D-branes in Unoriented Non-critical Strings and Duality in SO(N) and Sp(N) Gauge Theories

We exhibit exact conformal field theory descriptions of SO(N) and Sp(N) pairs of Seiberg-dual gauge theories within string theory. The N=1 gauge theories with flavour are realized as low energy limits of the worldvolume theories on D-branes in unoriented non-critical superstring backgrounds. These unoriented backgrounds are obtained by constructing exact crosscap states in the SL(2,R)/U(1) coset conformal field theory using the modular bootstrap method. Seiberg duality is understood by studying the behaviour of the boundary and crosscap states under monodromy in the closed string parameter space.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figure

On supersymmetry breaking in string theory from gauge theory in a throat

We embed the supersymmetry breaking mechanism in N=1 SQCD of hep-th/0602239 in a smooth superstring theory using D-branes in the background R^4 \times SL(2)_{k=1}/U(1) which smoothly captures the throat region of an intersecting NS5-brane configuration. A controllable deformation of the supersymmetric branes gives rise to the mass deformation of the magnetic SQCD theory on the branes. The consequent instability on the open string worldsheet can be followed onto a stable non-supersymmetric configuration of D-branes which realize the metastable vacuum configuration in the field theory. The new brane configuration is shown to backreact onto the background such as to produce different boundary conditions for the string fields in the radial direction compared to the supersymmetric configuration. In the string theory, this is interpreted to mean that the supersymmetry breaking is explicit rather than spontaneous.Comment: 29 pages, harvmac, 8 figures; v2 typos corrected, reference adde

Effective superpotential for U(N) with antisymmetric matter

We consider an N=1 U(N) gauge theory with matter in the antisymmetric representation and its conjugate, with a tree level superpotential containing at least quartic interactions for these fields. We obtain the effective glueball superpotential in the classically unbroken case, and show that it has a non-trivial N-dependence which does not factorize. We also recover additional contributions starting at order S^N from the dynamics of Sp(0) factors. This can also be understood by a precise map of this theory to an Sp(2N-2) gauge theory with antisymmetric matter.Comment: 22 pages. v2: comment (and a reference) added at the end of section 2 on low rank cases; minor typos corrected. v3: 2 footnotes added with additional clarifications; version to appear in journa

Constructing Gauge Theory Geometries from Matrix Models

We use the matrix model -- gauge theory correspondence of Dijkgraaf and Vafa in order to construct the geometry encoding the exact gaugino condensate superpotential for the N=1 U(N) gauge theory with adjoint and symmetric or anti-symmetric matter, broken by a tree level superpotential to a product subgroup involving U(N_i) and SO(N_i) or Sp(N_i/2) factors. The relevant geometry is encoded by a non-hyperelliptic Riemann surface, which we extract from the exact loop equations. We also show that O(1/N) corrections can be extracted from a logarithmic deformation of this surface. The loop equations contain explicitly subleading terms of order 1/N, which encode information of string theory on an orientifolded local quiver geometry.Comment: 52 page

Topological Cigar and the c=1 String : Open and Closed

We clarify some aspects of the map between the c=1 string theory at self-dual radius and the topologically twisted cigar at level one. We map the ZZ and FZZT D-branes in the c=1 string theory at self dual radius to the localized and extended branes in the topological theory on the cigar. We show that the open string spectrum on the branes in the two theories are in correspondence with each other, and their two point correlators are equal. We also find a representation of an extended N=2 algebra on the worldsheet which incorporates higher spin currents in terms of asymptotic variables on the cigar.Comment: 37 pages, 2 figures, corrections to section 3.1, references adde

Kac and New Determinants for Fractional Superconformal Algebras

We derive the Kac and new determinant formulae for an arbitrary (integer) level $K$ fractional superconformal algebra using the BRST cohomology techniques developed in conformal field theory. In particular, we reproduce the Kac determinants for the Virasoro ($K=1$) and superconformal ($K=2$) algebras. For $K\geq3$ there always exist modules where the Kac determinant factorizes into a product of more fundamental new determinants. Using our results for general $K$, we sketch the non-unitarity proof for the $SU(2)$ minimal series; as expected, the only unitary models are those already known from the coset construction. We apply the Kac determinant formulae for the spin-4/3 parafermion current algebra ({\em i.e.}, the $K=4$ fractional superconformal algebra) to the recently constructed three-dimensional flat Minkowski space-time representation of the spin-4/3 fractional superstring. We prove the no-ghost theorem for the space-time bosonic sector of this theory; that is, its physical spectrum is free of negative-norm states.Comment: 33 pages, Revtex 3.0, Cornell preprint CLNS 93/124

Phases of N=1 Supersymmetric SO/Sp Gauge Theories via Matrix Model

We extend the results of Cachazo, Seiberg and Witten to N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories with gauge groups SO(2N), SO(2N+1) and Sp(2N). By taking the superpotential which is an arbitrary polynomial of adjoint matter \Phi as a small perturbation of N=2 gauge theories, we examine the singular points preserving N=1 supersymmetry in the moduli space where mutually local monopoles become massless. We derive the matrix model complex curve for the whole range of the degree of perturbed superpotential. Then we determine a generalized Konishi anomaly equation implying the orientifold contribution. We turn to the multiplication map and the confinement index K and describe both Coulomb branch and confining branch. In particular, we construct a multiplication map from SO(2N+1) to SO(2KN-K+2) where K is an even integer as well as a multiplication map from SO(2N) to SO(2KN-2K+2) (K is a positive integer), a map from SO(2N+1) to SO(2KN-K+2) (K is an odd integer) and a map from Sp(2N) to Sp(2KN+2K-2). Finally we analyze some examples which show some duality: the same moduli space has two different semiclassical limits corresponding to distinct gauge groups.Comment: 55pp; two paragraphs in page 19 added to clarify the relation between confinement index and multiplication map index, refs added and to appear in JHEP; Konishi anomaly equations corrected and some comments on the degenerated cases for SO(7) and SO(8) adde

Note on Matrix Model with Massless Flavors

In this note, following the work of Seiberg in hep-th/0211234 for the conjecture between the field theory and matrix model in the case with massive fundamental flavors, we generalize it to the case with massless fundamental flavors. We show that with a little modifications, the analysis given by Seiberg can be used directly to the case of massless flavors. Furthermore, this new method explains the insertion of delta functions in the matrix model given by Demasure and Janik in hep-th/0211082.Comment: 10 pages. Type fixed. Remarks adde

Chiral rings, anomalies and loop equations in N=1* gauge theories

We examine the equivalence between the Konishi anomaly equations and the matrix model loop equations in N=1* gauge theories, the mass deformation of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills. We perform the superfunctional integral of two adjoint chiral superfields to obtain an effective N=1 theory of the third adjoint chiral superfield. By choosing an appropriate holomorphic variation, the Konishi anomaly equations correctly reproduce the loop equations in the corresponding three-matrix model. We write down the field theory loop equations explicitly by using a noncommutative product of resolvents peculiar to N=1* theories. The field theory resolvents are identified with those in the matrix model in the same manner as for the generic N=1 gauge theories. We cover all the classical gauge groups. In SO/Sp cases, both the one-loop holomorphic potential and the Konishi anomaly term involve twisting of index loops to change a one-loop oriented diagram to an unoriented diagram. The field theory loop equations for these cases show certain inhomogeneous terms suggesting the matrix model loop equations for the RP2 resolvent.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, latex2e, v4: minor changes in introduction and conclusions, 4 references are added, version to appear in JHE

Improved matrix-model calculation of the N=2 prepotential

We present a matrix-model expression for the sum of instanton contributions to the prepotential of an N=2 supersymmetric U(N) gauge theory, with matter in various representations. This expression is derived by combining the renormalization-group approach to the gauge theory prepotential with matrix-model methods. This result can be evaluated order-by-order in matrix-model perturbation theory to obtain the instanton corrections to the prepotential. We also show, using this expression, that the one-instanton prepotential assumes a universal form.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 2 figure