Topics in Open Topological Strings

This thesis is based on some selected topics in open topological string theory which I have worked on during my Ph.D. It comprises an introductory part where I have focused on the points most needed for the later chapters, trading completeness for conciseness and clarity. Then, following [12], we discuss tadpole cancellation for topological strings where we mainly show how its implementation is needed for ensuring the same "odd" moduli decoupling encountered in the closed theory. Next we move to analyse how the open and closed effective field theories for the B model interact writing the complete Lagrangian. We first check it deriving some already known tree level amplitudes in term of target space quantities, and then we extend the recipe to new results; later we implement open closed duality from a target field theory perspective. This last subject is also analysed from a worldsheet point of view extending the analysis of [13]. Some ideas for future research are briefly reported

Replica trick and string winding

We apply the replica trick to compute the entropy of a cylinder amplitude in string theory. We focus on the contribution from non-perturbative winding modes and impose tadpole cancellation to understand the correct prescription for integrating over moduli. Choosing the entangling surface to cut longitudinally over the whole length of the cylinder, we obtain an answer that is interpreted as the entropy of a density matrix. We recast this result in target space language, both in the open and closed string picture

Dynamics of Entanglement Entropy from Einstein Equation

We study the dynamics of entanglement entropy for weakly excited states in conformal field theories by using the AdS/CFT. This is aimed at a first step to find a counterpart of Einstein equation in the CFT language. In particular, we point out that the entanglement entropy satisfies differential equations which directly correspond to the Einstein equation in several setups of AdS/CFT. We also define a quantity called entanglement density in higher dimensional field theories and study its dynamical property for weakly excited states in conformal field theories.Comment: v2: 24 pages, calculations of translationally invariant limit have been corrected in section 4 and 5. References adde