Related papers: Topological Rigid String Theory and Two Dimensiona…
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…
We consider 2-dimensional QCD on a cylinder, where space is a circle of length $L$. We formulate the theory in terms of gauge-invariant gluon operators and multiple-winding meson (open string) operators. The meson bilocal operators satisfy…
We propose a bosonic string dual to large $N$ chiral Yang-Mills in two dimensions at finite 't Hooft coupling. The worldsheet theory is a $\beta$-$\gamma$ system deformed by a chiral Polchinski-Strominger term. We reproduce the partition…
We continue the study of heterotic non-Abelian BPS-saturated flux tubes (strings). Previously, such solutions were obtained [1] in a particular U(2) gauge theory: N=2 supersymmetric QCD deformed by superpotential terms of a special type…
We analyze topological string theory on a two dimensional torus, focusing on symmetries in the matter sector. Even before coupling to gravity, the topological torus has an infinite number of point-like physical observables, which give rise…
Beginning with a review of the arguments leading to the so-called c=1 barrier in the continuum formulation of noncritical string theory, the pathology is then exhibited in a discretized version of the theory, formulated through dynamical…
We make a proposal for the string dual to the simplest large $N$ theory, the Gaussian matrix integral in the 'tHooft limit, and how this dual description emerges from double line graphs. This is a specific realisation of the general…
The topological B-model with target the supertwistor space CP(3|4) is known to describe perturbative amplitudes of N=4 Super Yang-Mills theory. We review the extension of this correspondence to the superconformal gauge theories that arise…
A new approach for investigating the classical dynamics of the relativistic string model with rigidity is proposed. It is based on the embedding of the string world surface into the space of a constant curvature. It is shown that the rigid…
We quantize pure 2d Yang-Mills theory on a torus in the gauge where the field strength is diagonal. Because of the topological obstructions to a global smooth diagonalization, we find string-like states in the spectrum similar to the ones…
A four-dimensional analog of Chern-Simons theory produces integrable lattice models from Wilson lines and surface operators. We show that this theory describes a quasi-topological sector of maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in six…
We consider the formulation of two dimensional QCD in terms of gauge invariant bilocal operators (string field) which satisfy a $W_\infty$ algebra. In analogy with our work on the $c=1$ string field theory we derive an action and associated…
We show that the physical degrees of freedom of the critical open string with N=2 superconformal symmetry on the worldsheet are described by a self-dual Yang-Mills field on a hyperspace parametrised by the coordinates of the target space…
In this note we reformulate topological string theory using supermanifolds and supermoduli spaces, following the approach worked out by Witten for superstring perturbation theory in arXiv:1209.5461. We intend to make the construction…
Yang-Mills theories in 2+1 (or 3) dimensions are interesting as nontrivial gauge theories in their own right and as effective theories of QCD at high temperatures. I shall review the basics of our Hamiltonian approach to this theory,…
We pursue the possibility of using subcritical string theory in 4 space-time dimensions to establish a string dual for large N QCD. In particular we study the even G-parity sector of the 4 dimensional Neveu-Schwarz dual resonance model as…
A worldsheet realization of the refined topological string is proposed in terms of physical string amplitudes that compute generalized N=2 F-terms of the form F_{g,n} W^{2g}Y^{2n} in the effective supergravity action. These terms involve…
The stringy picture behind the integrable spin chains governing the evolution equations in Yang-Mills theory is discussed. It is shown that one-loop dilatation operator in N=4 theory can be expressed in terms of two-point functions on 2d…
Let M be a closed, oriented, n-dimensional manifold. In this paper we give a Morse theoretic description of the string topology operations introduced by Chas and Sullivan, and extended by the first author, Jones, Godin, and others. We do…
We propose various ways of adding mass terms to three-dimensional twistor string theory. We begin with a review of mini-twistor space--the reduction of D=4 twistor space to D=3. We adapt the two proposals for twistor string theory, Witten's…