Related papers: Localization on the D-brane, two-dimensional gauge…
The arcane ADHM construction of Yang-Mills instantons can be very naturally understood in the framework of D-brane dynamics in string theory. In this point-of-view, the mysterious auxiliary symmetry of the ADHM construction arises as a…
N=1^* gauge theories are believed to have fractional instanton contributions in the confining vacua. D3 brane probe computations in gravitation dual of large-N N=2^* gauge theories point to the absence of such contributions in the low…
We study the stringy instanton partition function of four dimensional ${\cal N}=2$ $U(N)$ supersymmetric gauge theory which was obtained by Bonelli et al in 2013. In type IIB string theory on $\mathbb{C}^2\times T^*\mathbb{P}^1\times…
We show that topological strings on a class of non-compact Calabi-Yau threefolds is equivalent to two dimensional bosonic U(N) Yang-Mills on a torus. We explain this correspondence using the recent results on the equivalence of the…
The instanton contributions to the partition function and to homologically trivial Wilson loops for a U(N) Yang-Mills theory on a torus $T^2$ are analyzed. An exact expression for the partition function is obtained as a sum of contributions…
We use supersymmetric localization to compute the partition function of N=2 super-Yang-Mills on S^4 in the presence of a gauged linear sigma model surface defect on a S^2 subspace. The result takes the form of a standard partition function…
We consider two-dimensional Yang-Mills theories on arbitrary Riemann surfaces. We introduce a generalized Yang-Mills action, which coincides with the ordinary one on flat surfaces but differs from it in its coupling to two-dimensional…
Codimension-two objects on a system of brane-antibrane are studied in the context of Born-Infeld type effective field theory with a complex tachyon and U(1)$\times$U(1) gauge fields. When the radial electric field is turned on in D2${\bar…
We describe the structure of string vacuum states in the supersymmetric matrix model for M theory compactified on a circle in the large-N limit. We show that the theory admits topological instanton field configurations which at…
In this paper, we study instanton corrections in the N=2* gauge theory by using its description in string theory as a freely-acting orbifold. The latter is used to compute, using the worldsheet, the deformation of the Yang-Mills action. In…
We study self-dual instantons of topological charge $Q=r/N$, for any natural $r$, in $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory on a four torus with 't Hooft twists, by embedding them into worldvolume theories of $D$-branes. To study their moduli, we…
We study the relation between Donaldson-Thomas theory of Calabi-Yau threefolds and a six-dimensional topological Yang-Mills theory. Our main example is the topological U(N) gauge theory on flat space in its Coulomb branch. To evaluate its…
We apply localization techniques to $A$-twisted $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ theories of vector multiplets on $S^{2}$. We derive formulae for $A$-model partition functions and correlators as integrals along a real contour, as opposed to a complex…
We investigate supergravity solutions describing D5 branes wrapped on a two cycle which are dual to N=2 super Yang Mills theory. Brane probing these solutions allows the moduli space of the field theory to be identified. There are a unique…
We quantize pure 2d Yang-Mills theory on an arbitrary Riemann surface in the gauge where the field strength is diagonal. Twisted sectors originate, as in Matrix string theory, from permutations of the eigenvalues around homotopically…
We derive the exact vortex partition function in 2d $\mathcal{N}$ = (2,2) gauge theory on the Omega-background, applying the localization scheme in the Higgs phase. We show that the partition function at a finite Omega-deformation parameter…
We study N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on a Kaehler manifold with $b_2^+ \geq 3$. Adding suitable perturbations we show that the partition function of the N=4 theory is the sum of contributions from two branches: (i) instantons, (ii)…
We write down an explicit conjecture for the instanton partition functions in 4d N=2 SU(N) gauge theories in the presence of a certain type of surface operator. These surface operators are classified by partitions of N, and for each…
We review recent progress in determining the effects of D-brane instantons in N=1 supersymmetric compactifications of Type II string theory to four dimensions. We describe the abstract D-brane instanton calculus for holomorphic couplings…
This is the fourth article in the collection of reviews "Exact results on N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories", ed. J.Teschner. It describes a very useful mathematical representation of the results of the localisation computations of…