Related papers: Heterotic, Open and Unoriented String Theories fro…
We study open and unoriented strings in a Topological Membrane (TM) theory through orbifolds of the bulk 3D space. This is achieved by gauging discrete symmetries of the theory. Open and unoriented strings can be obtained from all possible…
A detailed study of the charge spectrum of three dimensional Abelian Topological Massive Gauge Theory (TMGT) is given. When this theory is defined on a manifold with two disconnected boundaries there are induced chiral Conformal Field…
Using the topological membrane approach to string theory, we suggest a geometric origin for the heterotic string. We show how different membrane boundary conditions lead to different string theories. We discuss the construction of closed…
Topologically massive gravity (TMG) in three dimensions provides an interesting toy model for constructing a quantum theory of gravity. Although it can be thought of as standing as a theory in its own right, it is also of interest to see…
We construct a string theory in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space-time that is independent of the boundary metric. It is a topologically twisted theory of quantum gravity. We study string theories with an asymptotic N=2 superconformal…
In this thesis we probe various interactions between toric geometry and string theory. First, the notion of a top was introduced by Candelas and Font as a useful tool to investigate string dualities. These objects torically encode the local…
We continue the development of the topological membrane approach to open and unoriented string theories. We study orbifolds of topologically massive gauge theory defined on the geometry $[0,1]\times\Sigma$, where $\Sigma$ is a generic…
We revisit the 3d ${\cal N}=5$ Chern-Simons-Matter theory with orthosymplectic gauge group and its gravity dual from the perspective of generalized symmetries. We derive the corresponding 4d symmetry topological field theory from the…
The Heterotic twistor string theory of Mason and Skinner is investigated with particular attention given to the role of topological gravity on the world-sheet. The general structure of scattering amplitudes is discussed and expressed in…
We study the dynamics of an open membrane with a cylindrical topology, in the background of a constant three form, whose boundary is attached to p-branes. The boundary closed string is coupled to a two form potential to ensure gauge…
We examine the question how string theory achieves a sum over bulk geometries with fixed asymptotic boundary conditions. We discuss this problem with the help of the tensionless string on $\mathcal{M}_3 \times \mathrm{S}^3 \times…
We study deformations of topological closed strings. A well-known example is the perturbation of a topological closed string by itself, where the associative OPE product is deformed, and which is governed by the WDVV equations. Our main…
We examine the structure of winding toroidal and open cylindrical membranes, especially in cases where they are stretched between boundaries. Non-zero winding or stretching means that there are linear terms in the mode expansion of the…
The target space theory of the N=(2,1) heterotic string may be interpreted as a theory of gravity coupled to matter in either $1+1$ or $2+1$ dimensions. Among the target space theories in $1+1$ dimensions are the bosonic, type II, and…
We investigate how topological entanglement of Chern-Simons theory is captured in a string theoretic realization. Our explorations are motivated by a desire to understand how quantum entanglement of low energy open string degrees of freedom…
We present a string theory that reproduces the large-$N$ expansion of two dimensional Yang-Mills gauge theory on arbitrary surfaces. First, a new class of topological sigma models is introduced, with path integrals localized to the moduli…
The tensionless limit of classical string theory may be formulated as a topological theory on the world-sheet. A vector density carries geometrical information in place of an internal metric. It is found that path-integral quantization…
Perturbative string amplitudes are correctly derived from the string geometry theory, which is one of the candidates of a non-perturbative formulation of string theory. In order to derive non-perturbative effects rather easily, we formulate…
String and membrane dynamics may be unified into a theory of 2+2 dimensional self-dual world-volumes living in a 10+2 dimensional target space. Some of the vacua of this M-theory are described by the N=(2,1) heterotic string, whose target…
A string-theoretic structure of the standard model is defined having a 4-D quantum gravity metric consistent with topological and algebraic first principles. Unique topological diagrams of string states, strong and weak interactions and…