39 research outputs found
Modular Invariance and Characteristic Numbers
We show that a general miraculous cancellation formula, the divisibility of
certain characteristic numbers and some other topologiclal results are con-
sequences of the modular invariance of elliptic operators on loop spaces.
Previously we have shown that modular invariance also implies the rigidity of
many elliptic operators on loop spaces.Comment: 14 page
Topological Field Theory and Rational Curves
We analyze the superstring propagating on a Calabi-Yau threefold. This theory
naturally leads to the consideration of Witten's topological non-linear
sigma-model and the structure of rational curves on the Calabi-Yau manifold. We
study in detail the case of the world-sheet of the string being mapped to a
multiple cover of an isolated rational curve and we show that a natural
compactification of the moduli space of such a multiple cover leads to a
formula in agreement with a conjecture by Candelas, de la Ossa, Green and
Parkes.Comment: 20 page
K-Theory and S-Duality: Starting Over from Square 3
Recently Maldacena, Moore, and Seiberg (MMS) have proposed a physical
interpretation of the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence, which roughly
computes the K-homology groups that classify D-branes. We note that in IIB
string theory, this approach can be generalized to include NS charged objects
and conjecture an S-duality covariant, nonlinear extension of the spectral
sequence. We then compute the contribution of the MMS double-instanton
configuration to the derivation d_5. We conclude with an M-theoretic
generalization reminiscent of 11-dimensional E_8 gauge theory.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figure
Constructing Self-Dual Strings
We present an ADHMN-like construction which generates self-dual string
solutions to the effective M5-brane worldvolume theory from solutions to the
Basu-Harvey equation. Our construction finds a natural interpretation in terms
of gerbes, which we develop in some detail. We also comment on a possible
extension to stacks of multiple M5-branes.Comment: 1+19 pages, presentation improved, minor corrections, published
versio
The Topological B-model on a Mini-Supertwistor Space and Supersymmetric Bogomolny Monopole Equations
In the recent paper hep-th/0502076, it was argued that the open topological
B-model whose target space is a complex (2|4)-dimensional mini-supertwistor
space with D3- and D1-branes added corresponds to a super Yang-Mills theory in
three dimensions. Without the D1-branes, this topological B-model is equivalent
to a dimensionally reduced holomorphic Chern-Simons theory. Identifying the
latter with a holomorphic BF-type theory, we describe a twistor correspondence
between this theory and a supersymmetric Bogomolny model on R^3. The connecting
link in this correspondence is a partially holomorphic Chern-Simons theory on a
Cauchy-Riemann supermanifold which is a real one-dimensional fibration over the
mini-supertwistor space. Along the way of proving this twistor correspondence,
we review the necessary basic geometric notions and construct action
functionals for the involved theories. Furthermore, we discuss the geometric
aspect of a recently proposed deformation of the mini-supertwistor space, which
gives rise to mass terms in the supersymmetric Bogomolny equations. Eventually,
we present solution generating techniques based on the developed twistorial
description together with some examples and comment briefly on a twistor
correspondence for super Yang-Mills theory in three dimensions.Comment: 55 pages; v2: typos fixed, published versio
Topology, Entropy and Witten Index of Dilaton Black Holes
We have found that for extreme dilaton black holes an inner boundary must be
introduced in addition to the outer boundary to give an integer value to the
Euler number. The resulting manifolds have (if one identifies imaginary time)
topology and Euler number in contrast to
the non-extreme case with . The entropy of extreme dilaton black
holes is already known to be zero. We include a review of some recent ideas due
to Hawking on the Reissner-Nordstr\"om case. By regarding all extreme black
holes as having an inner boundary, we conclude that the entropy of {\sl all}
extreme black holes, including black holes, vanishes. We discuss the
relevance of this to the vanishing of quantum corrections and the idea that the
functional integral for extreme holes gives a Witten Index. We have studied
also the topology of ``moduli space'' of multi black holes. The quantum
mechanics on black hole moduli spaces is expected to be supersymmetric despite
the fact that they are not HyperK\"ahler since the corresponding geometry has
torsion unlike the BPS monopole case. Finally, we describe the possibility of
extreme black hole fission for states with an energy gap. The energy released,
as a proportion of the initial rest mass, during the decay of an
electro-magnetic black hole is 300 times greater than that released by the
fission of an nucleus.Comment: 51 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX. Considerably extended version. New
sections include discussion of the Witten index, topology of the moduli
space, black hole sigma model, and black hole fission with huge energy
releas
Gauging and symplectic blowing up in nonlinear sigma-models: I. point singularities
In this paper a two dimensional non-linear sigma model with a general
symplectic manifold with isometry as target space is used to study symplectic
blowing up of a point singularity on the zero level set of the moment map
associated with a quasi-free Hamiltonian action. We discuss in general the
relation between symplectic reduction and gauging of the symplectic isometries
of the sigma model action. In the case of singular reduction, gauging has the
same effect as blowing up the singular point by a small amount. Using the
exponential mapping of the underlying metric, we are able to construct
symplectic diffeomorphisms needed to glue the blow-up to the global reduced
space which is regular, thus providing a transition from one symplectic sigma
model to another one free of singularities.Comment: 32 pages, LaTex, THEP 93/24 (corrected and expanded(about 5 pages)
version
Gauge Theory and the Excision of Repulson Singularities
We study brane configurations that give rise to large-N gauge theories with
eight supersymmetries and no hypermultiplets. These configurations include a
variety of wrapped, fractional, and stretched branes or strings. The
corresponding spacetime geometries which we study have a distinct kind of
singularity known as a repulson. We find that this singularity is removed by a
distinctive mechanism, leaving a smooth geometry with a core having an enhanced
gauge symmetry. The spacetime geometry can be related to large-N Seiberg-Witten
theory.Comment: 31 pages LaTeX, 2 figures (v3: references added
D-brane Deconstructions in IIB Orientifolds
With model building applications in mind, we collect and develop basic
techniques to analyze the landscape of D7-branes in type IIB compact Calabi-Yau
orientifolds, in three different pictures: F-theory, the D7 worldvolume theory
and D9-anti-D9 tachyon condensation. A significant complication is that
consistent D7-branes in the presence of O7^- planes are generically singular,
with singularities locally modeled by the Whitney Umbrella. This invalidates
the standard formulae for charges, moduli space and flux lattice dimensions. We
infer the correct formulae by comparison to F-theory and derive them
independently and more generally from the tachyon picture, and relate these
numbers to the closed string massless spectrum of the orientifold
compactification in an interesting way. We furthermore give concrete recipes to
explicitly and systematically construct nontrivial D-brane worldvolume flux
vacua in arbitrary Calabi-Yau orientifolds, illustrate how to read off D-brane
flux content, enhanced gauge groups and charged matter spectra from tachyon
matrices, and demonstrate how brane recombination in general leads to flux
creation, as required by charge conservation and by equivalence of geometric
and gauge theory moduli spaces.Comment: 49 pages, v2: two references adde