Related papers: Duality Cascade and Oblique Phases in Non-Commutat…
We study the duality between the Spin$(32)/\mathbb{Z}_2$ heterotic string without vector structure and F-theory with frozen singularities. We give a complete description in theories with $6$d $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ supersymmetry and identify…
We investigate new compactifications of OM theory giving rise to a 3+1 dimensional open string theory with noncommutative $x^0$-$x^1$ and $x^2$-$x^3$ coordinates. The theory can be directly obtained by starting with a D3 brane with parallel…
Recently we observed a crossover transition (in the Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter) from weak to strong coupling in N=2 supersymmetric QCD with the U(N) gauge group and N_f > N quark flavors. At strong coupling this theory can be described by a…
It has long been thought that macroscopic phase coherence breaks down in effectively lower-dimensional superconducting systems even at zero temperature due to enhanced topological quantum phase fluctuations. In quasi-1D wires, these…
We use gauge/string duality to investigate the free energy of two static color sources (a heavy quark-antiquark pair) in a Yang-Mills theory in strongly interacting matter, varying temperature and chemical potential. The dual space geometry…
Using generic properties of string theories, we show how interesting non-perturbative features of QCD can be exploited in heavy ion collisions. In particular, a generalized "semi-circle" law for the phase diagram in the temperature-chemical…
We argue that two four-dimensional strongly coupled superconformal field theories, on the Higgs branch in certain large N limits, become respectively (2,0) theory and (1,1) little string theory in six dimensions. We identify the spectrum of…
We study a class of four-dimensional N=1 heterotic string theories which have nontrivial quantum dynamics arising from asymptotically free gauge groups. These models are obtained by orbifolding 4d N=2 heterotic/type II dual pairs by…
We study the three dimensional SU(2)-symmetric noncompact CP1 model, with two charged matter fields coupled minimally to a noncompact Abelian gauge-field. The phase diagram and the nature of the phase transitions in this model have…
We study a $U(N)$-invariant vector+matrix chain with the color structure of a lattice gauge theory with quarks and interpret it as a theory of open andclosed strings with target space $\Z$. The string field theory is constructed as a…
The thermal duality of E(8) x E(8) and SO(32) heterotic string theories may underpin a mechanism that would convert the kinetic energy of infalling matter during gravitational collapse to form a region of a hot string phase that would expel…
We review and extend earlier work that uses the AdS/CFT correspondence to relate the black hole-black string transition of gravitational theories on a circle to a phase transition in maximally supersymmetric 1+1-dimensional SU(N) gauge…
Superstring theories in the critical dimension D=10 are connected to one another by a well-explored web of dualities. In this paper we use closed-string tachyon condensation to connect the supersymmetric moduli space of the critical…
We study the black hole - black string phase transitions of gravitational theories compactified on a circle using the holographic duality conjecture. The gauge theory duals of these theories are maximally supersymmetric and strongly coupled…
Recent investigations involving the decay of unstable D-branes in string theory suggest that the tree level open string theory which describes the dynamics of the D-brane already knows about the closed string states produced in the decay of…
We find aspects of electrically confining large $N$ Yang-Mills theories on $T^2 \times R^{d-2}$ which are consistent with a $GL(2,Z)$ duality. The modular parameter associated with this $GL(2,Z)$ is given by ${m\over N} + i\Lambda^2 A$,…
The thermodynamics of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories is studied by computing the two-loop correction to the canonical free energy and to the equation of state for theories with 16, 8 and 4 supercharges in any dimension $4\leq d\leq 10$,…
In this work we use the Matrix Model of Strings in order to extract some non-perturbative information on how the Hagedorn critical temperature arises from eleven-dimensional physics. We study the thermal behavior of M and Matrix theories on…
We carefully analyze the N=2 dual pair of string theories in four dimensions introduced by Ferrara, Harvey, Strominger and Vafa. The analysis shows that a second discrete degree of freedom must be switched on in addition to the known…
We continue our study of the large N phase transition in q-deformed Yang-Mills theory on the sphere and its role in connecting topological strings to black hole entropy. We study in detail the chiral theory defined in terms of uncoupled…