Computing Z_top

In this thesis we investigate topological aspects and arithmetic structures in quantum field theory and string theory. Particular focus is put on consistent truncations of supergravity and compactifications of F-theory.

This contribution, aimed mostly at experimental particle physicists, reviews some of the main ideas and results of String Theory in a non-technical language. It originates from the talks presented by the authors at the Electro-Weak session of the 2002 Moriond Meeting, here merged in an attempt to provide a more complete and concise view of the subject.

In this paper we describe an approach to construct semiclassical partition functions in gravity which are complete in the sense that they contain a complete description of the differentiable structures of the underlying 4-manifold. In addition, we find our construction naturally includes cosmic strings. We discuss some possible applications of the partition functions in the fields of both quantum gravity and topological string theory

This thesis investigates correspondences between open and closed strings. This is done on the level of coupled open-closed moduli spaces and from a string field theoretic point of view. The construction of boundary string field theory on Wess-Zumino-Witten models leads to a conjecture on closed string backgrounds appearing as non-local operators in open string field theory. Sample computations for tachyon condensation leading to curved branes support this conjecture. Addition...

This is the written version of a set of introductory lectures on string theory.

This is a brief review of the present status, of some recent developments and of the open challenges in string/M theory.

The evidence for string/string-duality can be extended from the matching of the vector couplings to gravitational couplings. In this note this is shown in the rank three example, the closest stringy analog of the Seiberg/Witten-setup, which is related to the Calabi-Yau $WP^4_{1,1,2,2,6}(12)$. I provide an exact analytical verification of a relation checked by coefficient comparison to fourth order by Kaplunovsky, Louis and Theisen.

In this article we discuss the limit $p$ approaches to one of tree-level $p$-adic open string amplitudes and its connections with the topological zeta functions. There is empirical evidence that $p$-adic strings are related to the ordinary strings in the $p \to 1$ limit. Previously, we established that $p$-adic Koba-Nielsen string amplitudes are finite sums of multivariate Igusa's local zeta functions, consequently, they are convergent integrals that admit meromorphic continu...

These are my personal impressions of the environment in which string theory was born, and what the important developments affecting my work were during the hadronic string era, 1968-1974. I discuss my motivations and concerns at the time, particularly in my work on loop amplitudes and on closed strings.

Graphs on surfaces is an active topic of pure mathematics belonging to graph theory. It has also been applied to physics and relates discrete and continuous mathematics. In this paper we present a formal mathematical description of the relation between graph theory and the mathematical physics of discrete string theory. In this description we present problems of the combinatorial world of real importance for graph theorists. The mathematical details of the paper are as follow...