Related papers: Orientifolds, Unoriented Instantons and Localizati…

In the so-called (2,2) theory, which is the U(N)^4 circular quiver superconformal Chern-Simons theory with levels (k,0,-k,0), it was known that the instanton effects are described by the free energy of topological strings whose…

Following a recent suggestion by Randall and Sundrum, we consider string compactification scenarios in which a compact slice of AdS-space arises as a subspace of the compactification manifold. A specific example is provided by the type II…

The study of the geometry of Calabi-Yau fourfolds is relevant for compactifications of string theory, M-theory, and F-theory to various dimensions. In the first part of this thesis, we study the action of mirror symmetry on two-dimensional…

We discuss two-dimensional sigma models on moduli spaces of instantons on K3 surfaces. These N=(4,4) superconformal field theories describe the near-horizon dynamics of the D1-D5-brane system and are dual to string theory on AdS_3. We…

In the first lecture, we discuss basic aspects of worldsheet and penta-brane instantons as well as (unoriented) D-brane instantons, which is our main focus here, and threshold corrections to BPS-saturated couplings. The second lecture is…

Mirror curves to toric Calabi-Yau threefolds can be quantized and lead to trace class operators on the real line. The eigenvalues of these operators are encoded in the BPS invariants of the underlying threefold, but much less is known about…

We study a system of fractional D3 and D(-1) branes in a Ramond-Ramond closed string background and show that it describes the gauge instantons of N=2 super Yang-Mills theory and their interactions with the graviphoton of N=2 supergravity.…

In this note we explore the stringy interpretation of non-perturbative effects in N=1^* deformations of the A_{k-1} quiver models. For certain types of deformations we argue that the massive vacua are described by Nk fractional D3-branes at…

We compute the exact vacuum expectation value of circular Wilson loops for Euclidean ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills with $G=SO(N),Sp(N)$, in the fundamental and spinor representations. These field theories are dual to type IIB string theory…

We compute the imaginary parts of genus-one string scattering amplitudes. Following Witten's $i\varepsilon$ prescription for the integration contour on the moduli space of worldsheets, we give a general algorithm for computing unitarity…

Compactifications of heterotic string theory on Generalized Calabi-Yau manifolds have been expected to give the same type of flexibility that type IIB compactifications on Calabi-Yau orientifolds have. In this note we generalize the work…

We generalize to the case of compactified superstrings a construction given previously for critical superstrings of finite one loop amplitudes that are well-defined for all external momenta. The novel issues that arise for compactified…

The non-perturbative low energy effective action of N=2 SYM is studied within a microscopic string realization via D3/D-instanton systems. The localization deformation of instanton moduli space which has allowed the exact computation of…

We propose a new family of matrix models whose 1/N expansion captures the all-genus topological string on toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. These matrix models are constructed from the trace class operators appearing in the quantization of the…

We study the effect of D-instantons on closed string scattering amplitudes in the two-dimensional type 0B string theory from the worldsheet perspective. We find that the contribution from a pair of D-instanton and anti-D-instanton to the…

We demonstrate that type II string theory compactified on a singular Calabi-Yau manifold is related to $c=1$ string theory compactified at the self-dual radius. We establish this result in two ways. First we show that complex structure…

We describe a new class of supersymmetric string compactifications to 4d Minkowski space. These solutions involve type II strings propagating on (orientifolds of) non Calabi-Yau spaces in the presence of background NS and RR fluxes. The…

We revisit the proposal of arXiv:2104.05716 for the worldsheet description of string theory compactifications on special holonomy manifolds obtained via connected sums: the geometric construction corresponds to a diamond of inclusions of…

We review how D-brane instantons can generate open string couplings of stringy hierarchy in the superpotential which violate global abelian symmetries and are therefore perturbatively forbidden. We discuss the main ingredients of this…

We survey recent results on quantum corrections to the hypermultiplet moduli space M in type IIA/B string theory on a compact Calabi-Yau threefold X, or, equivalently, the vector multiplet moduli space in type IIB/A on X x S^1. Our main…