Closed N=2 Strings: Picture-Changing, Hidden Symmetries and SDG Hierarchy

We study the action of picture-changing and spectral flow operators on a ground ring of ghost number zero operators in the chiral BRST cohomology of the closed N=2 string and describe an infinite set of symmetry charges acting on physical states. The transformations of physical string states are compared with symmetries of self-dual gravity which is the effective field theory of the closed N=2 string. We derive all infinitesimal symmetries of the self-dual gravity equations in 2+2 dimensional spacetime and introduce an infinite hierarchy of commuting flows on the moduli space of self-dual metrics. The dependence on moduli parameters can be recovered by solving the equations of the SDG hierarchy associated with an infinite set of abelian symmetries generated recursively from translations. These non-local abelian symmetries are shown to coincide with the hidden abelian string symmetries responsible for the vanishing of most scattering amplitudes. Therefore, N=2 string theory "predicts" not only self-dual gravity but also the SDG hierarchy.Comment: 41 pages, no figure

Loop groups in Yang-Mills theory

We consider the Yang-Mills equations with a matrix gauge group $G$ on the de Sitter dS$_4$, anti-de Sitter AdS$_4$ and Minkowski $R^{3,1}$ spaces. On all these spaces one can introduce a doubly warped metric in the form $d s^2 =-d u^2 + f^2 d v^2 +h^2 d s^2_{H^2}$, where $f$ and $h$ are the functions of $u$ and $d s^2_{H^2}$ is the metric on the two-dimensional hyperbolic space $H^2$. We show that in the adiabatic limit, when the metric on $H^2$ is scaled down, the Yang-Mills equations become the sigma-model equations describing harmonic maps from a two-dimensional manifold (dS$_2$, AdS$_2$ or $R^{1,1}$, respectively) into the based loop group $\Omega G=C^\infty (S^1, G)/G$ of smooth maps from the boundary circle $S^1=\partial H^2$ of $H^2$ into the gauge group $G$. From this correspondence and the implicit function theorem it follows that the moduli space of Yang-Mills theory with a gauge group $G$ in four dimensions is bijective to the moduli space of two-dimensional sigma model with $\Omega G$ as the target space. The sigma-model field equations can be reduced to equations of geodesics on $\Omega G$, solutions of which yield magnetic-type configurations of Yang-Mills fields. The group $\Omega G$ naturally acts on their moduli space.Comment: 8 pages; v3: clarifying remarks and references adde

Holomorphic Analogs of Topological Gauge Theories

We introduce a new class of gauge field theories in any complex dimension, based on algebra-valued (p,q)-forms on complex n-manifolds. These theories are holomorphic analogs of the well-known Chern-Simons and BF topological theories defined on real manifolds. We introduce actions for different special holomorphic BF theories on complex, Kahler and Calabi-Yau manifolds and describe their gauge symmetries. Candidate observables, topological invariants and relations to integrable models are briefly discussed.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX2e, shortened PLB versio

Instantons on the six-sphere and twistors

We consider the six-sphere S^6=G_2/SU(3) and its twistor space Z=G_2/U(2) associated with the SU(3)-structure on S^6. It is shown that a Hermitian Yang-Mills connection (instanton) on a smooth vector bundle over S^6 is equivalent to a flat partial connection on a vector bundle over the twistor space Z. The relation with Tian's tangent instantons on R^7 and their twistor description are briefly discussed.Comment: 12 pages; v2: clarifying comments added, published versio