Related papers: The Topological G2 String
In this thesis we discuss some topics about topology and superstring backgrounds with D-branes. We start with a mathematical review about generalized homology and cohomology theories and the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence, in order to…
We set up, purely in A-model terms, a novel formalism for the global solution of the open and closed topological A-model on toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. The starting point is to build on recent progress in the mathematical theory of open…
We propose a relation between the operator of S-duality (of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory in 3+1D) and a topological theory in one dimension lower. We construct the topological theory by compactifying N=4 super Yang-Mills on a circle with an…
We study string theory on orbifolds in the presence of an antisymmetric constant background field in detail and discuss some of new aspects of the theory. It is pointed out that the term with the antisymmetric background field can be…
The condition of having an $N=1$ spacetime supersymmetry for heterotic string leads to 4 distinct possibilities for compactifications namely compactifications down to 6,4,3 and 2 dimensions. Compactifications to 6 and 4 dimensions have been…
This thesis is concerned with a realisation of topological theories in terms of statistical models known as Calabi-Yau crystals. The thesis starts with an introduction and review of topological field and string theories. Subsequently…
These are notes of a series of lectures on mirror symmetry and topological string theory given at the Mathematical Sciences Center at Tsinghua University. The N=2 superconformal algebra, its deformations and its chiral ring are reviewed. A…
We give a new, connected-sum-like construction of Riemannian metrics with special holonomy G_2 on compact 7-manifolds. The construction is based on a gluing theorem for appropriate elliptic partial differential equations. As a prerequisite,…
We extend the coupling to the topological backgrounds, recently worked out for the 2-dimensional BF-model, to the most general Poisson sigma models. The coupling involves the choice of a Casimir function on the target manifold and modifies…
We study various aspects of orientifold projections of Type IIB closed string theory on Gepner points in different dimensions. The open string sector is introduced, in the usual constructive way, in order to cancel RR charges carried by…
We study the topologically twisted cigar, namely the SL(2,R)/U(1) superconformal field theory at arbitrary level, and find the BRST cohomology of the topologically twisted N=2 theory. We find a one to one correspondence between the spectrum…
In this thesis we study string compactifications on manifolds equipped with a $G$-structure, placing a special emphasis on the interplay between geometry and physics. We follow two complementary approaches. In the first part of the thesis…
We argue that a class of ``non-critical superstring'' vacua is holographically related to the (non-gravitational) theory obtained by studying string theory on a singular Calabi-Yau manifold in the decoupling limit $g_s\to 0$. In two…
We take first steps toward a theory of ``conformal twists'' for superconformal field theories in dimension 3 to 6, extending the well-known analysis of twists for supersymmetric theories. A conformal twist is a square-zero odd element in…
The data of a "2D field theory with a closed string compactification" is an equivariant chain level action of a cell decomposition of the union of all moduli spaces of punctured Riemann surfaces with each component compactified as a…
A $D>2$ topological string is presented by coupling the $2d$ topological gravity with the twisted version of the $N=2$ superconformal matter with $c=3k/(k-2)$. The latter is shown to admit $k+1$ chiral primary fields from the…
We show, using a theorem of Milnor and Margulis, that string theory on compact negatively curved spaces grows new effective dimensions as the space shrinks, generalizing and contextualizing the results in hep-th/0510044. Milnor's theorem…
We obtain non-trivial solutions to the heterotic $\rm{G}_2$ system, which are defined on the total spaces of non-trivial circle bundles over Calabi--Yau $3$-orbifolds. By adjusting the $S^1$ fibres in proportion to a power of the string…
We consider a generating function for the number of conformal blocks in rational conformal field theories with an even central charge c on a genus g Riemann surface. It defines an entropy functional on the moduli space of conformal field…
A conjecture is made as to how to quantize topological M theory. We study a Hamiltonian decomposition of Hitchin's 7-dimensional action and propose a formulation for it in terms of 13 first class constraints. The theory has 2 degrees of…