Related papers: SU(N) Geometries and Topological String Amplitudes

It has been proposed recently that topological A-model string amplitudes for toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds in non self-dual graviphoton background can be caluculated by a diagrammatic method that is called the ``refined topological vertex''. We…

We broaden the scope of quantum field theory by introducing a general class of discrete gauge theories that realize either topological order or fracton behavior across dimensions. We start from translation-invariant systems endowed with…

We study the effective bosonic string that describes confining flux tubes in three-dimensional SU(N) Yang--Mills theories. Although the low-energy properties are universal and well described by the Nambu--Got\=o action, the subtle…

We consider N=1 supersymmetric U(N), SO(N), and Sp(N) gauge theories, with two-index tensor matter and added tree-level superpotential, for general breaking patterns of the gauge group. By considering the string theory realization and…

The focus of these lectures is the Gopakumar-Vafa's insight that ``Large N dualities'' (relating gauge theories and closed strings) are realized, in certain cases, by "transition in geometry". In their pivotal 1998 example, the gauge theory…

The 't Hooft expansion of SU(N) Chern-Simons theory on $S^3$ is proposed to be exactly dual to the topological closed string theory on the $S^2$ blow up of the conifold geometry. The $B$-field on the $S^2$ has magnitude $Ng_s=\lambda$, the…

We examine compactifications of heterotic string theory on manifolds with SU(3) structure. In particular, we study N = 1/2 domain wall solutions which correspond to the perturbative vacua of the 4D, N =1 supersymmetric theories associated…

We investigate S^3/Z_n partition function of 3d N = 2 supersymmetric field theories. In a gauge theory the partition function is the sum of the contributions of sectors specified by holonomies, and we should carefully choose the relative…

It has been recently shown that the celebrated SCFT$_4$/VOA$_2$ correspondence can be bridged via three-dimensional field theories arising from a specific R-symmetry twisted circle reduction. We apply this twisted reduction to the…

We study compactifications of the $N=2$ 6D tensionless string on various complex two-folds down to two-dimensions. In the IR limit they become non-trivial conformal field theories in 2D. Using results of Vafa and Witten on the partition…

The pure $SU(N)$ gauge theory with a $\theta$ term has the $\mathbb{Z}_N$ $1$-form global symmetry. When this symmetry is gauged, it is formally established that the topological charge becomes fractional. In this talk, we generate gauge…

We study the equivariant generalization of topological strings on toric manifolds, focusing in particular on defining the contributions of constant maps in the genus expansion of the partition function. This approach regularizes the…

The partition function of topological string theory on any family of Calabi-Yau threefolds is defined perturbatively as an asymptotic series in the topological string coupling and encodes, in a holomorphic limit, higher genus Gromov-Witten…

We constrain the spectrum of $\mathcal{N}=(1, 1)$ and $\mathcal{N}=(2, 2)$ superconformal field theories in two-dimensions by requiring the NS-NS sector partition function to be invariant under the $\Gamma_\theta$ congruence subgroup of the…

String representations of the Wilson loop are constructed in the SU(N)-version of compact QED in three and four dimensions. This is done exactly in the case of the fundamental Wilson loop and in the large-N limit in the case of the adjoint…

I summarise what recent lattice calculations tell us about the large-N limit of SU(N) gauge theories in 3+1 dimensions. The focus is on confinement, how close SU(oo) is to SU(3), new stable strings at larger N, deconfinement, topology and…

We propose to use the identification of topological string partition functions as equivariant indices on framed moduli spaces of instantons to study the Gopakumar-Vafa conjecture for some local Calabi-Yau geometries.

We consider topologically twisted $\mathcal{N}=2$, $SU(2)$ gauge theory with a massive adjoint hypermultiplet on a smooth, compact four-manifold $X$. A consistent formulation requires coupling the theory to a ${\rm Spin}^c$ structure, which…

Witten established correspondence between multiparton amplitudes in four-dimensional maximally supersymmetric gauge theory and topological string theory on supertwistor space $CP^{3|4}$. We extend Witten's correspondence to gauge theories…

The large N limit of SU(N) gauge theories in 3+1 dimensions is investigated on the lattice by extrapolating results obtained for $2 \le N \le 5$. A numerical determination of the masses of the lowest-lying glueball states and of the…