Related papers: Discrete Torsion, Quotient Stacks, and String Orbi…
I present a summary of the recent progress made in field and string theory which has led to a reformulation of quantum-group polynomial invariants for knots and links into new polynomial invariants whose coefficients can be described in…
A brief discussion is presented assessing the achievements and challenges of string phenomenology: the subfield dedicated to study the potential for string theory to make contact with particle physics and cosmology. Building from the well…
It has long been known that strings wound around incontractible cycles can play a vital role in cosmology. In particular, in a spacetime with toroidal spatial hypersurfaces, the dynamics of the winding modes may help yield three large…
In this paper, we explicitly describe the orbifold pseudo-effective cone of a split toric stack.
In this expository note, I present some of the key features of the lattice of torsion classes of a finite-dimensional algebra, focussing in particular on its complete semidistributivity and consequences thereof. This is intended to serve as…
The D-brane spectrum of a class of $\Zop_2$ orbifolds of toroidally compactified Type IIA and Type IIB string theory is analysed systematically. The corresponding K-theory groups are determined and complete agreement is found. The charge…
This is a series of remedial lectures on open and unoriented strings for the heterotic string generation. The particular focus is on the interesting features that arise under T-duality---D-branes and orientifolds. The final lecture…
This is a survey paper based on my talk at the Workshop on Orbifolds and String Theory, the goal of which was to explain the role of groupoids and their classifying spaces as a foundation for the theory of orbifolds.
We show that discrete torsion is implemented in a D-brane world-volume theory by using a projective representation of the orbifold point group. We study the example of C^3/Z_2 x Z_2 and show that the resolution of singularities agrees with…
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…
We study the graded geometric point of view of curvature and torsion of Q-manifolds (differential graded manifolds). In particular, we get a natural graded geometric definition of Courant algebroid curvature and torsion, which correctly…
Witten established correspondence between multiparton amplitudes in four-dimensional maximally supersymmetric gauge theory and topological string theory on supertwistor space $CP^{3|4}$. We extend Witten's correspondence to gauge theories…
Sine-square deformation, a recently found modulation of the coupling strength in certain statistical models, is discussed in the context of two-dimensional conformal field theories, with particular attention to open/closed string duality.…
We analyze the one-loop quantum entanglement entropy in ten-dimensional Type-II string theory using the orbifold method by analytically continuing in $N$ the genus-one partition function for string orbifolds on $\mathbb{R}^2/\mathbb{Z}_N$…
We study closed string tachyon condensation on general non-supersymmetric orbifolds of C^2. Extending previous analyses on Abelian cases, we present the classification of quotients by discrete finite subgroups of GL(2; C) as well as the…
These notes accompany a lecture about the topology of symplectic (and other) quotients. The aim is two-fold: first to advertise the ease of computation in the symplectic category; and second to give an account of some new computations for…
The divergences that arise in the regularized partition function for closed bosonic string theory in flat space lead to three types of perturbation series expansions, distinguished by their genus dependence. This classification of…
We consider M-theory in the presence of M parallel M5-branes probing a transverse A_{N-1} singularity. This leads to a superconformal theory with (1,0) supersymmetry in six dimensions. We compute the supersymmetric partition function of…
This paper, in a sense, completes a series of three papers. In the previous two hep-th/0404013, hep-th/0410293, we have explored the possibility of refining the K-theory partition function in type II string theories using elliptic…
This is a short summary of my lectures given at the Fourth Mexican School on Gravitation and Mathematical Physics. These lectures gave a brief introduction to black holes in string theory, in which I primarily focussed on describing some of…