Related papers: Complex World-Sheets from N=2 Strings
We study the free energy of the pure glue QCD string with a torus target space and the gauge groups $SU(N)$ and (chiral) $U(N)$. It is highly constrained by a strong/weak gauge coupling duality which results in modular covariance. The…
We construct a new class of exact and stable superstring solutions based on $N=4$ superconformal world-sheet symmetry. In a subclass of these, the full spectrum of string excitations is derived in a modular-invariant way. In the weak…
Motivated by recent developments connecting non-supersymmetric heterotic string theory to the theory of Topological Modular Forms (TMF), we show that the worldsheet theory with central charge $(17,\frac{3}{2})$ obtained by fibering the…
On compactification to six spacetime dimensions, the fundamental heterotic string admits as a soliton a dual string whose effective worldsheet action couples to the background fields of the dual formulation of six-dimensional supergravity.…
We extend the recently constructed double field theory formulation of the low-energy theory of the closed bosonic string to the heterotic string. The action can be written in terms of a generalized metric that is a covariant tensor under…
These are the lecture notes of the introductory String Theory course held by one of the authors for the master program of Theoretical Physics at Turin University. The world-sheet approach to String Theory is pedagogically introduced in the…
The spin-4/3 fractional superstring is characterized by a world-sheet chiral algebra involving spin-4/3 currents. The discussion of the tree-level scattering amplitudes of this theory presented in hepth/9310131 is expanded to include…
We show the existence of a global anomaly in the one-loop graphs of N=2 string theory, defined by sewing tree amplitudes, unless spacetime supersymmetry is imposed. The anomaly is responsible for the non-vanishing maximally helicity…
In this paper we shall describe some correlation function computations in perturbative heterotic strings that, for example, in certain circumstances can lend themselves to a heterotic generalization of quantum cohomology calculations.…
In this thesis we study string compactifications on manifolds equipped with a $G$-structure, placing a special emphasis on the interplay between geometry and physics. We follow two complementary approaches. In the first part of the thesis…
We discuss a set of heterotic and type II string theory compactifications to 1+1 dimensions that are characterized by factorized internal worldsheet CFTs of the form $V_1\otimes \bar V_2$, where $V_1, V_2$ are self-dual (super) vertex…
Superstring/M-theory compactified on compact Ricci flat manifolds have recently been conjectured to exhibit instabilities whenever the metrics do not have special holonomy. We use worldsheet conformal field theory to investigate…
We return to and refine Zwiebach's formulation of closed string field theory (CSFT) built around non-critical backgrounds [1,2], restricting our attention to genus zero. The structure involves a special string state $F$ that encodes the…
We study a $U(N)$-invariant vector+matrix chain with the color structure of a lattice gauge theory with quarks and interpret it as a theory of open andclosed strings with target space $\Z$. The string field theory is constructed as a…
We propose an off-shell bosonic string action that removes the renormalization window constraint of [1]. To all orders in conformal perturbation theory, this action allows for deformations of the worldsheet theory by any primary or…
We are studying quantum corrections in the earlier proposed string theory based on world-sheet action which measures the linear sizes of the surfaces. At classical level the string tension is equal to zero and as it was demonstrated in the…
We analyze the behavior of the heterotic string near an A-D-E singularity without small instantons. This problem is governed by a strongly coupled worldsheet conformal field theory, which, by a combination of O(alpha') corrections and…
Using the topological membrane approach to string theory, we suggest a geometric origin for the heterotic string. We show how different membrane boundary conditions lead to different string theories. We discuss the construction of closed…
We define string geometry: spaces of superstrings including the interactions, their topologies, charts, and metrics. Trajectories in asymptotic processes on a space of strings reproduce the right moduli space of the super Riemann surfaces…
Graphs on surfaces is an active topic of pure mathematics belonging to graph theory. It has also been applied to physics and relates discrete and continuous mathematics. In this paper we present a formal mathematical description of the…