32 research outputs found
Topological Strings and (Almost) Modular Forms
The B-model topological string theory on a Calabi-Yau threefold X has a
symmetry group Gamma, generated by monodromies of the periods of X. This acts
on the topological string wave function in a natural way, governed by the
quantum mechanics of the phase space H^3(X). We show that, depending on the
choice of polarization, the genus g topological string amplitude is either a
holomorphic quasi-modular form or an almost holomorphic modular form of weight
0 under Gamma. Moreover, at each genus, certain combinations of genus g
amplitudes are both modular and holomorphic. We illustrate this for the local
Calabi-Yau manifolds giving rise to Seiberg-Witten gauge theories in four
dimensions and local P_2 and P_1 x P_1. As a byproduct, we also obtain a simple
way of relating the topological string amplitudes near different points in the
moduli space, which we use to give predictions for Gromov-Witten invariants of
the orbifold C^3/Z_3.Comment: 62 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor correction
Gravitational corrections in supersymmetric gauge theory and matrix models
Gravitational corrections in N=1 and N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories are
obtained from topological string amplitudes. We show how they are recovered in
matrix model computations. This provides a test of the proposal by Dijkgraaf
and Vafa beyond the planar limit. Both, matrix model and topological string
theory, are used to check a conjecture of Nekrasov concerning these
gravitational couplings in Seiberg-Witten theory. Our analysis is performed for
those gauge theories which are related to the cubic matrix model, i.e. pure
SU(2) Seiberg-Witten theory and N=2 U(N) SYM broken to N=1 via a cubic
superpotential. We outline the computation of the topological amplitudes for
the local Calabi-Yau manifolds which are relevant for these two cases.Comment: 27 pages, one eps figur
Superpotentials from flux compactifications of M-theory
In flux compactifications of M-theory a superpotential is generated whose
explicit form depends on the structure group of the 7-dimensional internal
manifold. In this note, we discuss superpotentials for the structure groups:
G_2, SU(3) or SU(2). For the G_2 case all internal fluxes have to vanish. For
SU(3) structures, the non-zero flux components entering the superpotential
describe an effective 1-dimensional model and a Chern-Simons model if there are
SU(2) structures.Comment: 10 page
Matrix Model as a Mirror of Chern-Simons Theory
Using mirror symmetry, we show that Chern-Simons theory on certain manifolds
such as lens spaces reduces to a novel class of Hermitian matrix models, where
the measure is that of unitary matrix models. We show that this agrees with the
more conventional canonical quantization of Chern-Simons theory. Moreover,
large N dualities in this context lead to computation of all genus A-model
topological amplitudes on toric Calabi-Yau manifolds in terms of matrix
integrals. In the context of type IIA superstring compactifications on these
Calabi-Yau manifolds with wrapped D6 branes (which are dual to M-theory on G2
manifolds) this leads to engineering and solving F-terms for N=1 supersymmetric
gauge theories with superpotentials involving certain multi-trace operators.Comment: harvmac, 54 pages, 13 figure
NC Calabi-Yau Orbifolds in Toric Varieties with Discrete Torsion
Using the algebraic geometric approach of Berenstein et {\it al}
(hep-th/005087 and hep-th/009209) and methods of toric geometry, we study non
commutative (NC) orbifolds of Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric varieties with
discrete torsion. We first develop a new way of getting complex mirror
Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric manifolds with a action and analyze the general group of the
discrete isometries of . Then we build a general class of
complex dimension NC mirror Calabi-Yau orbifolds where the non
commutativity parameters are solved in terms of discrete
torsion and toric geometry data of in which the original
Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces is embedded. Next we work out a generalization of the
NC algebra for generic dimensions NC Calabi-Yau manifolds and give various
representations depending on different choices of the Calabi-Yau toric geometry
data. We also study fractional D-branes at orbifold points. We refine and
extend the result for NC to higher dimensional torii orbifolds
in terms of Clifford algebra.Comment: 38 pages, Late
The holomorphic anomaly for open string moduli
We complete the holomorphic anomaly equations for topological strings with
their dependence on open moduli. We obtain the complete system by standard path
integral arguments generalizing the analysis of BCOV (Commun. Math. Phys. 165
(1994) 311) to strings with boundaries. We study both the anti-holomorphic
dependence on open moduli and on closed moduli in presence of Wilson lines. By
providing the compactification a' la Deligne-Mumford of the moduli space of
Riemann surfaces with boundaries, we show that the open holomorphic anomaly
equations are structured on the (real codimension one) boundary components of
this space.Comment: 1+14 pages, 6 figures! v2: ref. added v3: section 4 expanded, 1+17
pages, 11 figures!!, to be publ. in JHE
Global Properties of Topological String Amplitudes and Orbifold Invariants
We derive topological string amplitudes on local Calabi-Yau manifolds in
terms of polynomials in finitely many generators of special functions. These
objects are defined globally in the moduli space and lead to a description of
mirror symmetry at any point in the moduli space. Holomorphic ambiguities of
the anomaly equations are fixed by global information obtained from boundary
conditions at few special divisors in the moduli space. As an illustration we
compute higher genus orbifold Gromov-Witten invariants for C^3/Z_3 and C^3/Z_4.Comment: 34 pages, 3 figure
A Note on Computations of D-brane Superpotential
We develop some computational methods for the integrals over the 3-chains on
the compact Calabi-Yau 3-folds that plays a prominent role in the analysis of
the topological B-model in the context of the open mirror symmetry. We discuss
such 3-chain integrals in two approaches. In the first approach, we provide a
systematic algorithm to obtain the inhomogeneous Picard-Fuchs equations. In the
second approach, we discuss the analytic continuation of the period integral to
compute the 3-chain integral directly. The latter direct integration method is
applicable for both on-shell and off-shell formalisms.Comment: 61 pages, 5 figures; v2: typos corrected, minor changes, references
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Holomorphicity and Modularity in Seiberg-Witten Theories with Matter
We calculate the gravitational corrections to the effective action of N=2
SU(2) Seiberg-Witten theory with matter using modularity, the holomorphic
anomaly equation and expected behavior at the boundaries of the moduli space.
As in pure gauge theory we show that the gap condition at the dyon
singularities completely fixes the gravitational corrections. We discuss the
behavior of the gravitational corrections at the conformal points. We compare
our results with the recursive solution of the loop equation in the matrix
model approach, which provides in addition open amplitudes.Comment: 53 pages, no figure
Counting BPS states on the Enriques Calabi-Yau
We study topological string amplitudes for the FHSV model using various
techniques. This model has a type II realization involving a Calabi-Yau
threefold with Enriques fibres, which we call the Enriques Calabi-Yau. By
applying heterotic/type IIA duality, we compute the topological amplitudes in
the fibre to all genera. It turns out that there are two different ways to do
the computation that lead to topological couplings with different BPS content.
One of them leads to the standard D0-D2 counting amplitudes, and from the other
one we obtain information about bound states of D0-D4-D2 branes on the Enriques
fibre. We also study the model using mirror symmetry and the holomorphic
anomaly equations. We verify in this way the heterotic results for the D0-D2
generating functional for low genera and find closed expressions for the
topological amplitudes on the total space in terms of modular forms, and up to
genus four. This model turns out to be much simpler than the generic B-model
and might be exactly solvable.Comment: 62 pages, v3: some results at genus 3 corrected, more typos correcte