Related papers: Instanton calculus in R-R background and the topol…
We give a mathematically rigorous proof of Nekrasov's conjecture: the integration in the equivariant cohomology over the moduli spaces of instantons on $\mathbb R^4$ gives a deformation of the Seiberg-Witten prepotential for N=2 SUSY…
We study finite action anti-self-dual Yang-Mills connections on the multi-Taub-NUT space. We establish the curvature and the harmonic spinors decay rates and compute the index of the associated Dirac operator. This is the first in a series…
We study effective quiver gauge theories arising from a stack of D3-branes on certain Calabi-Yau singularities. Our point of view is a first principle approach via open topological string theory. This means that we construct the natural…
We perform an exact computation of the gauged linear sigma model associated to a D1-D5 brane system on a resolved A_1 singularity. This is accomplished via supersymmetric localization on the blown-up two-sphere. We show that in the…
We calculate the leading weak-coupling instanton contribution to the moduli-space metric of N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with gauge group SU(2) compactified on R^3 x S^1. The results are in precise agreement with the semiclassical…
When eight-dimensional instantons, satisfying F \wedge F = \pm \star_8 (F\wedge F), shrink to zero size, we find stringy objects in higher order ten-dimensional Yang-Mills (viewed as a low-energy limit of open string theory). The associated…
We study D-branes on three-dimensional orbifold backgrounds that admit topologically distinct resolutions differing by flop transitions. We show that these distinct phases are part of the vacuum moduli space of the super Yang-Mills gauge…
We explore the correspondence between Yang-Mills instantons and algebraic curves. The curve is defined by Higgs zero locus of dyonic instantons in 1+4 dimensional Yang-Mills-Higgs theory, and it is identified in string theory with the…
We perform a systematic analysis of the D-brane charges associated with string theory realizations of d=3 gauge theories, focusing on the examples of the N=4 supersymmetric U(N)xU(N+M) Yang-Mills theory and the N=3 supersymmetric…
We review exact results obtained for R^4 couplings in maximally supersymmetric type II string theories. These couplings offer a privileged scene to understand the rules of semiclassical calculus in string theory. Upon expansion in weak…
Instanton contributions in 2d string theory are known to include subtle numerical factors $\zeta_n$ closely related to a contour prescription in multi-instanton string amplitudes. Both ingredients appear to be ambiguous due to a degeneracy…
We consider compactifications of the matrix model of M-theory on $S^1/Z_2\times T^d$ for $d>0$, and interpret them as orbifolds of the supersymmetric U(N) Yang-Mills theory on $R\times T^{d+1}$. The orbifold group acts both on the gauge…
We revisit the problem of constructing instantons on ADE orbifolds R^4/\Gamma and point out some subtle relations with the complex structure on the orbifold. We consider generalized instanton equations on R^4/\Gamma which are BPS equations…
We study the quantum effects on the Coulomb branch of N=2 SU(2) supersymmetric Yang-Mills with fundamental matters compactified on R^3 x S^1, and extract the explicit perturbative and leading non-perturbative corrections to the moduli space…
We study the instanton contributions of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory and propose that the instanton moduli space is mapped to the moduli space of punctured spheres. Due to the recursive structure of the boundary in the…
We consider two simple examples of multi-instanton configurations in type II 4d N=1 superstring compactifications. The first one involves O(1) and U(1) D2-instantons embedded in T^6/(Z_2 x Z_2') geometry with SU(4) gauge symmetry coming…
We examine the dynamics of noncommutative instantons of instanton number $2$ and commutative instantons of instanton number $3$ in 5d Super Yang Mills theory. We begin by detailing the construction of the 1/4-BPS instanton solutions, their…
I discuss tree-level amplitudes in cubic topological string field theory, showing that a certain family of gauge conditions leads to an A-infty algebra of tree-level string products which define a potential describing the dynamics of…
We survey recent results on quantum corrections to the hypermultiplet moduli space M in type IIA/B string theory on a compact Calabi-Yau threefold X, or, equivalently, the vector multiplet moduli space in type IIB/A on X x S^1. Our main…
We construct an octonionic instanton solution to the seven dimensional Yang-Mills theory based on the exceptional gauge group $G_2$ which is the automorphism group of the division algebra of octonions. This octonionic instanton has an…