Related papers: Little String Theories in Heterotic Backgrounds
We review recent progress in the study of non-rational (boundary) conformal field theories and their applications to describe exact holographic backgrounds in superstring theory. We focus mainly on the example of the supersymmetric coset…
Based on a simple adiabatic argument and by considering the heterotic string counterpart of certain symmetries of Type II superstrings such as $(-1)^{F_L}$ and orientation reversal, we construct orbifold candidates for dual pairs of…
We review diverse two-dimensional models emerging on the world sheet of non-Abelian strings in the low-energy limit. Non-Abelian strings are supported in a class of four-dimensional bulk theories with or without supersymmetry. In…
These lectures begin by reviewing the evidence for S duality of the toroidally compactified heterotic string in 4d that was obtained in the period 1992--94. Next they review recently discovered dualities that relate all five of the 10d…
We investigate the connections between four-dimensional, N=2 M-theory vacua constructed as orbifolds of type II, heterotic, and type I strings. All these models have the same massless spectrum, which contains an equal number of vector…
There are two families of non-BPS bi-spinors in the perturbative spectrum of the nine dimensional heterotic string charged under the gauge group $SO(16)\times SO(16)$. The relation between these perturbative non-BPS states and certain…
We study the connection between $N=2$ supersymmetry and a topological bound in a two-Higgs-doublet system with an $SU(2)\times U(1)_Y\times U(1)_{Y^{\prime}}$ gauge group. We derive the Bogomol'nyi equations from supersymmetry…
It was recently shown that the theory obtained by deforming a general two dimensional conformal theory by the irrelevant operator $T\bar T$ is solvable. In the context of holography, a large class of such theories can be obtained by…
Little Strings are a type of non-gravitational quantum theories that contain extended degrees of freedom, but behave like ordinary Quantum Field Theories at low energies. A particular class of such theories in six dimensions is engineered…
We show that the BRST structure of the topological string is encoded in the ``small'' $N=4$ superconformal algebra, enabling us to obtain, in a non-trivial way, the string theory from hamiltonian reduction of $A(1|1)$. This leads to the…
We analyze in detail the relation between an exactly marginal deformation of N=4 SYM - the Leigh-Strassler or ``beta-deformation'' - and its string theory dual (recently constructed in hep-th/0502086) by comparing energies of semiclassical…
New S-dualities in a scale invariant N=2 gauge theory with SU(2) x SU(2) gauge group are derived from embeddings of the theory in two different larger asymptotically free theories. The true coupling space of the scale invariant theory is a…
We review recent developments in the construction of heterotic and type II string field theories and their various applications. These include systematic procedures for determining the shifts in the vacuum expectation values of fields under…
It has been shown that non-Abelian vortex string supported in four dimensional (4D) ${\mathcal N}=2$ supersymmetric QCD (SQCD) with the U(2) gauge group and $N_f = 4$ quark flavors becomes a critical superstring. This string propagates in…
We present an algebraic approach to string theory, using a Hamiltonian reduction of N=2 WZW models. An embedding of sl(1|2) in a Lie superalgebra determines a niltopent subalgebra. Chirally gauging this subalgebra in the corresponding WZW…
The ten dimensional string theories as well as eleven dimensional supergravity are conjectured to arise as limits of a more basic theory, traditionaly dubbed M--theory. This notion is confined to the ten dimensional supersymmetric theories.…
Drawing on insights from the Swampland program, we initiate a classification of infinite distance limits in the conformal manifolds of 4d SCFTs. Each limit is characterized by a Hagedorn-like behavior of the large $N$ density of states,…
A review of orbifold geometry is given, followed by a review of the construction of four-dimensional heterotic string models by compactification on a six-dimensional Z_3 orbifold. Particular attention is given to the details of the…
We propose correspondences between 4d quantum field theories with N=2,1,0 (super)conformal invariance and Type IIB string theory on various orbifolds. We argue using the spacetime string theory, and check using the beta functions (exactly…
Based on the holographic conjecture for superstrings on Dp-brane backgrounds and the dual (p+1)-dimensional gauge theory ($0\le p\le 4$) given in hep-th/0308024 and hep-th/0405203, we continue the study of superstring amplitudes including…