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Bogdan Florea

Publications and source records attributed to Bogdan Florea.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Stringy Instantons and Quiver Gauge Theories

We explore contributions to the 4D effective superpotential which arise from Euclidean D3 branes (``instantons'') that intersect space-filling D-branes. These effects can perturb the effective field theory on the space-filling branes by nontrivial operators composed of charged matter fields, changing the vacuum structure in a qualitative way in some examples. Our considerations are exemplified throughout by a careful study of a fractional brane configuration on a del Pezzo surface.

hep-th

Metastable Quivers in String Compactifications

We propose a scenario for dynamical supersymmetry breaking in string compactifications based on geometric engineering of quiver gauge theories. In particular we show that the runaway behavior of fractional branes at del Pezzo singularities can be stabilized by a flux superpotential in compact models. Our construction relies on homological mirror symmetry for orientifolds.

hep-th

Black String Entropy and Fourier-Mukai Transform

We propose a microscopic description of black strings in F-theory based on string duality and Fourier-Mukai transform. These strings admit several different microscopic descriptions involving D-brane as well as M2 or M5-brane configurations on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds. In particular our results can also be interpreted as an asymptotic microstate count for D6-D2-D0 configurations in the limit of large D2-charge on the elliptic fiber. The leading behavior of the microstate degeneracy in this limit is shown to agree with the macroscopic entropy formula derived from the black string supergravity solution.

hep-th

Gauge-Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking in String Compactifications

We provide string theory examples where a toy model of a SUSY GUT or the MSSM is embedded in a compactification along with a gauge sector which dynamically breaks supersymmetry. We argue that by changing microscopic details of the model (such as precise choices of flux), one can arrange for the dominant mediation mechanism transmitting SUSY breaking to the Standard Model to be either gravity mediation or gauge mediation. Systematic improvement of such examples may lead to top-down models incorporating a solution to the SUSY flavor problem.

hep-th

Large N Duality for Compact Calabi-Yau Threefolds

We study geometric transitions for topological strings on compact Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric varieties. Large N duality predicts an equivalence between topological open and closed string theories connected by an extremal transition. We develop new open string enumerative techniques and perform a high precision genus zero test of this conjecture for a certain class of toric extremal transitions. Our approach is based on a) an open string version of Gromov-Witten theory with convex obstruction bundle and b) an extension of Chern-Simons theory treating the framing as a formal variable.

hep-th

A Vertex Formalism for Local Ruled Surfaces

We develop a vertex formalism for topological string amplitudes on ruled surfaces with an arbitrary number of reducible fibers embedded in a Calabi-Yau threefold. Our construction is based on large N duality and localization with respect to a degenerate torus action. We also discuss potential generalizations of our formalism to a broader class of Calabi-Yau threefolds using the same underlying principles.

hep-th

The Ruled Vertex and D-E Degenerations

We compute all genus topological amplitudes on configurations of ruled surfaces obtained by resolving lines of D-E singularities in compact Calabi-Yau threefolds. We find that our results are in agreement with genus zero mirror symmetry calculations, which is further evidence for the ruled vertex formalism for degenerate torus actions.

hep-th

Fixing All Moduli in a Simple F-Theory Compactification

We discuss a simple example of an F-theory compactification on a Calabi-Yau fourfold where background fluxes, together with nonperturbative effects from Euclidean D3 instantons and gauge dynamics on D7 branes, allow us to fix all closed and open string moduli. We explicitly check that the known higher order corrections to the potential, which we neglect in our leading approximation, only shift the results by a small amount. In our exploration of the model, we encounter interesting new phenomena, including examples of transitions where D7 branes absorb O3 planes, while changing topology to preserve the net D3 charge.

hep-th

Topological Open String Amplitudes On Orientifolds

We study topological open string amplitudes on orientifolds without fixed planes. We determine the contributions of the untwisted and twisted sectors as well as the BPS structure of the amplitudes. We illustrate our general results in various examples involving D-branes in toric orientifolds. We perform the computations by using both the topological vertex and unoriented localization. We also present an application of our results to the BPS structure of the coloured Kauffman polynomial of knots.

hep-th

Counting Higher Genus Curves with Crosscaps in Calabi-Yau Orientifolds

We compute all loop topological string amplitudes on orientifolds of local Calabi-Yau manifolds, by using geometric transitions involving SO/Sp Chern-Simons theory, localization on the moduli space of holomorphic maps with involution, and the topological vertex. In particular we count Klein bottles and projective planes with any number of handles in some Calabi-Yau orientifolds.

hep-th

Building a Better Racetrack

We find IIb compactifications on Calabi-Yau orientifolds in which all Kahler moduli are stabilized, along lines suggested by Kachru, Kallosh, Linde and Trivedi.

hep-th

LHC Signatures of Resonant CP Violation in a Minimal Supersymmetric Higgs Sector

We present the general formalism for studying CP-violating phenomena in the production, mixing and decay of a coupled system of CP-violating neutral Higgs bosons at high-energy colliders. Considering the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) Higgs sector in which CP violation is radiatively induced by phases in the soft supersymmetry-breaking third-generation trilinear squark couplings and gaugino masses, we apply our formalism to neutral Higgs production via {\bar b}b, gg and W^+ W^- collisions at the LHC. We discuss CP asymmetries in the longitudinal and transverse polarizations of τ^+ τ^- pairs. The signatures of CP violation are more prominent in the production via gg and W^+ W^- than via {\bar b}b, and are resonantly enhanced when two (or all three) neutral Higgs bosons are nearly degenerate with mass differences comparable to their decay widths. Such scenarios occur naturally in the MSSM for values of \tanβ>~ 5 (30) and large (small) charged Higgs-boson masses. We analyze representative examples with large mixing between the three neutral Higgs bosons weighing about 120 GeV, that may exhibit observable CP asymmetries even as large as 80%.

hep-ph

Orientifolds, Unoriented Instantons and Localization

We consider world-sheet instanton effects in N=1 string orientifolds of noncompact toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. We show that unoriented closed string topological amplitudes can be exactly computed using localization techniques for holomorphic maps with involution. Our results are in precise agreement with mirror symmetry and large N duality predictions.

hep-th

Geometric Transitions and Open String Instantons

We investigate the physical and mathematical structure of a new class of geometric transitions proposed by Aganagic and Vafa. The distinctive aspect of these transitions is the presence of open string instanton corrections to Chern-Simons theory. We find a precise match between open and closed string topological amplitudes applying a beautiful idea proposed by Witten some time ago. The closed string amplitudes are reproduced from an open string perspective as a result of a fascinating interplay of enumerative techniques and Chern-Simons computations.

hep-th

Geometric Transitions, del Pezzo Surfaces and Open String Instantons

We continue the study of a class of geometric transitions proposed by Aganagic and Vafa which exhibit open string instanton corrections to Chern-Simons theory. In this paper we consider an extremal transition for a local del Pezzo model which predicts a highly nontrivial relation between topological open and closed string amplitudes. We show that the open string amplitudes can be computed exactly using a combination of enumerative techniques and Chern-Simons theory proposed by Witten some time ago. This yields a striking conjecture relating the topological amplitudes of all genus of the local del Pezzo model to a system of coupled Chern-Simons theories.

hep-th

Localization and Gluing of Topological Amplitudes

We develop a gluing algorithm for Gromov-Witten invariants of toric Calabi-Yau threefolds based on localization and gluing graphs. The main building block of this algorithm is a generating function of cubic Hodge integrals of special form. We conjecture a precise relation between this generating function and the topological vertex at fractional framing.

hep-th

D-Branes on Noncompact Calabi-Yau Manifolds: K-Theory and Monodromy

We study D-branes on smooth noncompact toric Calabi-Yau manifolds that are resolutions of abelian orbifold singularities. Such a space has a distinguished basis {S_i} for the compactly supported K-theory. Using local mirror symmetry we demonstrate that the S_i have simple transformation properties under monodromy; in particular, they are the objects that generate monodromy around the principal component of the discriminant locus. One of our examples, the toric resolution of C^3/(Z_2 x Z_2), is a three parameter model for which we are able to give an explicit solution of the GKZ system.

hep-th