Related papers: Z Theory

In discussing the construction of a consistent theory of quantum gravity unified with the gauge interactions we are naturally led to a string theory. We review its properties and the five consistent supersymmetric string theories in ten…

If the vacuum manifold of a field theory has the appropriate topological structure, the theory admits topological structures analogous to the D-branes of string theory, in which defects of one dimension terminate on other defects of higher…

We revisit the four-dimensional theory of gravity that arises from string theory with higher-derivative corrections. By compactifying and truncating the ten-dimensional effective action of heterotic string theory at first order in…

We construct consistent bosonic higher-spin gauge theories in odd dimensions D>3 based on Chern-Simons forms. The gauge groups are infinite-dimensional higher-spin extensions of the Anti-de Sitter groups SO(D-1,2). We propose an invariant…

We describe all almost contact metric, almost hermitian and $G_2$-structures admitting a connection with totally skew-symmetric torsion tensor, and prove that there exists at most one such connection. We investigate its torsion form, its…

Recent work on the loop representation of quantum gravity has revealed previously unsuspected connections between knot theory and quantum gravity, or more generally, 3-dimensional topology and 4-dimensional generally covariant physics. We…

We study ${\cal N}=2$ compactifications of heterotic string theory on the CHL orbifold $(K3\times T^2)/\mathbb{Z}_N$ with $N= 2, 3, 5, 7$. $\mathbb{Z}_N$ acts as an involution on $K3$ together with a shift of $1/N$ along one of the circles…

We study complex Chern-Simons theory on a Seifert manifold $M_3$ by embedding it into string theory. We show that complex Chern-Simons theory on $M_3$ is equivalent to a topologically twisted supersymmetric theory and its partition function…

In this note we construct asymptotically Lifshitz spacetimes in the Chern-Simons formulation of three dimensional higher spin gravity and relate the resulting theories to integrable systems which are elements of the KdV hierarchy.

We construct new topological theories related to sigma models whose target space is a seven dimensional manifold of G_2 holonomy. We define a new type of topological twist and identify the BRST operator and the physical states. Unlike the…

Topological quantum field theories can be used to probe topological properties of low dimensional manifolds. A class of these theories known as Schwarz type theories, comprise of Chern-Simons theories and BF theories. In three dimensions…

We study the relation between topological string theory and singularity theory using the partition function of $A_{N-1}$ topological string defined by matrix integral of Kontsevich type. Genus expansion of the free energy is considered, and…

Two solutions of stringy gravity in three and four dimensions which admit interpretation as a black hole and a black string, respectively, are discussed. It is demonstrated that they are exact WZWN nonlinear sigma models to all orders in…

We study the connection between topological strings and contact homology recently proposed in the context of knot invariants. In particular, we establish the proposed relation between the Gromov-Witten disk amplitudes of a Lagrangian…

We make a number of observations about matter-ghost string phase, which may eventually lead to a formal connection between matroid theory and string theory. In particular, in order to take advantage of the already established connection…

In this thesis, we explore two approaches to string phenomenology. In the first half of the work, we investigate M-theory compactifications on spaces with co-dimension four, orbifold singularities. We construct M-theory on C^2/Z_N by…

We conjecture that M-theory compactified on an ALE space (or K3) is described by 0-branes moving on the ALE space. We give evidence for this by showing that if we compactify another circle, we recover string theory on the ALE space. This…

Topologically massive gravity (TMG) in three dimensions provides an interesting toy model for constructing a quantum theory of gravity. Although it can be thought of as standing as a theory in its own right, it is also of interest to see…

Higher dimensional Chern-Simons theories, even though constructed along the same topological pattern as in 2+1 dimensions, have been shown recently to have generically a non-vanishing number of degrees of freedom. In this paper, we carry…

We consider M(atrix) theory compactifications to seven dimensions with eight unbroken supersymmetries. We conjecture that both M(atrix) theory on K3 and Heterotic M(atrix) theory on T^3 are described by the same 5+1 dimensional theory with…