Related papers: Enumerative geometry and knot invariants
It is an old speculation that SU(N) gauge theory can alternatively be formulated as a string theory. Recently this subject has been revived, in the wake of the discovery of D-branes. In particular, it has been argued that at least some…
A new approach to the quantization of Chern-Simons theory has been developed in recent papers of the author. It uses a "simulation" of the moduli space of flat connections modulo the gauge group which reveals to be related to a lattice…
In this work we explore the physics associated to Calabi-Yau (CY) n-folds that can be described as a fibration in more than one way. Beginning with F-theory vacua in various dimensions, we consider limits/dualities with M-theory, type IIA,…
The purpose of the paper is to introduce some conjectures regarding the analytic continuation and the arithmetic properties of quantum invariants of knotted objects. More precisely, we package the perturbative and nonperturbative invariants…
We study a class of extremal transitions between topological distinct Calabi--Yau manifolds which have an interpretation in terms of the special massless states of a type II string compactification. In those cases where a dual heterotic…
We show that B-model topological strings on local Calabi-Yau threefolds are large N duals of matrix models, which in the planar limit naturally give rise to special geometry. These matrix models directly compute F-terms in an associated N=1…
We consider the reduction of the duality invariant approach to M-theory by a U-duality group valued Scherk-Schwarz twist. The result is to produce potentials for gauged supergravities that are normally associated with non-geometric…
We consider the mixed topological-holomorphic Chern-Simons theory introduced by Costello, Yamazaki and Witten on a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ orbifold. We use this to construct semi-classical solutions of the boundary Yang-Baxter equation in the…
Sinha and Vafa \cite {sinha} had conjectured that the $SO$ Chern-Simons gauge theory on $S^3$ must be dual to the closed $A$-model topological string on the orientifold of a resolved conifold. Though the Chern-Simons free energy could be…
It has been argued based on electric-magnetic duality and other ingredients that the Jones polynomial of a knot in three dimensions can be computed by counting the solutions of certain gauge theory equations in four dimensions. Here, we…
We generalize the Giveon-Kutasov duality by adding possible Chern-Simons interactions for the $U(N)$ gauge group. Some of the generalized dualities are known in the literature and many others are new to the best of our knowledge. The…
We extend earlier ideas about the appearance of noncommutative geometry in string theory with a nonzero B-field. We identify a limit in which the entire string dynamics is described by a minimally coupled (supersymmetric) gauge theory on a…
We review aspects of our formalism for differential geometry on noncommutative and nonassociative spaces which arise from cochain twist deformation quantization of manifolds. We work in the simplest setting of trivial vector bundles and…
Polynomial invariants corresponding to the fundamental representation of the gauge group $SU(N)$ are computed for arbitrary torus knots and links in the framework of Chern-Simons gauge theory making use of knot operators. As a result, a…
This paper gives a construction, using heat kernels, of differential forms on the moduli space of metrised ribbon graphs, or equivalently on the moduli space of Riemann surfaces with boundary. The construction depends on a manifold with a…
Quantum knot invariants (like colored HOMFLY-PT or Kauffman polynomials) are a distinguished class of non-perturbative topological invariants. Any known way to construct them (via Chern-Simons theory or quantum R-matrix) starts with a…
We construct two distinct yet related M-theory models that provide suitable frameworks for the study of knot invariants. We then focus on the four-dimensional gauge theory that follows from appropriately compactifying one of these M-theory…
In this thesis we elaborate on the three subjects of the title. We first show that supertubes exist and still preserve some supersymmetry in a large variety of curved backgrounds. Within the AdS/CFT correspondence we study the supersymmetry…
The role of the gauge invariance in noncommutative field theory is discussed. A basic introduction to noncommutative geometry and noncommutative field theory is given. Background invariant formulation of Wilson lines is proposed. Duality…
We provide various formulations of knot homology that are predicted by string dualities. In addition, we also explain the rich algebraic structure of knot homology which can be understood in terms of geometric representation theory in these…