Related papers: Noncritical strings and W-algebras

I present asymmetric orientifold models which, with the addition of RR fluxes, fix all the NS NS moduli including the dilaton. In critical string theory, this gives new AdS backgrounds with (discretely tunably) weak string coupling.…

We examine rectangular W-algebras with $so(M)$ or $sp(2M)$ symmetry, which can be realized as the asymptotic symmetry of higher spin gravities with restricted matrix extensions. We compute the central charges of the algebras and the levels…

We provide a world-sheet description of Neveu-Schwarz five-branes wrapped on a complex projective space. It is an orbifold of the product of an N=2 minimal model and the IR fixed point of a certain linear sigma model. We show how the naked…

It is argued that recent developments point to the existence of an AdS_3 x S^2 x T^5 holographic dual for the 2D CFT living on the worldsheet of N coincident heterotic strings in a T^5 compactification, which can in turn be described by an…

We study N=2 four-dimensional flux vacua describing intrinsic non-perturbative systems of 3 and 7 branes in type IIB string theory. The solutions are described as compactifications of a G(ravity) theory on a Calabi Yau threefold which…

We perform a Wick rotation and analytic continuation from global AdS$_{d+1}$ to static dS$_{d+1}$, yielding CFT$_d$ generators with a nonstandard adjoint action tied to dS bulk coordinates. To reproduce the real-scalar two-point function,…

The study of curved D-brane geometries in type II strings implies a general relation between local singularities $\cx W$ of Calabi-Yau manifolds and gravity free supersymmetric QFT's. The minimal supersymmetric case is described by F-theory…

We study a class of non-geometric string vacua realized as completely soluble superconformal field theory (SCFT). These models are defined as `interpolating orbifolds' of $K3 \times S^1$ by the mirror transformation acting on the $K3$ fiber…

We construct and study the supersymmetry properties of the weighted projective spaces $\mathbb{WCP}^2$ and $\mathbb{WCP}^3$. These are topologically $\mathbb{CP}^n$ with $n+1$ orbifold singularities and as such are higher dimensional…

In this thesis, the AdS/CFT correspondence is used as a tool to explore novel AdS$_5$ Supergravity backgrounds (containing five-dimensional Anti-de Sitter spacetime) and their dual (four dimensional) Conformal Field Theory descriptions. In…

We study non-critical superstrings propagating in $d \le 6$ dimensional Minkowski space or equivalently, superstrings propagating on the two-dimensional Euclidean black hole tensored with d-dimensional Minkowski space. We point out a…

We construct N=1 non-critical strings in four dimensions dual to strongly coupled N=1 quiver gauge theories in the Coulomb phase, generalizing the string duals of Argyres-Douglas points in N=2 gauge theories. They are the first examples of…

Because of the existence of rigid Calabi--Yau manifolds, mirror symmetry cannot be understood as an operation on the space of manifolds with vanishing first Chern class. In this article I continue to investigate a particular type of…

We consider non-Abelian 1/2 BPS flux tubes (strings) in a deformed N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory, with mass terms mu_{1,2} of the adjoint fields breaking N=2 down to N=1. The main feature of the non-Abelian strings is the occurrence of…

We consider CFTs conjectured to be dual to higher spin theories of gravity in AdS_3 and AdS_4. Two dimensional CFTs with W_N symmetry are considered in the lambda=0 (k --> infinity) limit, where they are conjectured to be described by…

We study some properties of target space strings constructed from (2,1) heterotic strings. We argue that world-sheet complexification is a general property of the bosonic sector of such target world-sheets. We give a target space…

This paper lays groundwork for the detailed study of the non-trivial renormalization group flow connecting supersymmetric fixed points in four dimensions using string theory on AdS spaces. Specifically, we consider D3-branes placed at…

The quantum worldsheet dynamics of vortex strings contains information about the 4d non-Abelian gauge theory in which the string lives. Here I tell this story. The string worldsheet theory is typically some variant of the CP^{N-1}…

The maximally supersymmetric Freund-Rubin vacua for eleven dimensional supergravity, namely $AdS_4 \times S^7$ and $AdS_7 \times S^4$, admit an analytic continuation to $S^4 \times S^7$. From the full harmonic expansions on $S^4 \times…

We present a study of the worldsheets that describe the classical limit of various string scattering processes. Our main focus is on string scattering in AdS spacetime because of its relation via the AdS/CFT correspondence to gluon…