Related papers: Membrane and fivebrane instantons from quaternioni…
In this note, we prove that the one-loop pfaffian of the non-perturbative superpotential generated by Euclidean D-branes in type II compactifications on orientifolds of Calabi-Yau threefolds is determined by the moduli integral of the new…
The instanton equations on vector bundles over Calabi-Yau and hyper-K\"ahler cones can be reduced to matrix equations resembling Nahm's equations. We complement the discussion of Hermitian Yang-Mills (HYM) equations on Calabi-Yau cones,…
We study various aspects of four dimensional Einstein-Maxwell multicentred gravitational instantons. These are half-BPS Riemannian backgrounds of minimal N=2 supergravity, asymptotic to R^4, R^3 x S^1 or AdS_2 x S^2. Unlike for the…
The arcane ADHM construction of Yang-Mills instantons can be very naturally understood in the framework of D-brane dynamics in string theory. In this point-of-view, the mysterious auxiliary symmetry of the ADHM construction arises as a…
We use string field theory to fix the normalization of the D-instanton corrections to the superpotential involving the moduli fields of type II string theory compactified on an orientifold of a Calabi-Yau threefold in the absence of fluxes.…
We discuss various aspects of multi-instanton configurations in generic multi-cut matrix models. Explicit formulae are presented in the two-cut case and, in particular, we obtain general formulae for multi-instanton amplitudes in the…
We provide an explicit twistorial construction of quaternion-Kahler manifolds obtained by deformation of c-map spaces and carrying an isometric action of the modular group SL(2,Z). The deformation is not assumed to preserve any continuous…
We use a D-instanton or physical gauge approach to re-derive the heterotic string worldsheet instanton contribution to the superpotential in Calabi-Yau compactification. We derive an analogous formula for worldsheet instanton corrections to…
I use the universal instanton formalism to discuss quantum effects in the open-closed topological string theory of a Calabi-Yau A-model, in the presence of a multiply-wrapped `Floer' D-brane. This gives a precise meaning (up to the issue of…
We study the superpotential induced by Euclidean D3-brane instantons carrying instanton flux, with special emphasis on its significance for the stabilisation of Kahler moduli and Neveu-Schwarz axions in Type IIB orientifolds. Quite…
The moduli space of k G-instantons on R^4 for a classical gauge group G is known to be given by the Higgs branch of a supersymmetric gauge theory that lives on Dp branes probing D(p + 4) branes in Type II theories. For p = 3, these (3 + 1)…
We study quiver gauge theories on the round and squashed seven-spheres, and orbifolds thereof. They arise by imposing $G$-equivariance on the homogeneous space $G/H=\mathrm{SU}(4)/\mathrm{SU}(3)$ endowed with its Sasaki-Einstein structure,…
Explicit construction of the basic SU(2) anti-instantons over the multi-Taub--NUT geometry via the classical conformal rescaling method is exhibited. These anti-instantons satisfiy the so-called weak holonomy condition at infinity with…
To understand in detail the contribution of a world-sheet instanton to the superpotential in a heterotic string compactification, one has to understand the moduli dependence (bundle and complex structure moduli) of the one-loop determinants…
We investigate nonperturbative effects in M-theory compactifications arising from wrapped membranes. In particular, we show that in $d=4, \mathcal{N}=1$ compactifications along manifolds of $G_2$ holonomy, membranes wrapped on rigid…
The non-perturbative quantum geometry of the Universal Hypermultiplet (UH) is investigated in N=2 supergravity. The UH low-energy effective action is given by the four-dimensional quaternionic non-linear sigma-model having an U(1)xU(1)…
In this note I review the construction of higher-dimensional instantons and heterotic NS5-branes on Ricci-flat cones from arXiv:1109.3552, as well as fractional strings from arXiv:1202.5046. The focus is on methods and interpretation. I…
We present a discussion of black 2-branes coupled to the fields of the universal hypermultiplet of ungauged N=2 supergravity theory in five dimensions. Using a general ansatz dependent on a spherically symmetric harmonic function, we show…
We express the infinite sum of D-fivebrane instanton corrections to ${\cal R}^2$ couplings in ${\cal N}=4$ type I string vacua, in terms of an elliptic index counting 1/2-BPS excitations in the effective $Sp(N)$ brane theory. We compute the…
This letter discusses the orientifold projection of the quantum corrections to type IIA strings compactified on rigid Calabi-Yau threefolds. It is shown that N=2 membrane instanton effects give a holomorphic contribution to the…