Related papers: Large N dualities and transitions in geometry
Gopakumar-Vafa large N duality is a correspondence between Chern-Simons invariants of a link in a 3-manifold and relative Gromov-Witten invariants of a 6-dimensional symplectic manifold relative to a Lagrangian submanifold. We address the…
Gopakumar, Ooguri and Vafa famously proposed the existence of a correspondence between a topological gauge theory on one hand ($U(N)$ Chern-Simons theory on the three-sphere) and a topological string theory on the other (the topological…
The geometric features and toric descriptions of two different 8-dimensional $Spin(7)$ manifolds constructed via distinct resolutions of the cone over an $SU(3)/U(1)$ base, reveals that the geometry of the $Spin(7)$ conifold transition…
We consider aspects of Chern-Simons theory on L(p,q) lens spaces and its relation with matrix models and topological string theory on Calabi-Yau threefolds, searching for possible new large N dualities via geometric transition for non-SU(2)…
We study geometric transitions for topological strings on compact Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric varieties. Large N duality predicts an equivalence between topological open and closed string theories connected by an extremal transition.…
We propose a large N dual of 4d, N=1 supersymmetric, SU(N) Yang-Mills with adjoint field \Phi and arbitrary superpotential W(\Phi). The field theory is geometrically engineered via D-branes partially wrapped over certain cycles of a…
We consider the Gopakumar-Ooguri-Vafa correspondence, relating ${\rm U}(N)$ Chern-Simons theory at large $N$ to topological strings, in the context of spherical Seifert 3-manifolds. These are quotients $\mathbb{S}^{\Gamma} =…
We study large $N$ phase transitions in $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories with gauge group $SU(N)$ and massive hypermultiplets in diverse representations. Using supersymmetric localization we identify cases where phase transitions occur. In…
Conifold geometries have recieved a lot of attention in string theory and string-inspired cosmology recently, in particular the Klebanov-Strassler background that is known as the "warped throat". It is our intention in this article to give…
We consider the interplay between brane constructions and type IIA, IIB or M-theory geometries on Calabi-Yau (CY) and G_2 holonomy manifolds. This is related to N=1 (and N=2) gauge theories in four dimensions. We first discuss simple…
We study the phase structures of N=4 U(N) super Yang-Mills theories on R x S^3/Z_k with large N. The theory has many vacua labelled by the holonomy matrix along the non-trivial cycle on S^3/Z_k, and for the fermions the periodic and the…
We use solvable two-dimensional gauge theories to illustrate the issues in relating large N gauge theory to string theory. We also give an introduction to recent mathematical work which allows constructing master fields for higher…
We reconsider the study of the geometric transitions and brane/flux dualities in various dimensions. We first give toric interpretations of the topology changing transitions in the Calabi-Yau conifold and the $Spin(7)$ manifold. The latter,…
We propose a new way of using geometric transitions to study metastable vacua in string theory and certain confining gauge theories. The gauge theories in question are N=2 supersymmetric theories deformed to N=1 by superpotential terms. We…
We study the large N limit of SO(N) and Sp(N) Chern-Simons gauge theory on S^3 and identify its closed string dual as topological strings on an orientifold of the small resolution of the conifold. Applications to large N dualities for N=1…
We study a generalization of higher gauge theory which makes use of generalized geometry and seems to be closely related to double field theory. The local kinematical data of this theory is captured by morphisms of graded manifolds between…
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…
We construct Calabi-Yau geometries with wrapped D6 branes which realize ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric $A_r$ quiver theories, and study the corresponding geometric transitions. This also yields new large $N$ dualities for topological strings…
We study M-theory on a Calabi-Yau fourfold with a smooth surface $S$ of $A_{N-1}$ singularities. The resulting three-dimensional theory has a $\mathcal{N}=2$ $SU(N)$ gauge theory sector, which we obtain from a twisted dimensional reduction…
We use large N duality to study brane/anti-brane configurations on a class of Calabi-Yau manifolds. With only branes present, the Calabi-Yau manifolds in question give rise to N=2 ADE quiver theories deformed by superpotential terms. We…