arXiv subjects

Jan Troost

Publications and source records attributed to Jan Troost.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

D-branes in Little String Theory

We analyze in detail the D-branes in the near-horizon limit of NS5-branes on a circle, the holographic dual of little string theory in a double scaling limit. We emphasize their geometry in the background of the NS5-branes and show the relation with D-branes in coset models. The exact one-point function giving the coupling of the closed string states with the D-branes and the spectrum of open strings is computed. Using these results, we analyze several aspects of Hanany-Witten setups, using exact CFT analysis. In particular we identify the open string spectrum on the D-branes stretched between NS5-branes which confirms the low-energy analysis in brane constructions, and that allows to go to higher energy scales. As an application we show the emergence of the beta-function of the N=2 gauge theory on D4-branes stretching between NS5-branes from the boundary states describing the D4-branes. We also speculate on the possibility of getting a matrix model description of little string theory from the effective theory on the D1-branes. By considering D3-branes orthogonal to the NS5-branes we find a CFT incarnation of the Hanany-Witten effect of anomalous creation of D-branes. Finally we give an brief description of some non-BPS D-branes.

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arXiv2005

D-branes in non-critical superstrings and minimal super Yang-Mills in various dimensions

We construct and analyze D-branes in superstring theories in even dimensions less than ten. The backgrounds under study are supersymmetric R^{d-1,1} \times SL(2,R)_k / U(1) where the level of the supercoset is tuned such as to provide bona fide string theory backgrounds. We provide exact boundary states for D-branes that are localized at the tip of the cigar SL(2,R)/U(1) supercoset conformal field theory. We analyze the spectra of open strings on these D-branes and show explicitly that they are consistent with supersymmetry in d=2,4 and 6. The low energy theory on the world-volume of the D-brane in each case is pure Yang-Mills theory with minimal supersymmetry. In the case with four macroscopic flat directions d=4, we realize an N=1 super Yang-Mills theory. We interpret the backreaction for the dilaton as the running of the gauge coupling, and study the relation between R-symmetry breaking in the gauge theory and the backreaction on the RR axion.

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arXiv2005

A time-dependent brane in a cosmological background

We study a moving D-brane in a time-dependent background. There is particle production both because of non-trivial cosmological evolution, and by closed string emission from the brane that gradually decelerates due to a gain in mass. The particular model under study is a D0-brane in an SL(2,R)/U(1) cosmology -- the techniques used extend to other backgrounds.

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arXiv2005

D-branes in N=2 Liouville and its mirror

We study D-branes in the mirror pair N=2 Liouville / supersymmetric SL(2,R)/U(1) coset superconformal field theories. After revisiting the duality between the two models, we build D0, D1 and D2 branes, on the basis of the boundary state construction for the Euclidean AdS(3) conformal field theory. We also construct D0-branes in an orbifold that rotates the angular direction of the cigar. We show how the poles of correlators associated to localized states and bulk interactions naturally decouple in the one-point functions of localized and extended branes. We stress the role played in the analysis of D-brane spectra by primaries in SL(2,R)/U(1) which are descendents of the parent theory.

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arXiv2004

The partition function of the supersymmetric two-dimensional black hole and little string theory

We compute the partition function of the supersymmetric two-dimensional Euclidean black hole geometry described by the SL(2,R)/U(1) superconformal field theory. We decompose the result in terms of characters of the N=2 superconformal symmetry. We point out puzzling sectors of states besides finding expected discrete and continuous contributions to the partition function. By adding an N=2 minimal model factor of the correct central charge and projecting on integral N=2 charges we compute the partition function of the background dual to little string theory in a double scaling limit. We show the precise correspondence between this theory and the background for NS5-branes on a circle, due to an exact description of the background as a null gauging of SL(2,R) x SU(2). Finally, we discuss the interplay between GSO projection and target space geometry.

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arXiv2004

Extended SL(2,R)/U(1) characters, or modular properties of a simple non-rational conformal field theory

We define extended SL(2,R)/U(1) characters which include a sum over winding sectors. By embedding these characters into similarly extended characters of N=2 algebras, we show that they have nice modular transformation properties. We calculate the modular matrices of this simple but non-trivial non-rational conformal field theory explicitly . As a result, we show that discrete SL(2,R) representations mix with continuous SL(2,R) representations under modular transformations in the coset conformal field theory. We comment upon the significance of our results for a general theory of non-rational conformal field theories.

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arXiv2003

A note on causality in the bulk and stability on the boundary

By carefully analyzing the radial part of the wave-equation for a scalar field in AdS, we show that for a particular range of boundary conditions on the scalar field, the radial spectrum contains a bound state. Using the AdS/CFT correspondence, we interpret this peculiar phenomenon as being dual to an unstable double trace deformation of the boundary conformal field theory. We thus show how the bulk theory holographically detects whether a boundary perturbation is stable.

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arXiv2003

Towards black hole scattering

We study black holes in three-dimensional Chern-Simons gravity with a negative cosmological constant. In particular, we identify how the Chern-Simons interactions between a scattering particle and a black hole project the particle wavefunction onto a wavefunction in the black hole background. We also analyze the set of space-times that should be allowed in the theory and the way in which boundary conditions affect the spectrum of space-times.

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arXiv2003

Three-dimensional black hole entropy

We discuss in detail the properties of gravity with a negative cosmological constant as viewed in Cherns-Simons theory on a line times a disc. We reanalyze the problem of computing the BTZ entropy, and show how the demand of unitarity and modular invariance of the boundary conformal field theory severely constrain proposals in this framework.

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arXiv2003

On time-dependent AdS/CFT

We clarify aspects of the holographic AdS/CFT correspondence that are typical of Lorentzian signature, to lay the foundation for a treatment of time-dependent gravity and conformal field theory phenomena. We provide a derivation of bulk-to-boundary propagators associated to advanced, retarded and Feynman bulk propagators, and provide a better understanding of the boundary conditions satisfied by the bulk fields at the horizon. We interpret the subleading behavior of the wavefunctions in terms of specific vacuum expectation values, and compute two-point functions in our framework. We connect our bulk methods to the closed time path formalism in the boundary field theory.

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arXiv2002

Massless BTZ black holes in minisuperspace

We study aspects of the propagation of strings on BTZ black holes. After performing a careful analysis of the global spacetime structure of generic BTZ black holes, and its relation to the geometry of the SL(2,R) group manifold, we focus on the simplest case of the massless BTZ black hole. We study the SL(2,R) Wess-Zumino-Witten model in the worldsheet minisuperspace limit, taking into account special features associated to the Lorentzian signature of spacetime. We analyse the two- and three-point functions in the pointparticle limit. To lay bare the underlying group structure of the correlation functions, we derive new results on Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for SL(2,R) in a parabolic basis. We comment on the application of our results to string theory in singular time-dependent orbifolds, and to a Lorentzian version of the AdS/CFT correspondence.

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arXiv2002

Winding strings and AdS_3 black holes

We start a systematic study of string theory in AdS_3 black hole backgrounds. Firstly, we analyse in detail the geodesic structure of the BTZ black hole, including spacelike geodesics. Secondly, we study the spectrum for massive and massless scalar fields, paying particular attention to the connection between Sl(2,R) subgroups, the theory of special functions and global properties of the BTZ black holes. We construct classical strings that wind the black holes. Finally, we apply the general formalism to the vacuum black hole background, and formulate the boundary spacetime Virasoro algebra in terms of worldsheet operators. We moreover establish the link between a proposal for a ghost free spectrum for Sl(2,R) string propagation and the massless black hole background, thereby claryfing aspects of the AdS3/CFT correspondence.

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arXiv2002

The Partition Function of the Two-Dimensional Black Hole Conformal Field Theory

We compute the partition function of the conformal field theory on the two-dimensional euclidean black hole background using path-integral techniques. We show that the resulting spectrum is consistent with the algebraic expectations for the SL(2,R)/U(1) coset conformal field theory construction. In particular, we find confirmation for the bound on the spin of the discrete representations and we determine the density of the continuous representations. We point out the relevance of the partition function to all string theory backgrounds that include an SL(2,R)/U(1) coset factor.

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arXiv2001

Geometric construction of elliptic integrable systems and N=1^* superpotentials

We show how the elliptic Calogero-Moser integrable systems arise from a symplectic quotient construction, generalising the construction for A_{N-1} by Gorsky and Nekrasov to other algebras. This clarifies the role of (twisted) affine Kac-Moody algebras in elliptic Calogero-Moser systems and allows for a natural geometric construction of Lax operators for these systems. We elaborate on the connection of the associated Hamiltonians to superpotentials for N=1* deformations of N=4 supersymmetric gauge theory, and argue how non-perturbative physics generates the elliptic superpotentials. We also discuss the relevance of these systems and the associated quotient construction to open problems in string theory. In an appendix, we use the theory of orbit algebras to show the systematics behind the folding procedures for these integrable models.

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arXiv2001

Orientifold planes, affine algebras and magnetic monopoles

We analyze string theory backgrounds that include different kinds of orientifold planes and map out a natural correspondence to (twisted) affine Kac-Moody algebras. The low-energy description of specific BPS states in these backgrounds leads to a construction of explicit twisted magnetic monopole solutions on R^3 x S^1. These backgrounds yield new low-energy field theories with twisted boundary conditions and the link with affine algebras yields a natural guess for the superpotentials of the corresponding pure N=1, and N=1* gauge theories.

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arXiv2001

Aspects of Gauge Theory on Commutative and Noncommutative Tori

We study aspects of gauge theory on tori which are a consequences of Morita equivalence. In particular we study the behavior of gauge theory on noncommutative tori for arbitrarily close rational values of Theta. For such values of Theta, there are Morita equivalent descriptions in terms of Yang-Mills theories on commutative tori with very different magnetic fluxes and rank. In order for the correlators of open Wilson lines to depend smoothly on Theta, the correlators of closed Wilson lines in the commutative Yang-Mills theory must satisfy strong constraints. If exactly satisfied, these constraints give relations between small and large N gauge theories. We verify that these constraints are obeyed at leading order in the 1/N expansion of pure 2-d QCD and of strongly coupled N=4 super Yang-Mills theory.

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arXiv2001

The non-abelian Born-Infeld action at order F^6

To gain insight into the non-abelian Born-Infeld (NBI) action, we study coinciding D-branes wrapped on tori, and turn on magnetic fields on their worldvolume. We then compare predictions for the spectrum of open strings stretching between these D-branes, from perturbative string theory and from the effective NBI action. Under some plausible assumptions, we find corrections to the Str-prescription for the NBI action at order F^6. In the process we give a way to classify terms in the NBI action that can be written in terms of field strengths only, in terms of permutation group theory.

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arXiv2000

The stability of vacua in two-dimensional gauge theory

We discuss the stability of vacua in two-dimensional gauge theory for any simple, simply connected gauge group. Making use of the representation of a vacuum in terms of a Wilson line at infinity, we determine which vacua are stable against pair production of heavy matter in the adjoint of the gauge group. By calculating correlators of Wilson loops, we reduce the problem to a problem in representation theory of Lie groups, that we solve in full generality.

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