Related papers: Topological 2D String Theory: Higher-genus Amplitu…
We give an introductory review of topological strings and their application to various aspects of superstrings and supersymmetric gauge theories. This review includes developing the necessary mathematical background for topological strings,…
We demonstrate how duality invariance of the low energy expansion of the four-graviton amplitude in type II string theory determines the precise coefficients of multiloop logarithmic ultraviolet divergences of maximal supergravity in…
The most general gauge-invariant marginal deformation of four-dimensional abelian BF-type topological field theory is studied. It is shown that the deformed quantum field theory is topological and that its observables compute, in addition…
In this thesis we probe various interactions between toric geometry and string theory. First, the notion of a top was introduced by Candelas and Font as a useful tool to investigate string dualities. These objects torically encode the local…
We derive a Landau field theory for a lattice higher gauge theory defined on $p$-dimensional open cells (i.e., sites, links, faces, cubes, etc.), and study its continuum-limit and phases. In this approach, the $p$-dimensional Wilson-surface…
We generalize the super period matrix of a super Riemann surface to the case that Ramond punctures are present. For a super Riemann surface of genus g with 2r Ramond punctures, we define, modulo certain choices that generalize those in the…
Topological string theory has multi-instanton sectors which lead to non-perturbative effects in the string coupling constant and control the large order behavior of the perturbative genus expansion. As proposed by Couso, Edelstein, Schiappa…
Using spectral invariants of Dirac operators we construct a secondary version of the Witten genus, a bordism invariant of string manifolds in dimensions $4m-1$. We prove a secondary index theorem which relates this global-analytic…
We introduce a "web-based formalism" for describing the category of half-supersymmetric boundary conditions in $1+1$ dimensional massive field theories with ${\cal N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetry and unbroken $U(1)_R$ symmetry. We show that the…
In this thesis, we investigate the low-energy expansion of scattering amplitudes of closed strings at one-loop level (i.e. at genus one) in a ten-dimensional Minkowski background using a special class of functions called modular graph…
We introduce the complex Liouville string, a solvable string theory defined by coupling two Liouville theories with complex conjugate central charges $c \in 13+i \mathbb{R}$ on the worldsheet. We compute its amplitudes from first principles…
We consider a string theory with two types of strings with geometric interaction. We show that the theory contains strings with constant Dirichlet boundary condition and those strings are glued together by 2-d topological gravity with…
We show that the non-critical $c=1$ string at the self-dual radius is equivalent to topological strings based on the deformation of the conifold singularity of Calabi-Yau threefolds. The Penner sum giving the genus expansion of the free…
The topological description of $2D$ string theory at the self-dual radius is studied in the algebro-geometrical formulation of the $A_{k+1}$ topological models at $k=-3$. Genus zero correlators of tachyons and their gravitational…
We present the construction of exactly solvable superconformal field theories describing Type II string models compactified on compact G_2 manifolds. These models are defined by anti-holomorphic quotients of the form (CY*S^1)/Z_2, where we…
While the fundamental object in Riemannian geometry is a metric, closed string theories call for us to put a two-form gauge field and a scalar dilaton on an equal footing with the metric. Here we propose a novel differential geometry which…
We propose an approach to formulating string theory in a curved spacetime, which is based on the connection between the states of the WZW model for the isometry group of a background spacetime metric and the representations of the…
We investigate strings at singularities of G_2-holonomy manifolds which arise in Z_2 orbifolds of Calabi-Yau spaces times a circle. The singularities locally look like R^4/Z_2 fibered over a SLAG, and can globally be embedded in CICYs in…
This paper addresses the issue of integrable structures in topological string theory on generalized conifolds. Open string amplitudes of this theory can be expressed as the matrix elements of an operator on the Fock space of 2D charged free…
We revisit the holomorphic anomaly equations satisfied by the topological string amplitude from the perspective of the 4D-5D lift, in the context of ''magic'' N=2 supergravity theories. In particular, we interpret the Gopakumar-Vafa…