Related papers: Comments on the D-instanton calculus in (p,p+1) mi…
A long-standing puzzle about the heterotic string has been what happens when an instanton shrinks to zero size. It is argued here that the answer at the quantum level is that an extra $SU(2)$ gauge symmetry appears that is supported in the…
We propose a bottom-up approach to the building of particle physics models from string theory. Our building blocks are Type II D-branes which we combine appropriately to reproduce desirable features of a particle theory model: 1) Chirality…
The Yukawa couplings of the simpler models of D-branes on toroidal orientifolds suffer from the so-called ``rank one'' problem -- there is only a single non-zero mass and no mixing. We consider the one-loop contribution of E2-instantons to…
A discrete string theory --a theory of embeddings from ${\bf Z}\times {\bf Z}_C\to {\bf R}^D$, where $C$ is the number of components of the string-- is explored. The closure of the algebra of constraints (`${\bf Z}_C$-Virasoro algebra') is…
We consider D-branes in string theory and address the issue of how to describe them mathematically as a fundamental object (as opposed to a solitonic object) of string theory in the realm in differential and symplectic geometry. The notion…
We study properties of a class of solutions of open string field theory which depend on a single holomorphic function F(z). We show that the energy of these solutions is well defined and is given by integer multiples of a single D-brane…
Motivated by the recent D-brane constructions of world-volume monopoles and instantons, we study the supersymmetric SU(N) Yang-Mills theory on $S^1 \times R^{3+1}$, spontaneously broken by a Wilson loop. In addition to the usual N-1…
D-brane configurations containing fundamental strings are constructed as classical solutions of Yang-Mills theory. The fundamental strings in these systems stretch between D-branes. In the case of D1-branes, this construction gives smooth…
We study the effect of D-instantons on closed string scattering amplitudes in the two-dimensional type 0B string theory from the worldsheet perspective. We find that the contribution from a pair of D-instanton and anti-D-instanton to the…
In this talk we discuss the need to introduce a string theory in order to obtain a consistent quantum theory of gravity unified with gauge interactions. We then discuss some basic properties of string theory and the origin and the…
We systematically investigate instanton corrections from wrapped Euclidean D-branes to the matter field superpotential of various classes of N=1 supersymmetric D-brane models in four dimensions. Both gauge invariance and the counting of…
In this paper we begin revisiting the little string theories (LSTs) which govern the dynamics of the instantonic heterotic $E_8 \times E_8$ five-branes probing ALE singularities, building on and extending previous results on the subject by…
We discuss a simple example of an F-theory compactification on a Calabi-Yau fourfold where background fluxes, together with nonperturbative effects from Euclidean D3 instantons and gauge dynamics on D7 branes, allow us to fix all closed and…
Hypermultiplet couplings in type IIA string theory on a Calabi-Yau space can be quantum corrected by D2-brane instantons wrapping special Lagrangian cycles. On the other hand, hypermultiplet couplings in the heterotic string on a K3 surface…
We study the simplest examples of minimal string theory whose worldsheet description is the unitary (p,q) minimal model coupled to two-dimensional gravity (Liouville field theory). In the Liouville sector, we show that four-point…
The (I)nstantonic strings are described as extended states occupying a flat (isometry) direction on the multiple M5-brane world-volume. These are constituted by 4-dimensional gauge instantons and 2-dimensional chiral axion. In this light we…
We provide a direct world-sheet derivation of the couplings of NS-NS and R-R fluxes to various types of D-branes (including instantonic ones) by evaluating disk amplitudes among two open string vertex operators at a generic brane…
We refine a previous proposal for obtaining the multi-instanton partition function from the supersymmetric index of the 1d supersymmetric gauge theory on the worldline of D0-branes. We provide examples where the refinements are crucial for…
We describe a new class of instanton effects in string compactifications that preserve only N=1 supersymmetry in four dimensions. As is well-known, worldsheet or brane instantons in such a background can sometimes contribute to an effective…
By reduction along the time direction, black holes in 4 dimensions yield instantons in 3 dimensions. Each of these instantons contributes individually at order $\exp(-|Q|/g_s)$ to certain protected couplings in the three-dimensional…