Related papers: Exact Thresholds and Instanton Effects in String T…
A detailed understanding of instanton effects for half-BPS couplings is pursued in theories with 16 supersymmetries. In particular, we investigate the duality between heterotic string on $T^4$ and type IIA on $K_3$ at the $T^4/Z_2$ orbifold…
Three-dimensional string theories with 16 supersymmetries are believed to possess a non-perturbative U-duality symmetry $SO(8,24,\Zint)$. By covariantizing the heterotic one-loop amplitude under U-duality, we propose an exact expression for…
In these lecture notes duality tests and instanton effects in supersymmetric vacua of string theory are discussed. A broad overview of BPS-saturated terms in the effective actions is first given. Their role in testing the consistency of…
We compute the gravitational coupling $F_1$ for IIA string theory on $K3 \times T^2$ and use string-string duality to deduce the corresponding term for heterotic string on $T^6$. The latter is an infinite sum of gravitational instanton…
We review recent progress in determining the effects of D-brane instantons in N=1 supersymmetric compactifications of Type II string theory to four dimensions. We describe the abstract D-brane instanton calculus for holomorphic couplings…
We describe a new class of instanton effects in string compactifications that preserve only N=1 supersymmetry in four dimensions. As is well-known, worldsheet or brane instantons in such a background can sometimes contribute to an effective…
We discuss a string model where a conformal four-dimensional N=2 gauge theory receives corrections to its gauge kinetic functions from "stringy" instantons. These contributions are explicitly evaluated by exploiting the localization…
Two classes of stringy instanton effects, stronger than standard field theory instantons, are identified in the heterotic string theory. These contributions are established using type IIA/heterotic and type I/heterotic dualities. They…
We study the non-perturbative effects induced by stringy instantons on N=2 SU}(N) gauge theories in four dimensions, realized on fractional D3 branes in a C^3/Z_3 orientifold. The stringy instantons, corresponding to D(-1) branes that…
This introductory part of the author's PhD compilation thesis discusses non-perturbative aspects of string theory, with focus on D-instantons which play key roles in the context of string phenomenology and dualities. By translating ideas…
Scattering of fundamental states of type IIB supergravity and superstring theory is discussed at low orders in perturbation theory in the background of a D-instanton. The integration over fermionic zero modes in both the low energy…
Hypermultiplet couplings in type IIA string theory on a Calabi-Yau space can be quantum corrected by D2-brane instantons wrapping special Lagrangian cycles. On the other hand, hypermultiplet couplings in the heterotic string on a K3 surface…
It has been proposed by Sen that the D-instanton effects in string theory can be systematically determined through the framework of open-closed string field theory. We apply the latter formalism to analyze the D-instanton corrections to the…
D-instanton effects are studied for the IIB orientifold T^2/I\Omega(-1)^{F_L} of Sen using type I/heterotic duality. An exact one loop threshold calculation of t_8 \tr F^4 and t_8(\tr F^2)^2 terms for the heterotic string on T^2 with Wilson…
We review how D-brane instantons can generate open string couplings of stringy hierarchy in the superpotential which violate global abelian symmetries and are therefore perturbatively forbidden. We discuss the main ingredients of this…
We study limits of infinite distance in the moduli space of 4d $\mathcal{N} = 2$ string compactifications, in which instanton effects dominate. We first consider trajectories in the hypermultiplet moduli space of type IIB Calabi-Yau…
A long-standing puzzle about the heterotic string has been what happens when an instanton shrinks to zero size. It is argued here that the answer at the quantum level is that an extra $SU(2)$ gauge symmetry appears that is supported in the…
In this paper we begin revisiting the little string theories (LSTs) which govern the dynamics of the instantonic heterotic $E_8 \times E_8$ five-branes probing ALE singularities, building on and extending previous results on the subject by…
The heterotic string theory, compactified to four dimensions, has been conjectured to have a duality symmetry (S duality) that transforms the dilaton nonlinearly. If valid, this symmetry could provide an important means of obtaining…
We study the stringy instanton partition function of four dimensional ${\cal N}=2$ $U(N)$ supersymmetric gauge theory which was obtained by Bonelli et al in 2013. In type IIB string theory on $\mathbb{C}^2\times T^*\mathbb{P}^1\times…