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Two classes of stringy instanton effects, stronger than standard field theory instantons, are identified in the heterotic string theory. These contributions are established using type IIA/heterotic and type I/heterotic dualities. They…
We study conformal field theory correlation functions relevant for string diagrams with open strings that stretch between several parallel branes of different dimensions. In the framework of conformal field theory, they involve boundary…
We present an exact representation for decaying ZZ-branes within the dual matrix model formulation of c=1 string theory. It is shown how to trade the insertion of decaying ZZ-branes for a shift of the closed string background. Our formlaism…
We compute the one-loop partition function for quadratic tachyon background in open string theory. Both closed and open string representations are developed. Using these representations we study the one-loop divergences in the partition…
The dissertation consists of two parts. The first presents an account of the effective worldvolume description of $N$ coincident M2-branes ending on an M5-brane in M-theory. It reviews Basu and Harvey's recent description of the worldvolume…
We explain how nonperturbative effects can be systematically included when constructing an effective field theory. We concentrate in particular on the matching calculation, by which a low energy theory without a heavy particle degree of…
Fluxbrane-like backgrounds obtained from flat space by a sequence of T-dualities and shifts of polar coordinates (beta deformations) provide an interesting class of exactly solvable string theories. We compute the one-loop partition…
In this paper, which is a revised version of the author's PhD thesis, we analyze two different applications of string theory. In the first part, we focus on four dimensional compactifications of Type II string theories preserving N=1…
We generalize Nakajima-Yoshioka blowup equations to arbitrary gauge group with hypermultiplets in arbitrary representations. Using our blowup equations, we compute the instanton partition functions for 4d N=2 and 5d N=1 gauge theories for…
In this note we study aspects of the interplay between fluxbranes and p-branes. We describe how a fluxbrane can be physically realized as a limit of a brane-antibrane configuration, in a manner similar to the way a uniform electric field…
In these lecture notes duality tests and instanton effects in supersymmetric vacua of string theory are discussed. A broad overview of BPS-saturated terms in the effective actions is first given. Their role in testing the consistency of…
We compute the imaginary parts of genus-one string scattering amplitudes. Following Witten's $i\varepsilon$ prescription for the integration contour on the moduli space of worldsheets, we give a general algorithm for computing unitarity…
We identify exact gauge-instanton-like solutions to (super)-string theory using the method of dimensional reduction. We find in particular the Polyakov instanton of 3d QED, and a class of generalized Yang-Mills merons. We discuss their…
We analyze exactly the simplest minimal superstring theory, using its dual matrix model. Its target space is one dimensional (the Liouville direction), and the background fields include a linear dilaton, a possible tachyon condensate, and…
Two subtle aspects of brane intersections are investigated. The first concerns the `half-branes' that arise in discussions of the Hanany-Witten effect, often in the D0/D8 setting. The second involves the validity of seemingly singular…
We probe the effective worldvolume theory of a set of coinciding D-branes by switching on constant electro-magnetic fields on them. The comparison of the mass spectrum predicted by string theory with the mass spectrum obtained from the…
Sen has recently drawn attention to an exact time-dependent Boundary Conformal Field Theory with the space-time interpretation of brane creation and annihilation. An interesting limit of this BCFT is formally equivalent to an array of…
The recent discovery of an explicit conformal field theory description of Type II $p$-branes makes it possible to investigate the existence of bound states of such objects. In particular, it is possible with reasonable precision to verify…
In this Ph.D. thesis, we study some aspects of strings and branes. We mainly focus on anomalous D-brane couplings and on non-supersymmetric branes. In Chapter 2, we illustrate three key concepts in a field theory context: duality,…
In this brief report, we summarize our recent studies in brane cosmology in both string theory and M-Theory on $S^{1}/Z_{2}$. In such setups, we find that the radion is stable and its mass, with a very conservative estimation, can be of the…