Related papers: Metastable Vacua, Geometrical Engineering and MQCD…
We consider the M-theory lifts of configurations of type IIA D6-branes intersecting at angles. In supersymmetry preserving cases, the lifts correspond to special holonomy geometries, like conifolds and $G_2$ holonomy singularities.…
I argue that a certain perturbative proximity exists between some supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric theories (namely, pure Yang-Mills and adjoint QCD with two flavors, adjQCD$_{N_f=2}$). I start with ${\mathcal N}=2$ super-Yang-Mills…
We give a concise geometric recipe for constructing D-brane gauge theories that exhibit metastable SUSY breaking. We present two simple examples in terms of branes at deformed CY singularities.
Seiberg-Witten geometry of mass deformed $\mathcal N=2$ superconformal ADE quiver gauge theories in four dimensions is determined. We solve the limit shape equations derived from the gauge theory and identify the space $\mathfrak M$ of…
In the fruitful interplay between gauge fields and strings and in many conjectured M-theory dualities, open strings play a prominent role. We review the construction of open-string descendants (un-orientifolds) of closed-string theories…
It is becoming increasingly clear that metastable vacua may play a prominent role in supersymmetry-breaking. To date, however, this idea has been realized only in models where non-perturbative dynamics complicates the analysis of…
We investigate the transmutation of D-branes into Abelian magnetic backgrounds on the world-volume of higher-dimensional branes, within the framework of global models with compact internal dimensions. The phenomenon, T-dual to brane…
We study the moduli space of vacua of four dimensional N=1 and N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories with the gauge groups $Sp(2 N_c)$, $SO(2 N_c)$ and $SO(2 N_c +1)$ using the M theory fivebrane. Higgs branches of the N=2 supersymmetric gauge…
Geometric structures and dualities arise naturally in quantum field theories and string theory. In fact, these tools become very useful when studying strong coupling effects, where standard perturbative techniques can no longer be used. In…
We investigate topological T-duality in the framework of non-abelian gerbes and higher gauge groups. We show that this framework admits the gluing of locally defined T-duals, in situations where no globally defined ("geometric") T-duals…
We use the long-wavelength effective theory of black branes (blackfold approach) to perturbatively construct holographic duals of the vacua of the $\mathcal{N}=1$* supersymmetric gauge theory. Employing the mechanism of Polchinski and…
We use non-Abelian T-duality to construct new N=1 solutions of type IIA supergravity (and their M-theory lifts) that interpolate between AdS_5 geometries. We initiate a study of the holographic interpretation of these backgrounds as RG…
A brane picture in Type IIA superstring for the Yang Monopole is reconsidered. It makes use of D2 and D4-branes wrapped on cycles in the K3 surface. When the model was first presented some problems concerning the charges of the monopoles…
I give an introductory review of recent, fascinating developments in supersymmetric gauge theories. I explain pedagogically the miraculous properties of supersymmetric gauge dynamics allowing one to obtain exact solutions in many instances.…
In this paper we obtain new solutions of Type IIA and massive Type IIA supergravity. These solutions are the result of implementing a non-abelian T-duality along the internal $SU(2)$ isometries of several D3-brane configurations on the…
We study the Seiberg-Witten curves for N=2 SUSY gauge theories arising from type IIA string configurations with two orientifold sixplanes. Such theories lift to elliptic models in M-theory. We express the M-theory background for these…
We determine the vacuum structure of N=2 supersymmetric QCD with fundamental quarks for gauge groups SO(n) and Sp(2n), extending prior results for SU(n). The solutions are all given in terms of families of hyperelliptic Riemann surfaces of…
In this informal review for non-specalists we discuss the construction of maximally supersymmetric gauge theories that arise on the worldvolumes branes in String Theory and M-Theory. Particular focus is made on the relatively recent…
We consider Kaluza Klein reductions of M-theory on the Z_N orbifold of the spin bundle over S^3 along two different U(1) isometries. The first one gives rise to the familiar ``large N duality'' of the N=1 SU(N) gauge theory in which the UV…
We discuss N=2 supersymmetric Type IIA brane configurations within M theory. This is a generalization of the work of Witten to all classical groups.