Supersymmetric string vacua on AdS_3 x N

String backgrounds of the form AdS_3 x N that give rise to two dimensional spacetime superconformal symmetry are constructed.Comment: harvmac, 9 pages (minor changes for submission to journal

A Gravitational Effective Action on a Finite Triangulation as a Discrete Model of Continuous Concepts

We recall how the Gauss-Bonnet theorem can be interpreted as a finite dimen- sional index theorem. We describe the construction given in hep-th/0512293 of a function that can be interpreted as a gravitational effective action on a triangulation. The variation of this function under local rescalings of the edge lengths sharing a vertex is the Euler density, and we use it to illustrate how continuous concepts can have natural discrete analogs.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure; Presented at the 26th Winter School GEOMETRY AND PHYSICS at Srn

Hyperkahler Cones and Orthogonal Wolf Spaces

We construct the hyperkahler cones corresponding to the Quaternion-Kahler orthogonal Wolf spaces SO(n+4)/(SO(n)xSO(4)) and their non-compact versions, which appear in hypermultiplet couplings to N=2 supergravity. The geometry is completely encoded by a single function, the hyperkahler potential, which we compute from an SU(2) hyperkahler quotient of flat space. We derive the Killing vectors and moment maps for the SO(n+4) isometry group on the hyperkahler cone. For the non-compact case, the isometry group SO(n,4) contains n+2 abelian isometries which can be used to find a dual description in terms of n tensor multiplets and one double-tensor multiplet. Finally, using a representation of the hyperkahler quotient via quiver diagrams, we deduce the existence of a new eight dimensional ALE space.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 2 figures (references added