Related papers: A new construction of compact 8-manifolds with hol…
We show that there exist infinitely many pairwise distinct non-closed G_2-manifolds (some of which have holonomy full G_2) such that they admit co-oriented contact structures and have co-oriented contact submanifolds which are also…
We investigate the $Spin(7)$ holonomy metric of cohomogeneity one with the principal orbit $SU(3)/U(1)$. A choice of U(1) in the two dimensional Cartan subalgebra is left as free and this allows manifest $\Sigma_3=W(SU(3))$ (= the Weyl…
We discuss higher-dimensional gravitational instantons by studying appropriate self-duality equations for the spin connection. In seven and in eight dimensions, the corresponding spaces admit a covariantly constant spinor and have…
Superstring compactification on a manifold of Spin(7) holonomy gives rise to a 2d worldsheet conformal field theory with an extended supersymmetry algebra. The $\mathcal{N}=1$ superconformal algebra is extended by additional generators of…
We define a measure of spectral asymmetry for G_2 and Spin(7) manifolds. We show that this invariant can be computed in terms of characteristic classes and the covariant constant form defining the G_2 or Spin(7) structure.
Using gauge theory for Spin(7)-manifolds of dimension 8, we develop a procedure, called Spin-rotation, which transforms a (stable) holomorphic structure on a vector bundle over a complex torus of dimension 4 into a new holomorphic structure…
Using D2-brane probes, we study various properties of M-theory on singular, non-compact manifolds of G_2 and Spin(7) holonomy. We derive mirror pairs of N=1 supersymmetric three-dimensional gauge theories, and apply this technique to…
We study $\mathrm{Spin}(7)$-manifolds with an effective multi-Hamiltonian action of a four-torus. On an open dense set, we provide a Gibbons-Hawking type ansatz that describes such geometries in terms of a symmetric $4\times4$-matrix of…
We characterise simply-connected biquotients which potentially admit metrics of holonomy G_2. We prove that there are at most three real homotopy types of rationally elliptic such manifolds---all of them being formal. In the course of this…
We construct nearly topological Yang-Mills theories on eight dimensional manifolds with a special holonomy group. These manifolds are the Joyce manifold with $Spin(7)$ holonomy and the Calabi-Yau manifold with SU(4) holonomy. An invariant…
This paper is a review of current developments in the study of moduli spaces of G2 manifolds. G2 manifolds are 7-dimensional manifolds with the exceptional holonomy group G2. Although they are odd-dimensional, in many ways they can be…
In this note we study warped compactifications of M-theory on manifolds of Spin(7) holonomy in the presence of background 4-form flux. The explicit form of the superpotential can be given in terms of the self -dual Cayley calibration on the…
In this paper, we look for metrics of cohomogeneity one in D=8 and D=7 dimensions with Spin(7) and G_2 holonomy respectively. In D=8, we first consider the case of principal orbits that are S^7, viewed as an S^3 bundle over S^4 with…
We consider some infinitesmal and global deformations of G_2 structures on 7-manifolds. We discover a canonical way to deform a G_2 structure by a vector field in which the associated metric gets "twisted" in some way by the vector cross…
F-theory on appropriately fibered Spin(7) holonomy manifolds is defined to arise as the dual of M-theory on the same space in the limit of a shrinking fiber. A class of Spin(7) orbifolds can be constructed as quotients of elliptically…
We study holonomy algebras generated by an algebraic element of the Clifford algebra, or equivalently, the holonomy algebras of certain spin connections in flat space. We provide series of examples in arbitrary dimensions and establish…
Worldsheet string theory compactified on exceptional holomony manifolds is revisited following arXiv:1809.06376, where aspects of the chiral symmetry were described for the case where the compact space is a 7-dimensional G$_2$-holonomy…
We show that the $G_2$-manifolds and certain ${\rm Spin}(7)$-manifolds are endowed with natural Riemannian twistorial structures. Along the way, the exceptional holonomy representations are reviewed and other related facts are considered.
We give a new construction of compact Riemannian 7-manifolds with holonomy $G_2$. Let $M$ be a torsion-free $G_2$-manifold (which can have holonomy a proper subgroup of $G_2$) such that $M$ admits an involution $\iota$ preserving the…
We derive in the SCFT and low energy effective action frameworks the necessary and sufficient conditions for supersymmetric cycles in exceptional holonomy manifolds and Calabi-Yau 4-folds. We show that the Cayley cycles in $Spin(7)$…