Related papers: Special Holonomy Manifolds in Physics

Following the recent exploration of smooth heterotic compactifications with unitary bundles, orbifold compactifications in six dimensions can be shown to correspond in the blow-up to compactifications with U(1) gauge backgrounds. A powerful…

The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, we provide a simple and pedagogical discussion of how compactifications of M-theory or supergravity preserving some four-dimensional supersymmetry naturally lead to reduced holonomy or its…

A topological theory for euclidean gravity in eight dimensions is built by enforcing octonionic self-duality conditions on the spin connection. The eight-dimensional manifold must be of a special type, with G_2 or Spin(7) holonomy. The…

The existing classification of homogeneous quaternionic spaces is not complete. We study these spaces in the context of certain $N=2$ supergravity theories, where dimensional reduction induces a mapping between {\em special} real, K\"ahler…

F-manifolds are complex manifolds with a multiplication with unit on the holomorphic tangent bundle with a certain integrability condition. Here the local classification of 3-dimensional F-manifolds with or without Euler fields is pursued.

We build nearly topological quantum field theories in various dimensions. We give special attention to the case of 8 dimensions for which we first consider theories depending only on Yang-Mills fields. Two classes of gauge functions exist…

We consider spaces M_7 and M_8 of G_2 holonomy and Spin(7) holonomy in seven and eight dimensions, with a U(1) isometry. For metrics where the length of the associated circle is everywhere finite and non-zero, one can perform a Kaluza-Klein…

We study the physics of globally consistent four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric M-theory compactifications on $G_2$ manifolds constructed via twisted connected sum; there are now perhaps fifty million examples of these…

We construct a topological theory for euclidean gravity in four dimensions, by enforcing self-duality conditions on the spin connection. The corresponding topological symmetry is associated to the SU(2) X diffeomorphism X U(1) invariance.…

We calculate the cohomology rings of a collection of seven dimensional manifolds supporting an S^3 x S^3-action with one dimensional orbit space. These manifolds are of interest to differential geometers studying non-negative and positive…

While the study of bordered (pseudo-)holomorphic curves with boundary on Lagrangian submanifolds has a long history, a similar problem that involves (special) Lagrangian submanifolds with boundary on complex surfaces appears to be largely…

We study orbifold compactifications of F-theory which lead to $N=1$ supersymmetry in 6 and 4 spacetime dimensions. These are dual to specific orientifolds of M-theory, and in many cases to orientifolds of type IIB string theory. The…

We study M-theory on G_2 holonomy spaces that are constructed by dividing a seven-torus by some discrete symmetry group. We classify possible group elements that may be used in this construction and use them to find a set of possible…

Seven-manifolds of G_2 holonomy provide a bridge between M-theory and string theory, via Kaluza-Klein reduction to Calabi-Yau six-manifolds. We find first-order equations for a new family of G_2 metrics D_7, with S^3\times S^3 principal…

Duality groups of Abelian gauge theories on four manifolds and their reduction to two dimensions are considered. The duality groups include elements that relate different space-times in addition to relating different gauge-coupling…

A class of special holonomy spaces arise as nilmanifolds fibred over a line interval and are dual to intersecting brane solutions of string theory. Further dualities relate these to T-folds, exotic branes, essentially doubled spaces and…

We discuss the higher dimensional generalization of gravitational instantons by using volume-preserving vector fields. We give special attention to the case of 8-dimensions and present a new construction of the Ricci flat metric with…

Using techniques from supergravity and dimensional reduction, we study the full isometry algebra of K\"ahler and quaternionic manifolds with special geometry. These two varieties are related by the so-called c-map, which can be understood…

In 1981, covariantly constant spinors were introduced into Kaluza-Klein theory as a way of counting the number of supersymmetries surviving compactification. These are related to the holonomy group of the compactifying manifold. The first…

Given an almost complex manifold (M, J), we study complex connections with trivial holonomy and such that the corresponding torsion is either of type (2,0) or of type (1,1) with respect to J. Such connections arise naturally when…