Non-perturbative gauge couplings from holography

We show how D-instanton corrections modify the dilaton-axion profile emitted by an O7/D7 system turning it into the non-singular F-theory background which corresponds to the effective coupling on a D3 probe.Comment: 6 pages. Proceedings of the "XVII European Workshop on String Theory 2011", Padova, Italy, 5-9 September 201

N=2 Instanton Calculus In Closed String Background

In this contribution we describe how to obtain instanton effects in four dimensional gauge theories by computing string scattering amplitudes in D3/D(-1) brane systems. In particular we study a system of fractional D3/D(-1) branes in a Z_2 orbifold and in a Ramond-Ramond closed string background, and show that it describes the gauge instantons of N=2 super Yang-Mills theory and their interactions with the graviphoton of N=2. Using string theory methods we compute the prepotential of the effective gauge theory exploiting the localization methods of the instanton calculus, showing that this leads to the same information given by the topological string.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the proceedings of 21st Nishinomiya-Yukawa Memorial Symposium on Theoretical Physics: Noncommutative Geometry and Quantum Spacetime in Physics, Nishinomiya and Kyoto, Japan, 11-15 Nov 200

Instanton Calculus With R-R Background And Topological Strings

The non-perturbative low energy effective action of N=2 SYM is studied within a microscopic string realization via D3/D-instanton systems. The localization deformation of instanton moduli space which has allowed the exact computation of multi-instanton contributions is, in this setting, due to a RR graviphoton background. The relation of deformed instanton contributions to topological string amplitudes on CY, argued by Nekrasov, appears quite natural in this framework. Based on arXiv:hep-th/0606013.Comment: 5 pages, 3 fig.s, Latex, uses w-art class (included). To appear in the proceedings of the RTN workshop "ForcesUniverse", Naples, October 9-13, 200

Exotic prepotentials from D(-1)D7 dynamics

We compute the partition functions of D(-1)D7 systems describing the multi-instanton dynamics of SO(N) gauge theories in eight dimensions. This is the simplest instance of the so called exotic instantons. In analogy with the Seiberg-Witten theory in four space-time dimensions, the prepotential and correlators in the chiral ring are derived via localization formulas and found to satisfy relations of the Matone type. Exotic prepotentials of SO(N) gauge theories with N=2 supersymmetries in four-dimensions are also discussed.Comment: 19 page

Conceptual Graphs in CAD

This paper elaborates on the use of conceptual graphs in a prototype of a computer based support system for re-design. Re-design support involves the modelling of assemblies and components. The requirements of the components to be modelled are a compromise between the functioning of the assembly and the manufacturability of the individual components. Conceptual graphs provide for an elegant way of representing both functioning and manufacturing aspects. In the prototype system, conceptual graphs are used for representing and defining assemblies, components and features as well as the relations between these entities. Constraints, such as kinematic, tolerance and manufacturing constraints are also represented using conceptual graphs

Stringy instantons and dualities

We discuss non-perturbative corrections to the gauge kinetic functions in a four-dimensional N=2 gauge theory realized with a system of D7/D3-branes in a compactification of type I' theory on T_4/Z_2 x Z_2. The non-perturbative contributions arise when D(-1) branes, corresponding to stringy instantons, are added to the system; such contributions can be explicitly evaluated using localization techniques and precisely match the results predicted by the heterotic/type I' duality. This agreement represents a very non-trivial test of the stringy multi-instanton calculus.Comment: 6 pages, Contribution to the proceedings of the XVIth European Workshop on String Theory, Madrid, Spain, June 14-18 201