Related papers: Conformal Orbifold Partition Functions from Topolo…
The symmetric orbifold of $\mathbb{T}^4$ is exactly dual to string theory on $\mathrm{AdS}_3\times \mathrm{S}^3 \times \mathbb{T}^4$ with minimal ($k=1$) NS-NS flux. In this paper we study the perturbation of the symmetric orbifold that is…
The partition function of a three-dimensional $\mathcal{N} =2$ theory on the manifold $\mathcal{M}_{g,p}$, an $S^1$ bundle of degree $p$ over a closed Riemann surface $\Sigma_g$, was recently computed via supersymmetric localization. In…
We develop a non planar topological vertex formalism and we use it to study the A-model partition function $\mathcal{Z}_{top}$ of topological string on the class of toric Calabi-Yau threefolds (CY3) in large complex structure limit. To that…
In these lectures, we review the physics of time-dependent orbifolds of string theory, with particular attention to orbifolds of three-dimensional Minkowski space. We discuss the propagation of free particles in the orbifold geometries,…
We construct a cubic field theory which provides all genus amplitudes of the topological A-model for all non-compact Calabi-Yau toric threefolds. The topology of a given Feynman diagram encodes the topology of a fixed Calabi-Yau, with…
We consider the correlation functions of the tachyon vertex operator of the super Liouville theory coupled to matter fields in the super Coulomb gas formulation, on world sheets with spherical topology. After integrating over the zero mode…
It is shown that the Topological Massive and ``Self-dual'' theories, which are known to provide locally equivalent descriptions of spin 1 theories in 2+1 dimensions, have different global properties when formulated over topologically…
Closed string theories on orbifolds contain both untwisted and twisted states. The latter are normally assumed to live exactly at the orbifold fixed points. We perform a calculation of a gauge field tadpole amplitude and show that off-shell…
We construct a set of non-rational conformal field theories that consist of deformations of Toda field theory for sl(n). Besides conformal invariance, the theories still enjoy a remnant infinite-dimensional affine symmetry. The case n=3 is…
This thesis investigates correspondences between open and closed strings. This is done on the level of coupled open-closed moduli spaces and from a string field theoretic point of view. The construction of boundary string field theory on…
We study topologically massive (2+1)-dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant. The masses of the linearized curvature excitations about AdS_3 backgrounds are not only shifted from their flat background values but, more…
We study the topological string partition function of a class of toric, double elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds $X_{N,M}$ at a generic point in the K\"ahler moduli space. These manifolds engineer little string theories in five…
In this paper we consider the gauge theory living on the world-volume of a stack of N D3-branes of Type 0B/\Omega' I_6(-1)^{F_{L}} and of its orbifolds C^2/Z_2 and C^3/(Z_2 x Z_2). The gauge theories obtained in the three cases are a brane…
In recent years a lot of attention has been paid to topological spaces which are a bit more general than smooth manifolds - orbifolds. Orbifolds are intuitively speaking manifolds with some singularities. The formal definition is also…
We discuss topological theories, arising from the general $\mathcal{N}=2$ twisted gauge theories. We initiate a program of their study in the Gromov-Witten paradigm. We re-examine the low-energy effective abelian theory in the presence of…
The bosonic membrane in a partial gauge, where one space dimension is eliminated, is formulated as a perturbation theory around an exact free string-like solution. This perturbative regime corresponds to a situation where one of the…
We propose a formalism inspired by matrix models to compute open and closed topological string amplitudes in the B-model on toric Calabi-Yau manifolds. We find closed expressions for various open string amplitudes beyond the disk, and in…
In this dissertation, we study various aspects of type IIB string theory compactified on freely acting orbifolds. We focus particularly on asymmetric orbifolds, which are examples of non-geometric string compactifications and constitute an…
Since any string theory involves a path integration on the world-sheet metric, their partition functions are volume forms on the moduli space of genus g Riemann surfaces M_g, or on its super analog. It is well known that modular invariance…
We study the bulk effective theory of a class of orbifolds of the type IIB string with D5-branes, compactified to four dimensions. These constructions are connected, in a region of their moduli space, to some orbifolds of the type I and…