Related papers: Dualities and Categorical Structures from 2D Up
In this work we explore the physics associated to Calabi-Yau (CY) n-folds that can be described as a fibration in more than one way. Beginning with F-theory vacua in various dimensions, we consider limits/dualities with M-theory, type IIA,…
We engineer a class of quiver gauge theories with several interesting features by studying D-branes at a simple Calabi-Yau singularity. At weak 't Hooft coupling we argue using field theory techniques that these theories admit both…
We discuss the use of gauge fields to stabilize complex structure moduli in Calabi-Yau three-fold compactifications of heterotic string and M-theory. The requirement that the gauge fields in such models preserve supersymmetry leads to a…
The thesis develops a systematic procedure to construct semi-classical gravitational duals from quantum state manifolds. Though the systems investigated are simple quantum mechanical systems without gauge symmetry many familiar concepts…
We analyze the U-duality group for the case of a type II superstring compactified to four dimensions on a K3 surface times a torus. The various limits of this theory are considered which have interpretations as type IIA and IIB…
These lectures are devoted to introducing some of the basic features of quantum geometry that have been emerging from compactified string theory over the last couple of years. The developments discussed include new geometric features of…
A recently introduced framework for the compactification of supersymmetric string theory involving noncritical manifolds of complex dimension $2k+D_{crit}$, $k\geq 1$, is reviewed. These higher dimensional manifolds are spaces with…
Much of modern string theory research concerns AdS/CFT duality, or more generally, gauge/gravity duality. The main subjects are a) Testing and understanding such dualities by exploring how they work for systems with a lot of supersymmetry…
This is the author's PhD thesis. Two main sections address various aspects of mirror symmetry for compact Calabi-Yau threefolds and the roles that classically modular varieties play in string theory compactifications. The main results…
In this thesis we study compactifications of type II string theories and M-theory to four dimensions. We construct the four-dimensional N=2 supergravities that arise from compactifications of type IIA string theory and M-theory on manifolds…
This review talk focusses on some of the interesting developments in the area of superstring compactification that have occurred in the last couple of years. These include the discovery that ``mirror symmetric" pairs of Calabi--Yau spaces,…
Type II string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold, with a singularity modeled by a hypersurface in an orbifold, is considered. In the limit of vanishing string coupling, one expects a non gravitational theory concentrated at the…
In this article we review four-dimensional string vacua with N=2 space-time supersymmetry. In particular, we will discuss several aspects of the string-string duality between the heterotic string, compactified on $K3\times T^2$, and the…
The study of topological quantum field theories increasingly relies upon concepts from higher-dimensional algebra such as n-categories and n-vector spaces. We review progress towards a definition of n-category suited for this purpose, and…
We introduce a family of dualities between certain non-supersymmetric self-dual gauge theories on a large class of $4d$ self-dual asymptotically flat backgrounds, and the large $N$ limit of an independently defined $2d$ chiral defect CFT.…
The web of dual gauge theories engineered from a class of toric Calabi-Yau threefolds is explored. In previous work, we have argued for a triality structure by compiling evidence for the fact that every such manifold $X_{N,M}$ (for given…
The subject of this thesis are various ways to construct four-dimensional quantum field theories from string theory. In a first part we study the generation of a supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, coupled to an adjoint chiral superfield,…
We discuss a duality of (0,2) heterotic string vacua which implies that certain pairs of (0,2) Calabi-Yau compactifications on topologically distinct target manifolds yield identical string theories. Some complex structure moduli in one…
We continue our study of compactifications of F-theory on Calabi--Yau threefolds. We gain more insight into F-theory duals of heterotic strings and provide a recipe for building F-theory duals for arbitrary heterotic compactifications on…
We propose a new way of using geometric transitions to study metastable vacua in string theory and certain confining gauge theories. The gauge theories in question are N=2 supersymmetric theories deformed to N=1 by superpotential terms. We…