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We analyze the moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau threefolds and their associated conformally invariant nonlinear sigma-models and show that they are described by an unexpectedly rich geometrical structure. Specifically, the Kahler sector of the…
Aspects of duality and mirror symmetry in string theory are discussed. We emphasize, through examples, the importance of loop spaces for a deeper understanding of the geometrical origin of dualities in string theory. Moreover we show that…
We review recent work which has significantly sharpened our geometric understanding and interpretation of the moduli space of certain $N$=2 superconformal field theories. This has resolved some important issues in mirror symmetry and has…
These are notes of a series of lectures on mirror symmetry and topological string theory given at the Mathematical Sciences Center at Tsinghua University. The N=2 superconformal algebra, its deformations and its chiral ring are reviewed. A…
Recent work initiated by Strominger has lead to a consistent physical interpretation of certain types of transitions between different string vacua. These transitions, discovered several years ago, involve singular conifold configurations…
We propose and give strong evidence for a duality relating Type II theories on Calabi-Yau spaces and heterotic strings on $K3 \times T^2$, both of which have $N=2$ spacetime supersymmetry. Entries in the dictionary relating the dual…
Mirror symmetry relates type IIB string theory on a Calabi-Yau 3-fold to type IIA on the mirror CY manifold, whose complex structure and Kaehler moduli spaces are exchanged. We show that the mirror map is a particular case of a more general…
Recent developments in string theory have revealed a surprising connection between spectral theory and local mirror symmetry: it has been found that the quantization of mirror curves to toric Calabi-Yau threefolds leads to trace class…
It is shown that in string theory mirror duality is a gauge symmetry (a Weyl transformation) in the moduli space of $N=2$ backgrounds on group manifolds, and we conjecture on the possible generalization to other backgrounds, such as…
These notes are devoted to explaining aspects of the mirror manifold problem that can be naturally understood from the point of view of topological field theory. Basically this involves studying the topological field theories made by…
The recent result of Strominger, Yau and Zaslow relating mirror symmetry to the quantum field theory notion of T-duality is reinterpreted as providing a way of geometrically characterizing which Calabi-Yau manifolds have mirror partners.…
We describe mirror symmetry in N=2 superconformal field theories in terms of a dynamical topology changing process of the principal fiber bundle associated with a topological membrane. We show that the topological symmetries of Calabi-Yau…
We study aspects of Calabi-Yau four-folds as compactification manifolds of F-theory, using mirror symmetry of toric hypersurfaces. Correlation functions of the topological field theory are determined directly in terms of a natural ring…
Multiply-connected Calabi-Yau threefolds are of particular interest for both string theorists and mathematicians. Recently it was pointed out that one of the generic degenerations of these spaces (occurring at codimension one in moduli…
The moduli dependence of $(2,2)$ superstring compactifications based on Calabi--Yau hypersurfaces in weighted projective space has so far only been investigated for Fermat-type polynomial constraints. These correspond to Landau-Ginzburg…
We give some simple examples of mirror Calabi-Yau fourfolds in Type II string theory. These are realised as toroidal orbifolds. Motivated by the Strominger, Yau, Zaslow argument we give explicitly the mirror transformation which maps Type…
The construction of mirror symmetry in the heterotic string is reviewed in the context of Calabi-Yau and Landau-Ginzburg compactifications. This framework has the virtue of providing a large subspace of the configuration space of the…
Recently, a correspondence has been proposed between spectral theory and topological strings on toric Calabi-Yau manifolds. In this paper we develop in detail this correspondence for mirror curves of higher genus, which display many new…
It is argued that every Calabi-Yau manifold $X$ with a mirror $Y$ admits a family of supersymmetric toroidal 3-cycles. Moreover the moduli space of such cycles together with their flat connections is precisely the space $Y$. The mirror…
We review the applications of mirror symmetry to the study of the moduli spaces of two-dimensional conformal field theories with $N{=}(2,2)$ supersymmetry, particularly those constructed from Calabi--Yau manifolds. (Lecture delivered at the…