB superstring compactifications in the presence of space-time filling D-branes while preserving N=1 supersymmetry in the effective four-dimensional theory. This amount of unbroken supersymmetry and the…
We analyze M5-instantons in F-theory, or equivalently D3-instantons with varying axio-dilaton, in the presence of 7-brane gauge groups. The chiral two-form on the M5-brane plays an important role, because it couples the M5-brane to vector…
A one-parameter family of new solutions representing Einstein spaces in $d=5,7$ is presented, and used to construct non-supersymmetric backgrounds in type IIB and M-theory that asymptotically approach $AdS_5\times S^5$ and $AdS_7\times S^4$…