Related papers: On the Universality Class of Certain String Theory…
We undertake a detailed study of the gaugings of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory by its intrinsic charge conjugation 0-form and centre 1-form global symmetries, elucidating their higher algebraic and geometric structures, as well as the…
Non-Abelian strings for an Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs theory are explicitly constructed. We consider N_f Higgs fields in the fundamental representation of the U(1)xSU(N_c) gauge group in order to have a color-flavor SU(N_c) group remaining…
This dissertation consists of a comprehensive and pedagogical review of Maldacena's original derivation of the AdS/CFT correspondence and the main topics of string theory necessary to understand it. The large $N$ expansion of Yang-Mills…
We address the issue of T-duality and U-duality symmetries in the toroidally-compactified type IIA string. It is customary to take as a starting point the dimensionally-reduced maximal supergravity theories, with certain field strengths…
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 almost all string theories, including the bosonic string, the superstring and $W$-string theories, possess a twisted N=2 superconformal symmetry. This enables us to establish a connection between topological gravity and the…
We revisit the symmetries of massless two-dimensional adjoint QCD with gauge group $SU(N)$. The dynamics is not sufficiently constrained by the ordinary symmetries and anomalies. Here we show that the theory in fact admits $\sim 2^{2N}$…
We address the issue of the worldsheet and spacetime covariant formulation for matrix strings. The problem is solved in the limit of vanishing string coupling. To go beyond the g_s = 0 limit, we propose a topological quantum field theory as…
We reformulate twistor-string theory as a heterotic string based on a twisted (0,2) model. The path integral localizes on holomorphic maps, while the (0,2) moduli naturally correspond to the states of N=4 super Yang-Mills and conformal…
We put forward the Axionic String Ansatz (ASA), which provides a unified description for the worldsheet dynamics of confining strings in pure Yang--Mills theory both in $D=3$ and $D=4$ space-time dimensions. The ASA is motivated by the…
Strominger and collaborators recently proposed that soft theorems for gauge and gravity amplitudes can be interpreted as Ward identities of a 2d CFT at null infinity. In this paper, we will consider a specific realization of this CFT known…
We discuss infinite-dimensional hidden symmetry algebras (and hence an infinite number of conserved nonlocal charges) of the N-extented self-dual super Yang-Mills equations for general N\leq4 by using the supertwistor correspondence.…
We review four basic examples where string theory and/or field theory dualities predict the existence of soliton bound-states. These include the existence of threshold bound-states of D0 branes required by IIA/M duality and the…
We consider the contraction of some non linear sigma models which appear in effective supergravity theories. In particular we consider the contractions of maximally symmetric spaces corresponding to N=1 and N=2 theories, as they appear in…
We study a toy model for an interacting scalar field theory in which the fundamental excitations are confined in the sense of having unphysical, positivity-violating propagators, a fact tracing back to a decomposition of these in…
We formulate gauge theories on noncompact Lorentzian manifolds. For definiteness we choose an SO(1,4) gauge theory -- the isometry group of the five dimensional Minkowski space. We make use of the natural inner product to construct the…
Time-dependent solutions of supergravity and string theory are studied. The examples are obtained from de Sitter deformation of gauge/gravity dualities, analytical continuation of static solutions, and ``exactly solvable'' worldsheet…
We investigate the string solutions and cosmological implications of the gauge ${\rm U(1)_Z}\,\times$ global ${\rm U(1)_{PQ}}$ model. With two hierarchical symmetry-breaking scales, the model exhibits three distinct string solutions: a…
A world-sheet sigma model approach is applied to string theories dual to four-dimensional gauge theories, and semi-classical soliton solutions representing highly excited string states are identified which correspond to gauge theory…
We inspect the excitation energy spectrum of a confining string in terms of solitons in an effective field theory model. The spectrum can be characterized by a spectral function, and twisting and bending of the string is manifested by the…