Related papers: Matrix Theory and Heterotic Strings on Tori
We observe that the string field theory actions for the topological sigma models describe higher or categorified Chern-Simons theories. These theories yield dynamical equations for connective structures on higher principal bundles. As a…
We formulate gauge theories on noncompact Lorentzian manifolds. For definiteness we choose an SO(1,4) gauge theory -- the isometry group of the five dimensional Minkowski space. We make use of the natural inner product to construct the…
The R^4-type corrections to ten and eleven dimensional supergravity required by string and M-theory imply corrections to supersymmetric supergravity compactifications on manifolds of special holonomy, which deform the metric away from the…
Many important ideas about string duality that appear in conventional $\T^2$ compactification have analogs for $\T^2$ compactification without vector structure. We analyze some of these issues and show, in particular, how orientifold planes…
These lecture notes give a pedagogical and (mostly) self-contained review of some basic aspects of the Matrix model of M-theory. The derivations of the model as a regularized supermembrane theory and as the discrete light-cone quantization…
It is shown that supersymmetry is spontaneously broken in certain three-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories, by using the s-rule in their string theory realization as brane configurations. In particular, supersymmetry is broken in N=3…
Extending recent work of Kachru and Silverstein, we consider ``orbifolds'' of 4-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ SU(n) super-Yang-Mills theories with respect to discrete subgroups of the SU(4) $R$-symmetry which act nontrivially on the gauge…
We construct orientifolds of type IIA string theory. The theory is compactified on a T^6/Z_N times Z_M orbifold. In addition worldsheet parity in combination with a reflection of three compact directions is modded out. Tadpole cancellation…
In this letter, an alternative string theory in twistor space is proposed for describing perturbative N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory. Like the recent proposal of Witten, this string theory uses twistor worldsheet variables and has manifest…
We analyze the gapped flux vacua of 2D (8,8) SU(N) super-Yang-Mills theory. Based on the matrix string theory duality, we conjecture the spectrum of massive resonances in the gauge theory at large N and beyond the 't Hooft scaling regime.
We study the classical geometry associated to fractional D3-branes of type IIB string theory on R^4/Z_2 which provide the gravitational dual for N=2 super Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. As one can expect from the lack of conformal…
We discuss fractional D3-branes on the orbifold C^3/Z_2*Z_2. We study the open and the closed string spectrum on this orbifold. The corresponding N=1 theory on the brane has, generically, a U(N_1)*U(N_2)*U(N_3)*U(N_4) gauge group with…
Mass deformations of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories in three spacetime dimensions are considered. The gluons of the theories are made massive by the inclusion of a non-local gauge and Poincare invariant mass term due to Alexanian and…
Non-supersymmetric orbifolds of N=1 super Yang-Mills theories are conjectured to inherit properties from their supersymmetric parent. We examine this conjecture by compactifying the Z_2 orbifold theories on a spatial circle of radius R. We…
We briefly review attempts to construct string theories that yield the standard model, concentrating on models with a geometric interpretation. Calabi-Yau compactifications are discussed in the context of both the weakly coupled heterotic…
The N=(2,2) extended super Yang-Mills theory in 2 dimensions is formulated on the lattice as a dimensional reduction of a 4 dimensional lattice gauge theory. We use the plaquette action for a bosonic sector and the Wilson- or the…
We study the global symmetries of the $\mathbb{Z}_2$-orbifold of N=4 Super-Yang-Mills theory and its marginal deformations. The process of orbifolding to obtain an N=2 theory would appear to break the $\mathrm{SU}(4)$ R-symmetry down to…
We propose examples, which involve orbifolds by elements of the U-duality group, with M-theory moduli fixed at the eleven-dimensional Planck scale. We begin by reviewing asymmetric orbifold constructions in perturbative string theory, which…
A matrix model for type 0 strings is proposed. It consists in making a non-supersymmetric orbifold projection in the Yang-Mills theory and identifying the infrared configurations of the system at infinite coupling with strings. The correct…
Duality transformations involving compactifications on timelike as well as spacelike circles link M-theory, the 10+1-dimensional strong coupling limit of IIA string theory, to other 11-dimensional theories in signatures 9+2 and 6+5 and to…