Topological Gauge Theories on Local Spaces and Black Hole Entropy Countings

We study cohomological gauge theories on total spaces of holomorphic line bundles over complex manifolds and obtain their reduction to the base manifold by U(1) equivariant localization of the path integral. We exemplify this general mechanism by proving via exact path integral localization a reduction for local curves conjectured in hep-th/0411280, relevant to the calculation of black hole entropy/Gromov-Witten invariants. Agreement with the four-dimensional gauge theory is recovered by taking into account in the latter non-trivial contributions coming from one-loop fluctuations determinants at the boundary of the total space. We also study a class of abelian gauge theories on Calabi-Yau local surfaces, describing the quantum foam for the A-model, relevant to the calculation of Donaldson-Thomas invariants.Comment: 17 page

Conifold geometries, matrix models and quantum solutions

This paper is a continuation of hepth/0507224 where open topological B-models describing D-branes on 2-cycles of local Calabi--Yau geometries with conical singularities were studied. After a short review, the paper expands in particular on two aspects: the gauge fixing problem in the reduction to two dimensions and the quantum matrix model solutions.Comment: 17 p. To appear in proc. Symposium QTS-4, Varna (Bulgaria), August 200

Heterotic Matrix String Theory and Riemann Surfaces

We extend the results found for Matrix String Theory to Heterotic Matrix String Theory, i.e. to a 2d O(N) SYM theory with chiral (anomaly free) matter and N=(8,0) supersymmetry. We write down the instanton equations for this theory and solve them explicitly. The solutions are characterized by branched coverings of the basis cylinder, i.e. by compact Riemann surfaces with punctures. We show that in the strong coupling limit the action becomes the heterotic string action plus a free Maxwell action. Moreover the amplitude based on a Riemann surface with p punctures and h handles is proportional to g^{2-2h-p}, as expected for the heterotic string interaction theory with string coupling g_s=1/g.Comment: 17 pages, JHEP LaTeX style, sentence delete

Branched Coverings and Interacting Matrix Strings in Two Dimensions

We construct the lattice gauge theory of the group G_N, the semidirect product of the permutation group S_N with U(1)^N, on an arbitrary Riemann surface. This theory describes the branched coverings of a two-dimensional target surface by strings carrying a U(1) gauge field on the world sheet. These are the non-supersymmetric Matrix Strings that arise in the unitary gauge quantization of a generalized two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory. By classifying the irreducible representations of G_N, we give the most general formulation of the lattice gauge theory of G_N, which includes arbitrary branching points on the world sheet and describes the splitting and joining of strings.Comment: LaTeX2e, 25 pages, 4 figure

Flavour from partially resolved singularities

In this letter we study topological open string field theory on D--branes in a IIB background given by non compact CY geometries ${\cal O}(n)\oplus{\cal O}(-2-n)$ on $\P1$ with a singular point at which an extra fiber sits. We wrap $N$ D5-branes on $\P1$ and $M$ effective D3-branes at singular points, which are actually D5--branes wrapped on a shrinking cycle. We calculate the holomorphic Chern-Simons partition function for the above models in a deformed complex structure and find that it reduces to multi--matrix models with flavour. These are the matrix models whose resolvents have been shown to satisfy the generalized Konishi anomaly equations with flavour. In the $n=0$ case, corresponding to a partial resolution of the $A_2$ singularity, the quantum superpotential in the ${\cal N}=1$ unitary SYM with one adjoint and $M$ fundamentals is obtained. The $n=1$ case is also studied and shown to give rise to two--matrix models which for a particular set of couplings can be exactly solved. We explicitly show how to solve such a class of models by a quantum equation of motion technique

Algebraic-geometrical formulation of two-dimensional quantum gravity

We find a volume form on moduli space of double punctured Riemann surfaces whose integral satisfies the Painlev\'e I recursion relations of the genus expansion of the specific heat of 2D gravity. This allows us to express the asymptotic expansion of the specific heat as an integral on an infinite dimensional moduli space in the spirit of Friedan-Shenker approach. We outline a conjectural derivation of such recursion relations using the Duistermaat-Heckman theorem.Comment: 10 pages, Latex fil

Matrix strings from generalized Yang-Mills theory on arbitrary Riemann surfaces

We quantize pure 2d Yang-Mills theory on an arbitrary Riemann surface in the gauge where the field strength is diagonal. Twisted sectors originate, as in Matrix string theory, from permutations of the eigenvalues around homotopically non-trivial loops. These sectors, that must be discarded in the usual quantization due to divergences occurring when two eigenvalues coincide, can be consistently kept if one modifies the action by introducing a coupling of the field strength to the space-time curvature. This leads to a generalized Yang-Mills theory whose action reduces to the usual one in the limit of zero curvature. After integrating over the non-diagonal components of the gauge fields, the theory becomes a free string theory (sum over unbranched coverings) with a U(1) gauge theory on the world-sheet. This is shown to be equivalent to a lattice theory with a gauge group which is the semi-direct product of S_N and U(1)^N. By using well known results on the statistics of coverings, the partition function on arbitrary Riemann surfaces and the kernel functions on surfaces with boundaries are calculated. Extensions to include branch points and non-abelian groups on the world-sheet are briefly commented upon.Comment: Latex2e, 29 pages, 2 .eps figure

A Representation of Symmetry Generators for the Type IIB Superstring on a Plane Wave in the U(4) Formalism

We calculate the symmetry currents for the type IIB superstring on a maximally supersymmetric plane wave background using the N=(2,2) superconformally covariant U(4) formulation developed by Berkovits, Maldacena and Maoz. An explicit realization of the U(4) generators together with 16 fermionic generators is obtained in terms of the N=(2,2) worldsheet fields. Because the action is no longer quadratic, we use a light-cone version to display the currents in terms of the covariant worldsheet variables.Comment: 9 pages, harvmac, Corrected some typographical errors, Added reference

N=2 SYM RG Scale as Modulus for WDVV Equations

We derive a new set of WDVV equations for N=2 SYM in which the renormalization scale $\Lambda$ is identified with the distinguished modulus which naturally arises in topological field theories.Comment: 6 pages, LaTe

Matrix string states in pure 2d Yang Mills theories

We quantize pure 2d Yang-Mills theory on a torus in the gauge where the field strength is diagonal. Because of the topological obstructions to a global smooth diagonalization, we find string-like states in the spectrum similar to the ones introduced by various authors in Matrix string theory. We write explicitly the partition function, which generalizes the one already known in the literature, and we discuss the role of these states in preserving modular invariance. Some speculations are presented about the interpretation of 2d Yang-Mills theory as a Matrix string theory.Comment: Latex file of 38 pages plus 6 eps figures. A note and few references added, figures improve