Related papers: Les Houches Lectures on Fields, Strings and Dualit…
In these lectures we start with a pedagogical introduction of the properties of open and closed superstrings and then, using the open/closed string duality, we construct the boundary state that provides the description of the maximally…
In these lecture notes for the Les Houches School on Applications of Random Matrices in Physics we give an introduction to the connections between matrix models and topological strings. We first review some basic results of matrix model…
These lectures give a detailed introduction to constructing and analyzing string vacua suitable for phenomenological model building, with particular emphasis on F-theory flux vacua. Topics include (1) general challenges and overview of some…
String duality suggests a fascinating juxtoposition of world-volume and target-space dynamics. This is particularly apparent in the $D$-brane description of stringy solitons that forms a major focus of this article (which is {\it not}…
A review on topological strings and the geometry of the space of two dimensional theories. (Lectures given by C. Gomez at the Enrico Fermi Summer School, Varenna, July 1994)
In these lecture notes for the Les Houches School on Quantum Geometry I give an introductory overview of non-perturbative aspects of topological string theory. After a short summary of the perturbative aspects, I first consider the…
You may have seen the words "topological recursion" mentioned in papers on matrix models, Hurwitz theory, Gromov-Witten theory, topological string theory, knot theory, topological field theory, JT gravity, cohomological field theory, free…
This is an expanded version of the notes to a course taught by the first author at the 1995 Les Houches Summer School. Constraints on a tentative reconciliation of quantum theory and general relativity are reviewed. It is explained what…
These are the notes for two lectures delivered at the Les Houches summer school Mathematical Statistical Mechanics, held in July 2005. I review some basic notions on sparse graph error correcting codes with emphasis on `modern' aspects,…
These lectures are devoted to introducing some of the basic features of quantum geometry that have been emerging from compactified string theory over the last couple of years. The developments discussed include new geometric features of…
This is a summary of a review talk at the Trieste conference on duality symmetries in string theory, April 1997. We review some work that has been done on the relation of BPS states, automorphic forms and the geometry of the quantum ground…
Emphasis is on 2d target space (c=1 coupled to gravity). Contents: 0. Introduction, Overview, and Purpose 1. Loops and States in Conformal Field Theory 2. 2D Euclidean Quantum Gravity I: Path Integral Approach 3. Brief Review of the…
A brief review of some of the central ideas, terminology and techniques of the technology of orientifolds and D-branes is presented. Some applications are reviewed, including the construction of dual solitonic strings in the context of…
The goal of these lectures is to present an informal but precise introduction to a body of concepts and methods of interest in number theory and string theory revolving around modular forms and their generalizations. Modular invariance lies…
In these notes, based on a talk given at the Rencontres de Moriond, I give a simple introduction to the tremendous progress that has been made during the last few years towards the understanding of strong-coupling phenomena in quantum gauge…
Over the last few years, string theory has changed profoundly. Most importantly, novel duality relations have emerged which involve gauge theories of brane excitations on one side and various closed string backgrounds on the other. In this…
These lectures are intended as an introduction to some of the basic aspects of string solitons, duality and black holes. We begin with a discussion of the role of classical solutions in duality, then focus on string/string duality and…
These are a set of lectures presented at the CERN-La Plata-Santiago de Compostella School of Physics, La Plata, May 1997. A brief introduction to the non-perturbative structure of string theory is presented. Various non-perturbative…
In these lecture notes, we provide an introduction to the moduli space of Riemann surfaces, a fundamental concept in the theories of 2D quantum gravity, topological string theory, and matrix models. We begin by reviewing some basic results…
We describe the moduli spaces of theories with 32 or 16 supercharges, from several points of view. Included is a review of backgrounds with D-branes (including type I' vacua and F-theory), a discussion of holonomy of Riemannian metrics, and…