Related papers: The Hitchin functionals and the topological B-mode…
This paper investigates the twisted Calabi functional and the associated twisted Calabi flow on compact K\"ahler manifolds. Our main contributions are threefold: first, we establish the convexity of the twisted Calabi functional at its…
In this contribution we consider the recent computation of the gauge coupling $\beta$-function at four loops and the Yukawa matrix $\beta$-function at three loops in the most general, renormalizable and four-dimensional quantum field…
In recent work N. Hitchin introduced the concept of "generalised geometry". The key feature of generalised structures is that that they can be acted on by both diffeomorphisms and 2-forms, the so-called $B$-fields. In this lecture, we give…
The renormalisation group improved Standard Model effective potential in an arbitrary curved spacetime is computed to one loop order in perturbation theory. The loop corrections are computed in the ultraviolet limit, which makes them…
The primary aim of this thesis is to investigate metrics which are induced by a differential form and arise as a critical point of Hitchin's variational principle. Firstly, we investigate metrics associated with the structure group PSU(3)…
In this paper, we discuss the properties of the generating functions of spin Hurwitz numbers. In particular, for spin Hurwitz numbers with arbitrary ramification profiles, we construct the weighed sums which are given by Orlov's…
A $b$-contact structure on a $b$-manifold $(M,Z)$ is a Jacobi structure on $M$ satisfying a transversality condition along the hypersurface $Z$. We show that, in three dimensions, $b$-contact structures with overtwisted three-dimensional…
A formalism is presented to construct a non-perturbative Grand Unified Theory when gravitational Planck-scale phenomena are included. The fundamental object on the Planck scale is the three-torus T^3 from which the known properties of…
We discuss several implications of R^4 couplings in M theory when compactified on Calabi-Yau (CY) manifolds. In particular, these couplings can be predicted by supersymmetry from the mixed gauge-gravitational Chern-Simons couplings in five…
We show that B-model topological strings on local Calabi-Yau threefolds are large N duals of matrix models, which in the planar limit naturally give rise to special geometry. These matrix models directly compute F-terms in an associated N=1…
We relate the counting of refined BPS numbers on compact elliptically fibred Calabi-Yau threefolds $X$ to Wilson loop expectations values in the gauge theories that emerge in various rigid local limits of the 5d supergravity theory defined…
Quantum fluctuating loops in 2+1 dimensions give gapless many-body states that are beyond current field theory techniques. Microscopically, these loops can be domain walls between up and down spins, or chains of flipped spins similar to…
We compute the dominant new physics contributions to the processes Z -> b b and B - B in the context of two representative models with extra dimensions. The main thrust of the calculations focuses on how to control the effects of the…
Effects of universal extra dimensions on Standard Model observables first arise at the one-loop level. The quantization of this class of theories is therefore essential in order to perform predictions. A comprehensive study of the Standard…
The dynamics of finite nonperiodic Toda lattice is an isospectral deformation of the finite three--diagonal Jacobi matrix. It is known since the work of Stieltjes that such matrices are in one--to--one correspondence with their Weyl…
Sato theory provides a correspondence between solutions to the KP hierarchy and points in an infinite dimensional Grassmannian. In this correspondence, flows generated infinitesimally by powers of the ``shift'' operator give time dependence…
We study the space of Sasaki metrics on a compact manifold $M$ by introducing an odd-dimensional analogue of the $J$-flow. That leads to the notion of critical metric in the Sasakian context. In analogy to the K\"ahler case, on a polarised…
We determine the N=1 low energy effective action for compactifications of type IIB string theory on compact Calabi-Yau orientifolds in the presence of background fluxes from a Kaluza-Klein reduction. The analysis is performed for Calabi-Yau…
We compute the one-loop beta functions of the cosmological constant, Newton's constant and the topological mass in topologically massive supergravity in three dimensions. We use a variant of the proper time method supplemented by a simple…
Four-graviton scattering in eleven-dimensional supergravity is considered at one loop compactified on one, two and three-dimensional tori. The dependence on the toroidal geometry determines the known perturbative and non-perturbative terms…