Related papers: Topological Rigid String Theory and Two Dimensiona…
I present a new class of topological string theories, and discuss them in two dimensions as candidates for the string description of large-$N$ QCD. The starting point is a new class of topological sigma models, whose path integral is…
We describe a topological string theory which reproduces many aspects of the 1/N expansion of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in two spacetime dimensions in the zero coupling (A=0) limit. The string theory is a modified version of topological…
We discuss the equivalence between a string theory and the two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory with SU(N) gauge group for finite N. We find a sector which can be interpreted as a sum of covering maps from closed string world-sheets to the…
We study the relations between two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory on the torus, topological string theory on a Calabi-Yau threefold whose local geometry is the sum of two line bundles over the torus, and Chern-Simons theory on torus bundles.…
We examine the problem of counting bound states of BPS black holes on local Calabi-Yau threefolds which are fibrations over a Riemann surface by computing the partition function of q-deformed Yang-Mills theory on the Riemann surface. We…
In earlier work we proposed a string theory dual to two dimensional Yang-Mills theory at zero coupling (which can also be thought of as a $BF$ theory), given by a Polyakov-like generalization of Ho\v rava's topological rigid string theory,…
We try to draw lessons for higher dimensions from the string representations recently derived for large $N$ Yang-Mills theory by Gross and Taylor, Kostov, and others, and call attention to three characteristics that should be expected of a…
We continue our study of the large N phase transition in q-deformed Yang-Mills theory on the sphere and its role in connecting topological strings to black hole entropy. We study in detail the chiral theory defined in terms of uncoupled…
We formulate and solve a class of two-dimensional matrix gauge models describing ensembles of non-folding surfaces covering an oriented, discretized, two-dimensional manifold. We interpret the models as string theories characterized by a…
We calculate the partition function of the $SU(N)$ ( and $U(N)$) generalized $YM_2$ theory defined on an arbitrary Riemann surface. The result which is expressed as a sum over irreducible representations generalizes the Rusakov formula for…
We develop a procedure that reorganizes the perturbative expansion in a class of quantum field theories into a stringy amplitude expressed as a sum over two-dimensional geometries. Using Schwinger parametrization and the one-to-one…
Two dimensional gauge theories with charged matter fields are useful toy models for studying gauge theory dynamics, and in particular for studying the duality of large $N$ gauge theories to perturbative string theories. A useful starting…
Quantization of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory on a torus in the gauge where the field strength is diagonal leads to twisted sectors that are completely analogous to the ones that originate long string states in Matrix String Theory. If…
Non-supersymmetric Yang-Mill gauge theory in 4-dimension is shown to be dual to 4-dimensional non-supersymmetric string theory in a twisted AdS2(n)xT2 spacetime background. The partition function of a generic hadron is calculated to…
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…
We show, using a theorem of Milnor and Margulis, that string theory on compact negatively curved spaces grows new effective dimensions as the space shrinks, generalizing and contextualizing the results in hep-th/0510044. Milnor's theorem…
The AdS/CFT correspondence of elementary string theory has been recently suggested as a ``microscopic'' approach to QCD string theory in various dimensions. We use the microscopic theory to show that the ultraviolet regime on the string…
The field content of the two dimensional string theory consists of the dynamical tachyon field and some nonpropagating fields which consist in the topological sector of this theory. We propose in this paper to study this topological sector…
We propose a string theory model which explains several features of two dimensional YM theory. Folds are suppressed. This in turn leads to the empty theory in flat target spaces. The Nambu-Goto action appears in the usual way. The model…
The width of the quantum delocalization of the QCD strings is investigated in effective string models beyond free Nambu-Goto approximation. We consider two Lorentzian-invariant boundary-terms in the L\"uscher-Weisz string action in addition…