Related papers: Les Houches lectures on matrix models and topologi…
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…
We show that the $c=1$ bosonic string theory at finite temperature has two matrix-model realizations related by a kind of duality transformation. The first realization is the standard one given by the compactified matrix quantum mechanics…
In these lecture notes we discuss a body of work in which Morse theory is used to construct various homology and cohomology operations. In the classical setting of algebraic topology this is done by constructing a moduli space of graph…
The theoretical tools required to construct models in warped extra dimensions are presented. This includes how to localise zero modes in the warped bulk and how to obtain the holographic interpretation using the AdS/CFT correspondence.…
In these lectures I present a review of non-perturbative instanton effects in quantum theories, with a focus on large N gauge theories and matrix models. I first consider the structure of these effects in the case of ordinary differential…
Over the past decades, a great body of theoretical and mathematical work has been devoted to random-matrix descriptions of open quantum systems. In these notes, based on lectures delivered at the Les Houches Summer School "Stochastic…
We consider double-scaling limits of multicut solutions of certain one matrix models that are related to Calabi-Yau singularities of type A and the respective topological B model via the Dijkgraaf-Vafa correspondence. These double-scaling…
We describe some recent progress in understanding and formulating string theory which is based on extensive studies of strings in lower (D=2) dimension. At the center is a large $W_{\infty}$ symmetry that appears most simply in the matrix…
We use methods from topological data analysis to study the topological features of certain distributions of string vacua. Topological data analysis is a multi-scale approach used to analyze the topological features of a dataset by…
We study the relations between two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory on the torus, topological string theory on a Calabi-Yau threefold whose local geometry is the sum of two line bundles over the torus, and Chern-Simons theory on torus bundles.…
We consider the topological string partition function, including the Nekrasov deformation, for type IIB geometries with an A_{n-1} singularity over a Riemann surface. These models realize the N=2 SU(n) superconformal gauge systems recently…
We investigate the physical and mathematical structure of a new class of geometric transitions proposed by Aganagic and Vafa. The distinctive aspect of these transitions is the presence of open string instanton corrections to Chern-Simons…
Solutions of matrix quantum mechanics have been shown to describe time dependent backgrounds in the holographically dual two dimensional closed string theory. We review some recent work dealing with non-trivial space-times which arise in…
We briefly review the recent programme to construct, systematically and algorithmically, large classes of heterotic vacua, as well as the search for the MSSM therein. Specifically, we outline the monad construction of vector bundles over…
These are the lecture notes for a short course in topological string theory that I gave at Uppsala University in the fall of 2004. The notes are aimed at PhD students who have studied quantum field theory and general relativity, and who…
In these lectures, we review the main properties of the topological theory obtained by twisting the N=2 two-dimensional superconformal algebra, associated to supersymmetric string compactifications. In particular, we describe a set of…
These are notes of a series of lectures on mirror symmetry and topological string theory given at the Mathematical Sciences Center at Tsinghua University. The N=2 superconformal algebra, its deformations and its chiral ring are reviewed. A…
This paper is an exposition of the new subject of String Topology. We present an introduction to this exciting new area, as well as a survey of some of the latest developments, and our views about future directions of research. We begin…
We give a non-perturbative completion of a class of closed topological string theories in terms of building blocks of dual open strings. In the specific case where the open string is given by a matrix model these blocks correspond to a…
We consider aspects of Chern-Simons theory on L(p,q) lens spaces and its relation with matrix models and topological string theory on Calabi-Yau threefolds, searching for possible new large N dualities via geometric transition for non-SU(2)…