Related papers: Rigid string instantons are pseudo-holomorphic cur…

We construct octonionic multi-instantons for the eight and seven dimensional Yang-Mills theory. Extended soliton solutions to the low-energy heterotic field theory equations of motion are constructed from these octonionic multi-instantons.…

We study the decomposition of the holographic 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ $SU(M)$ gauge theory with in the Klebanov-Strassler set-up. In particular, we propose a consistent framework for defining a modified instanton sum and a 4-group structure for…

Open superstring field theory admits a "hybrid" formulation where N = 1 D = 4 supersymmetry is manifest for Calabi-Yau compactifications to four dimensions. Using this formulation, the half-BPS instanton solution of four-dimensional…

This thesis is almost entirely devoted to studying string theory backgrounds characterized by simple geometrical and integrability properties. The archetype of this type of system is given by Wess-Zumino-Witten models, describing string…

We study the deformation theory of $\mathrm{G}_2$-instantons on nearly $\mathrm{G}_2$ manifolds. There is a one-to-one correspondence between nearly parallel $\mathrm{G}_2$ structures and real Killing spinors, thus the deformation theory…

We study the spaces of string links and homotopy string links in an arbitrary manifold using multivariable manifold calculus of functors. We construct multi-cosimplicial models for both spaces and deduce certain convergence properties of…

Simplicial homology manifolds are proposed as an interesting class of geometric objects, more general than topological manifolds but still quite tractable, in which questions about the microstructure of space-time can be naturally…

We discuss a string model where a conformal four-dimensional N=2 gauge theory receives corrections to its gauge kinetic functions from "stringy" instantons. These contributions are explicitly evaluated by exploiting the localization…

We consider Lie(G)-valued G-invariant connections on bundles over spaces G/H, RxG/H and R^2xG/H, where G/H is a compact nearly Kaehler six-dimensional homogeneous space, and the manifolds RxG/H and R^2xG/H carry G_2- and Spin(7)-structures,…

This thesis is an investigation of the moduli spaces of instanton bundles on the Fano threefold $Y_5$ (a linear section of $\mathbb{G}r(2,5)$). It contains new proofs of classical facts about lines, conics and cubics on $Y_5$, and about…

We compare N=2 string and N=4 topological string within the framework of the sigma model approach. Being classically equivalent on a flat background, the theories are shown to lead to different geometries when put in a curved space. In…

Ambitwistor strings are chiral (holomorphic) strings whose target is the space of complex null geodesics, ambitwistor space. We introduce twistor representations of ambitwistor space in 6 and 5 dimensions. In 6d the twistor representation…

In a toroidal orbifold of type IIB string theory we study instanton effects in N=2 super Yang-Mills theories engineered with systems of wrapped magnetized D9 branes and Euclidean D5 branes. We analyze the various open string sectors in this…

We study the instanton effective action in deformed four-dimensional N=2 and N=4 super Yang-Mills (SYM) theories. These deformed gauge theories are defined on the D-brane world-volume in the presence of constant, self-dual Ramond-Ramond…

A virtual string is a scheme of self-intersections of a closed curve on a surface. We study algebraic invariants of strings as well as two equivalence relations on the set of strings: homotopy and cobordism. We show that the homotopy…

In this note we describe the physics of equivalence of the Seiberg-Witten invariants of 4-manifolds and certain Gromov-Witten invariants defined by pseudo-holomorphic curves. We show that physics of the pseudo-holomorphic curves should be…

We present several different classes of selfdual Yang-Mills instantons in all even d backgrounds with Euclidean signature. In d=4p+2 the only solutions we found are on constant curvature dS and AdS backgrounds, and are evaluated in closed…

We present a new, explicit formula for all tree-level amplitudes in N=4 super Yang-Mills. The formula is written as a certain contour integral of the connected prescription of Witten's twistor string, expressed in link variables. A very…

A virtual string is a scheme of self-intersections of a closed curve on a surface. We introduce virtual strings and study their geometric properties and homotopy invariants. We also discuss connections between virtual strings, Gauss words,…

We construct the most general non-extremal spherically symmetric instanton solution of a gravity-dilaton-axion system with $SL(2,R)$ symmetry, for arbitrary euclidean spacetime dimension $D\geq 3$. A subclass of these solutions describe…