String Theory Seminar
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Mon, 08/10/2007 12:00 |
Amihay Hanany (Imperial College) |
String Theory Seminar  |
L3 |
| Abstract: Supersymmetric gauge theories have a spectrum of chiral operators which are preserved under at least 2 supercharges. These operators are sometimes called BPS operators in the chiral ring. The problem of counting operators in the chiral ring is reasonably simple and reveals information about the moduli space of vacua for the supersymmetric gauge theory. In this talk I will review the counting problem and present exact results on the moduli space of both mesonic and baryonic operators for a large class of gauge theories | |||
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Thu, 11/10/2007 16:15 |
Dimitri Kazakov (JINR & Moscow) |
String Theory Seminar |
Fisher Room |
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Mon, 15/10/2007 12:00 |
Volker Braun (University of Pennsylvania) |
String Theory Seminar |
L3 |
| Abstract: Following Donaldson's approach we compute the Calabi-Yau metric on quintics, a four-generation quotient, Schoen threefolds and quotients thereof. Using the explicit Calabi-Yau metric, we then compute eigenvalues and eigenmodes of the Laplace operator. | |||
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Mon, 22/10/2007 12:00 |
Maximilian Kreutzer (Technical University of Vienna) |
String Theory Seminar |
L3 |
| Abstract: Toric geometry provides powerful and efficient combinatorial tools for the construction and analysis of Calabi-Yau manifolds. After recollections of the hypersurface case I present recent results on new Calabi-Yau 3-folds and their mirrors via conifold transitions, ideas for generalizations to higher codimensions and applications to string theory. | |||
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Wed, 24/10/2007 12:00 |
Sergey Cherkis (Trinity College Dublin) |
String Theory Seminar |
L3 |
| Abstract: Self-dual connections on ALF spaces can be encoded in terms of bow diagrams, which are natural generalizations of quivers. This provides a convenient description of the moduli spaces of these self-dual connections. We make some comments about the associated twistor data. Via the Nahm transform we construct two explicit examples: a single instanton and a single monopole on a Taub-NUT space. | |||
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Mon, 29/10/2007 11:00 |
Lionel Mason (Oxford) |
String Theory Seminar |
L3 |
Abstract: Twistor-string theory is reformulated as a `half-twisted heterotic' theory with target  . This in effect gives a Dolbeault formulation of a theory of holomorphic curves in twistor space and gives a clearer picture of the mathematical structures underlying the theory and how they arise from the original Witten and Berkovits models. It is also explained how space-time physics arises from the model. It intended that the lecture be, to a certain extent, pedagogical. |
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Mon, 12/11/2007 11:00 |
James Sparks (Oxford) |
String Theory Seminar |
L3 |
| Abstract: I will give an introduction to, and overview of, the AdS/CFT correspondence from a geometric perspective. As I hope to explain, the correspondence leads to some remarkable relationships between string theory, conformal field theory, algebraic geometry, differential geometry and combinatorics. | |||
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Mon, 19/11/2007 11:00 |
Matt Headrick (Stanford University) |
String Theory Seminar |
L3 |
| Abstract: The deconfinement transition in gauge theories, in which the Polyakov loop acquires a non-zero expectation value, is described in AdS/CFT as the formation of a black hole in the dual graviational theory. We will explain how to compute the free energy diagram for the Polyakov loop by a constrained gravitational path integral, leading to a new class of black hole solutions. | |||
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Mon, 26/11/2007 11:00 |
Lara Anderson (Oxford) |
String Theory Seminar |
L3 |
| Abstract: In this talk, I will describe recent work in string phenomenology from the perspective of computational algebraic geometry. I will begin by reviewing some of the long-standing issues in heterotic model building and describe the difficult task of producing realistic particle physics from heterotic string theory. This goal can be approached by creating a large class of heterotic models which can be algorithmically scanned for physical suitability. I will outline a well-defined set of heterotic compactifications over complete intersection Calabi-Yau manifolds using the monad construction of vector bundles. Further, I will describe how a combination of analytic methods and computer algebra can provide efficient techniques for proving stability and calculating particle spectra. | |||
