Related papers: F-theory Description of 3-String Junction
Geometric structures and dualities arise naturally in quantum field theories and string theory. In fact, these tools become very useful when studying strong coupling effects, where standard perturbative techniques can no longer be used. In…
By embedding N=2 gauge theories in string theory and utilizing string dualities we map the counting of BPS states with arbitrary electric and magnetic charges to computations of an A-model topological string on an associated geometry…
Geometrically non-Higgsable seven-branes carry gauge sectors that cannot be broken by complex structure deformation, and there is growing evidence that such configurations are typical in F-theory. We study strongly coupled physics…
The theorem referred to in the title is a technical result that is needed for the classification of elliptic and K3 fibrations birational to Fano 3-fold hypersurfaces in weighted projective space. We present a complete proof of the Curve…
We consider type IIB string theory with $N$ D3 branes and various configurations of sevenbranes, such that the string coupling $g_s$ is fixed to a constant finite value. These are the simplest realizations of F-theory, and are…
In this work we study the duality between F-theory and the heterotic string beyond the stable degeneration limit in F-theory and large fiber limit in the heterotic theory. Building upon a recent proposal by Clingher-Doran and…
We study junctions between confining strings. We show that the effective theory of such junctions is very predictive with only one new parameter, the junction's mass, controlling the first couple of terms in the expansion in the system…
We study topological string theory on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds using mirror symmetry. We compute higher genus topological string amplitudes and express these in terms of polynomials of functions constructed from the…
This is a rendering of a review talk on the state of String Theory, given at the EPS-2003 Conference, intended for a wide audience of experimental and theoretical physicists. It emphasizes general ideas rather than technical aspects.
The most general gauge-invariant marginal deformation of four-dimensional abelian BF-type topological field theory is studied. It is shown that the deformed quantum field theory is topological and that its observables compute, in addition…
We describe explicit formulas relevant to the F-theory/heterotic string duality that reconstruct from a specific Jacobian elliptic fibration on the Shioda-Inose surface covering a generic Kummer surface the corresponding genus-two curve…
We study some aspects of enhanced gauge symmetries in F-theory compactified on K3. We find open string configurations connecting various 7-branes which represent stable BPS states. In this approach we recover $D_n$ and $E_n$ gauge groups…
A careful treatment of closed string BRST cohomology shows that there are more discrete states and associated symmetries in $D=2$ string theory than has been recognized hitherto. The full structure, at the $SU(2)$ radius, has a natural…
We investigate the massive states in F-theory compactification models, including BPS string junctions stretching between parallel 7-branes and KK modes. We obtain analytical results when there are two colliding bunches of 7-branes with a…
BF theory is a topological theory that can be seen as a natural generalization of 3-dimensional gravity to arbitrary dimensions. Here we show that the coupling to point particles that is natural in three dimensions generalizes in a direct…
We study $\textrm{AdS}_2\times S^4 \times S^2 \times \Sigma_2$ solutions in type IIB string theory arising from D1 -- D3 -- NS5 brane intersections. These backgrounds enjoy sixteen supercharges and the corresponding internal geometry is…
We describe a general framework that can be used to geometrically engineer local, phenomenological models in F-theory and M-theory based on ALE-fibrations, and we present several concrete examples of such models that feature three…
Using basic homotopy constructions, we show that isomorphism classes of string structures on spin bundles are naturally given by certain degree 3 cohomology classes, which we call string classes, on the total space of the bundle. Using a…
We argue that the holographic description of four-dimensional BPS black holes naturally includes multi-center solutions. This suggests that the holographic dual to the gauge theory is not a single AdS_2 times S^2 but a coherent ensemble of…
This thesis contributes with a number of topics to the subject of string compactifications. In the first half of the work, I discuss the Hodge plot of Calabi-Yau threefolds realised as hypersurfaces in toric varieties. The intricate…