Related papers: Branes in Special Holonomy Backgrounds
We apply some methods of homology and K-theory to special classes of branes wrapping homologically nontrivial cycles. We treat the classification of four-geometries in terms of compact stabilizers (by analogy with Thurston's classification…
Spectral flow, spacetime supersymmetry, topological twists, chiral primaries related to marginal deformations, mirror symmetry: these are important consequences of the worldsheet N=2 superconformal symmetry of strings on Calabi-Yau…
A brief, example-oriented introduction is given to special holonomy and its uses in string theory and M-theory. We discuss A_k singularities and their resolution; the construction of a K3 surface by resolving T^4/Z_2; holomorphic cycles,…
This is an exposition of recent progress in the categorical approach to D-brane physics. I discuss the physical underpinnings of the appearance of homotopy categories and triangulated categories of D-branes from a string field theoretic…
In this highly speculative note we conjecture that it may be possible to understand features of coincident D-branes, such as the appearance of enhanced non-abelian gauge symmetry, in a purely geometric fashion, using a form of geometry…
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…
We study M-theory on two classes of manifolds of Spin(7) holonomy that are developing an isolated conical singularity. We construct explicitly a new class of Spin(7) manifolds and analyse in detail the topology of the corresponding…
We review an approach for computing non-perturbative, exact superpotentials for Type II strings compactified on Calabi-Yau manifolds, with extra fluxes and D-branes on top. The method is based on an open string generalization of mirror…
We probe poly-vector deformations of Type II backgrounds by the fundamental string, D0-brane and D3-brane, and of the 11D membrane background by the fundamental M2-brane. We show that the corresponding deformations of the world-volume…
This paper is devoted to the study of the effective field theory description of the probe D1-brane in the background of the system of two stacks of fivebranes in type IIB theory that intersect on $R^{1,1}$. We study the properties of the…
We consider bound states of D-branes wrapped around cycles with non-trivial fundamental groups of finite order. We find a new mechanism for binding D-branes by turning on flat discrete abelian and non-abelian gauge fields on their…
We show that the $G_2$-manifolds and certain ${\rm Spin}(7)$-manifolds are endowed with natural Riemannian twistorial structures. Along the way, the exceptional holonomy representations are reviewed and other related facts are considered.
IAs is well known, when D6 branes wrap a special lagrangian cycle on a non compact CY 3-fold in such a way that the internal string frame metric is Kahler there exists a dual description, which is given in terms of a purely geometrical…
Classical configurations of a M2-brane, a D2-brane and D0-branes are investigated in the background of an infinite array of M5-branes or NS5-branes. On the M2-brane, we discuss three kinds of configurations, such as a sphere, a cylinder and…
We analyze the global symmetries and anomalies of 4d $\mathcal{N} = 1$ field theories that arise from a stack of $N$ M5-branes probing a class of flux backgrounds. These backgrounds consist of a resolved $\mathbb{C}^2 / \mathbb{Z}_k$…
We study D-branes on three-dimensional orbifold backgrounds that admit topologically distinct resolutions differing by flop transitions. We show that these distinct phases are part of the vacuum moduli space of the super Yang-Mills gauge…
In a recent paper it was shown that fundamental strings are null waves in Double Field Theory. Similarly, membranes are waves in exceptional extended geometry. Here the story is continued by showing how various branes are Kaluza-Klein…
We discuss the field theory interpretation (via holographic duality) of some recently-discovered string theory solutions with varying flux, focusing on four dimensional theories with N=2 supersymmetry and with N=1 supersymmetry which arise…
Large $N_c$ and holographic arguments, as well as Monte Carlo results, suggest that the topological structure of the QCD vacuum is dominated by codimension-one membranes which appear as thin dipole layers of topological charge. Such…
We study a new holographic gauge theory based on probe D4-branes in the background dual to D4-branes on a circle with antiperiodic boundary conditions for fermions. Field theory configurations with baryons correspond to smooth embeddings of…