Related papers: M-theory and the string genus expansion
Higher genus partition functions of string world sheets with boundaries are relevant, e.g. for computation of quantum corrections to Wilson loop expectation values. As a preparation for a possible study of strings in curved space like AdS…
These notes provide a hopefully pedagogic introduction to Born-Infeld theory and some of its uses in String/M-Theory from the perspective of some-one interested in spacetime geometry. Causality and the consequences of having both the open…
N=(2,1) heterotic string theory provides clues about hidden structure in M-theory related to string duality; in effect it geometrizes some aspects of duality. The program whereby one may deduce this hidden structure is outlined, together…
Time-like linear dilaton triggers, at the classical level, the creation of closed folded strings at an instant. We show that in cosmology these instant folded strings induce negative pressure at no energy cost. Hence they seem to allow an…
We investigate the physics of the E-string theory and its compactifications as well as their applications to four-dimensional topology. In particular, we compute the partition function of the topologically twisted theory on $M_4\times T^2$,…
The Matrix String Theory, i.e. the two dimensional U(N) SYM with N=(8,8) supersymmetry, has classical BPS solutions that interpolate between an initial and a final string configuration via a bordered Riemann surface. The Matrix String…
In this thesis we discuss non-perturbative phenomena emerging in gauge and in string/supergravity theories. We compute the partition function of 5D minimal supersymmetric U(1) gauge theory with extra adjoint matter in general…
It appears that string-M-theory is the only viable candidate for a complete theory of matter. It must therefore contain both gravity and QCD. What is particularly surprising is the recent conjecture that strongly coupled QCD matrix elements…
Recently a great deal of evidence has been found indicating that type IIA string theory compactified on K3 is equivalent to heterotic string theory compactified on T^4. Under the transformation which relates the two theories, the roles of…
In this note it is demonstrated how the Seiberg-Witten solutions and related integrable systems may arise from certain brane configurations in M-theory. Some subtleties of the formulation of the Seiberg-Witten theory via integrable systems…
This letter is an attempt to carry out a first-principle computation in M-theory using the point of view that the eleven-dimensional membrane gives the fundamental degrees of freedom of M-theory. Our aim is to derive the exact BPS $R^4$…
We study a configuration of a parallel F- (fundamental) and D- string in IIB string theory by considering its T-dual configuration in the matrix model description of M-theory. We show that certain non-perturbative features of string theory…
A continuum Landau theory for the micro-elasticity of membranes is discussed, which incorporates a coupling between the bilayer thickness variation and the difference in the two monolayers' tilts. This coupling stabilizes a new phase with a…
We propose a novel string theory propagating in a non-commutative deformation of the four dimensional space T* T^2 whose scattering states correspond to superconformal theories in 5 dimensions and the scattering amplitudes compute…
Beginning with a review of the arguments leading to the so-called c=1 barrier in the continuum formulation of noncritical string theory, the pathology is then exhibited in a discretized version of the theory, formulated through dynamical…
We study the CPT theorem for a two-dimensional conformal field theory on an arbitrary Riemann surface. On the sphere the theorem follows from the assumption that the correlation functions have standard hermiticity properties and are…
We study the topological string partition function of a class of toric, double elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds $X_{N,M}$ at a generic point in the K\"ahler moduli space. These manifolds engineer little string theories in five…
In this paper we further elaborate on our recently proposed solution to the cosmological constant problem - Phys. Rev. D82 (2010) 044006. One of the elements of the solution is the chameleonic behaviour of the Einstein frame dilaton: the…
We present a string theory construction of Omega-deformed four-dimensional gauge theories with generic values of \epsilon_1 and \epsilon_2. Our solution gives an explicit description of the geometry in the core of Nekrasov and Witten's…
$N=2$ string theories are formulated in space-times with 2 space and 2 time dimensions. If the world-sheet matter system consists of 2 chiral superfields, the space-time is Kahler and the dynamics are those of anti-self-dual gravity. If…