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We construct the microstates of near-extremal black holes in AdS_5 x S^5 as gases of defects distributed in heavy BPS operators in the dual SU(N) Yang-Mills theory. These defects describe open strings on spherical D3-branes in the S^5, and we show that they dominate the entropy by directly enumerating them and comparing the results with a partition sum calculation. We display new decoupling limits in which the field theory of the lightest open strings on the D-branes becomes dual to a near-horizon region of the black hole geometry. In the single-charge black hole we find evidence for an infrared duality between SU(N) Yang-Mills theories that exchanges the rank of the gauge group with an R-charge. In the two-charge case (where pairs of branes intersect on a line), the decoupled geometry includes an AdS_3 factor with a two-dimensional CFT dual. The degeneracy in this CFT accounts for the black hole entropy. In the three-charge case (where triples of branes intersect at a point), the decoupled geometry contains an AdS_2 factor. Below a certain critical mass, the two-charge system displays solutions with naked timelike singularities even though they do not violate a BPS bound. We suggest a string theoretic resolution of these singularities., Comment: LaTeX; v2: references and a few additional comments added

We consider the quantization of the effective target space description of topological M-theory in terms of the Hitchin functional whose critical points describe seven-manifolds with G2 structure. The one-loop partition function for this theory is calculated and an extended version of it, that is related to generalized G2 geometry, is compared with the topological G2 string. We relate the reduction of the effective action for the extended G2 theory to the Hitchin functional description of the topological string in six dimensions. The dependence of the partition functions on the choice of background G2 metric is also determined., Comment: 58 pages, LaTeX; v2: Acknowledgments added

We consider an open string version of the topological twist previously proposed for sigma-models with G2 target spaces. We determine the cohomology of open strings states and relate these to geometric deformations of calibrated submanifolds and to flat or anti-self-dual connections on such submanifolds. On associative three-cycles we show that the worldvolume theory is a gauge-fixed Chern-Simons theory coupled to normal deformations of the cycle. For coassociative four-cycles we find a functional that extremizes on anti-self-dual gauge fields. A brane wrapping the whole G2 induces a seven-dimensional associative Chern-Simons theory on the manifold. This theory has already been proposed by Donaldson and Thomas as the higher-dimensional generalization of real Chern-Simons theory. When the G2 manifold has the structure of a Calabi-Yau times a circle, these theories reduce to a combination of the open A-model on special Lagrangians and the open B+\bar{B}-model on holomorphic submanifolds. We also comment on possible applications of our results., Comment: 55 pages, no figures

The microstates of 4d BPS black holes in IIA string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold are counted by a (generalized) elliptic genus of a (0,4) conformal field theory. By exploiting a spectral flow that relates states with different charges, and using the Rademacher formula, we find that the elliptic genus has an exact asymptotic expansion in terms of semi-classical saddle-points of the dual supergravity theory. This generalizes the known "Black Hole Farey Tail" of [1] to the case of attractor black holes., Comment: 36 pages, 3 figures, note added

In this paper we construct a detailed map from pure and mixed half-BPS states of the D1-D5 system to half-BPS solutions of type IIB supergravity. Using this map, we can see how gravity arises through coarse graining microstates, and we can explicitly confirm the microscopic description of conical defect metrics, the M=0 BTZ black hole and of small black rings. We find that the entropy associated to the natural geometric stretched horizon typically exceeds that of the mixed state from which the geometry was obtained., Comment: 25 pages; v2: references added

We study gravitational solutions that admit a dual CFT description and carry non zero dipole charge. We focus on the black ring solution in AdS_3 x S^3 and extract from it the one-point functions of all CFT operators dual to scalar excitations of the six-dimensional metric. In the case of small black rings, characterized by the level N, angular momentum J and dipole charge q_3, we show how the large N and J dependence of the one-point functions can be reproduced, under certain assumptions, directly from a suitable ensemble in the dual CFT. Finally we present a simple toy model that describes the thermodynamics of the small black ring for arbitrary values of the dipole charge., Comment: 34 pages

We show that heavy pure states of gravity can appear to be mixed states to almost all probes. For AdS_5 Schwarzschild black holes, our arguments are made using the field theory dual to string theory in such spacetimes. Our results follow from applying information theoretic notions to field theory operators capable of describing very heavy states in gravity. For half-BPS states of the theory which are incipient black holes, our account is exact: typical microstates are described in gravity by a spacetime ``foam'', the precise details of which are almost invisible to almost all probes. We show that universal low-energy effective description of a foam of given global charges is via certain singular spacetime geometries. When one of the specified charges is the number of D-branes, the effective singular geometry is the half-BPS ``superstar''. We propose this as the general mechanism by which the effective thermodynamic character of gravity emerges., Comment: LaTeX, 6 eps figures, uses young.sty and wick.sty; Version 2: typos corrected, minor rewordings and clarifications, references added

We construct new topological theories related to sigma models whose target space is a seven dimensional manifold of G_2 holonomy. We define a new type of topological twist and identify the BRST operator and the physical states. Unlike the more familiar six dimensional case, our topological model is defined in terms of conformal blocks and not in terms of local operators of the original theory. We also present evidence that one can extend this definition to all genera and construct a seven-dimensional topological string theory. We compute genus zero correlation functions and relate these to Hitchin's functional for three-forms in seven dimensions. Along the way we develop the analogue of special geometry for G_2 manifolds. When the seven dimensional topological twist is applied to the product of a Calabi-Yau manifold and a circle, the result is an interesting combination of the six dimensional A- and B-models., Comment: 76 pages, 1 figure, typos corrected

We define new topological theories related to sigma models whose target space is a 7 dimensional manifold of G_2 holonomy. We show how to define the topological twist and identify the BRST operator and the physical states. Correlation functions at genus zero are computed and related to Hitchin's topological action for three-forms. We conjecture that one can extend this definition to all genus and construct a seven-dimensional topological string theory. In contrast to the four-dimensional case, it does not seem to compute terms in the low-energy effective action in three dimensions., Comment: 15 pages, To appear in the proceedings of Cargese 2004 summer school

We study exact effective superpotentials of four-dimensional {\cal N} = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories with gauge group U(N) and various amounts of fundamental matter on R^3 x S^1, broken to {\cal N} = 1 by turning on a classical superpotential for the adjoint scalar. On general grounds these superpotentials can easily be constructed once we identify a suitable set of coordinates on the moduli space of the gauge theory. These coordinates have been conjectured to be the phase space variables of the classical integrable system which underlies the {\cal N} = 2 gauge theory. For the gauge theory under study these integrable systems are degenerations of the classical, inhomogeneous, periodic SL(2,C) spin chain. Ambiguities in the degeneration provide multiple coordinate patches on the gauge theory moduli space. By studying the vacua of the superpotentials in several examples we find that the spin chain provides coordinate patches that parametrize holomorphically the part of the gauge theory moduli space which is connected to the electric (as opposed to magnetic or baryonic) Higgs and Coulomb branch vacua. The baryonic branch root is on the edge of some coordinate patches. As a product of our analysis all maximally confining (non-baryonic) Seiberg-Witten curve factorizations for N_f \leq N_c are obtained, explicit up to one constraint for equal mass flavors and up to two constraints for unequal mass flavors. Gauge theory addition and multiplication maps are shown to have a natural counterpart in this construction. Furthermore it is shown how to integrate in the meson fields in this formulation in order to obtain three and four dimensional Affleck-Dine-Seiberg-like superpotentials., Comment: 47 pages, LaTeX, v2: several extensions of results, typos corrected, reference added

This is a very brief review of some aspects of the AdS/CFT correspondence with an emphasis on the role of the topology of the boundary and the meaning of the sum over bulk geometries. To appear in the proceedings of the 73rd Meeting between Physicists and Mathematicians ``(A)dS/CFT correspondence,'' Strasbourg, September 11-13, 2003., Comment: LaTeX, 32 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of the 73rd Meeting between Physicists and Mathematicians ``(A)dS/CFT correspondence,'' Strasbourg, September 11-13, 2003. v3: minor changes and references added

Field theory in de Sitter space admits a one-parameter family of vacua determined by a superselection parameter alpha. Of these vacua, the Euclidean vacuum uniquely extrapolates to the vacuum of flat Minkowski space. States which resemble the alpha-vacua can be constructed as excitations above the Euclidean vacuum. Such states have modes alpha(k) which decay faster that k^{(1-d)/2}. Fields in such states exhibit non-local correlations when examined from the perspective of fields in the Euclidean vacuum. The dynamics of such entangled states are fully consistent. If an alpha-state with properties that interpolate between an alpha-vacuum and the Euclidean vacuum were the initial condition for inflation, a signature for this may be found in a momentum dependent correction to the inflationary power spectrum. The functional formalism, which provides the tool for examining physics in an alpha-state, extends to fields of other spin. In particular, the extension to spin-2 may proffer a new class of infrared modifications to gravitational interactions. The implications of superselection sectors for the landscape of string vacua are briefly discussed., Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX

M5-branes wrapping a holomorphic curve in a Calabi-Yau manifold can be used to construct four-dimensional N=1 gauge theories. In this paper we will consider M5-brane configurations corresponding to N=2 theories broken to N=1 by a superpotential for the adjoint scalar field. These M5-brane configurations can be obtained by lifting suitable intersecting brane configurations in type IIA, or equivalently by T-dualizing IIB configurations with branes and/or fluxes. We will show that turning on non-trivial expectation values for the glueball superfields corresponds to non-holomorphic deformations of the M5-brane. We compute the superpotential and show it agrees with that computed by Dijkgraaf and Vafa. Several aspects of the gauge theory, such as the appearance of non-holomorphic one-forms with integer periods on the Seiberg-Witten curve, have a natural interpretation from the M5-brane point of view. We also explain the interpretation of the superpotential in terms of the twisted (2,0) theory living on the fivebrane., Comment: 30 pages

We study string interactions in the fermionic formulation of the c=1 matrix model. We give a precise nonperturbative description of the rolling tachyon state in the matrix model, and discuss S-matrix elements of the c=1 string. As a first step to study string interactions, we compute the interaction of two decaying D0-branes in terms of free fermions. This computation is compared with the string theory cylinder diagram using the rolling tachyon ZZ boundary states., Comment: 27 pages, 1 figure

We perform three tests on our proposal to implement diffeomorphism invariance in the non-abelian D0-brane DBI action as a basepoint independence constraint between matrix Riemann normal coordinate systems. First we show that T-duality along an isometry correctly interchanges the potential and kinetic terms in the action. Second, we show that the method to impose basepoint independence using an auxiliary dN^2-dimensional non-linear sigma model also works for metrics which are curved along the brane, provided a physical gauge choice is made at the end. Third, we show that without alteration this method is applicable to higher order in velocities. Testing specifically to order four, we elucidate the range of validity of the symmetrized trace approximation to the non-abelian DBI action., Comment: LaTeX, 22 pages

We study four dimensional N=2 G_2 supersymmetric gauge theory on R^3\times S^1 deformed by a tree level superpotential. We will show that the exact superpotential can be obtained by making use of the Lax matrix of the corresponding integrable model which is the periodic Toda lattice based on the dual of the affine G_2 Lie algebra. At extrema of the superpotential the Seiberg-Witten curve typically factorizes, and we study the algebraic equations underlying this factorization. For U(N) theories the factorization was closely related to the geometrical engineering of such gauge theories and to matrix model descriptions, but here we will find that the geometrical interpretation is more mysterious. Along the way we give a method to compute the gauge theory resolvent and a suitable set of one-forms on the Seiberg-Witten curve. We will also find evidence that the low-energy dynamics of G_2 gauge theories can effectively be described in terms of an auxiliary hyperelliptic curve., Comment: 27 pages, latex

We continue our study of nonperturbative superpotentials of four-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories with gauge group U(N) on R^3 x S^1, broken to N=1 due to a classical superpotential. In a previous paper, hep-th/0304061, we discussed how the low-energy quantum superpotential can be obtained by substituting the Lax matrix of the underlying integrable system directly into the classical superpotential. In this paper we prove algebraically that this recipe yields the correct factorization of the Seiberg-Witten curves, which is an important check of the conjecture. We will also give an independent proof using the algebraic-geometrical interpretation of the underlying integrable system., Comment: laTeX, 14 pages, uses AMSmath

We consider four-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories with gauge group U(N) on R^3 x S^1, in the presence of a classical superpotential. The low-energy quantum superpotential is obtained by simply replacing the adjoint scalar superfield in the classical superpotential by the Lax matrix of the integrable system that underlies the 4d field theory. We verify in a number of examples that the vacuum structure obtained in this way matches precisely that in 4d, although the degrees of freedom that appear are quite distinct. Several features of 4d field theories, such as the possibility of lifting vacua from U(N) to U(tN), become particularly simple in this framework. It turns out that supersymmetric vacua give rise to a reduction of the integrable system which contains information about the field theory but also about the Dijkgraaf-Vafa matrix model. The relation between the matrix model and the quantum superpotential on R^3 x S^1 appears to involve a novel kind of mirror symmetry., Comment: LaTeX, 45 pages, uses AmsMath, minor correction, reference added

Minkowski space can be sliced, outside the lightcone, in terms of Euclidean Anti-de Sitter and Lorentzian de Sitter slices. In this paper we investigate what happens when we apply holography to each slice separately. This yields a dual description living on two spheres, which can be interpreted as the boundary of the light cone. The infinite number of slices gives rise to a continuum family of operators on the two spheres for each separate bulk field. For a free field we explain how the Green's function and (trivial) S-matrix in Minkowski space can be reconstructed in terms of two-point functions of some putative conformal field theory on the two spheres. Based on this we propose a Minkowski/CFT correspondence which can also be applied to interacting fields. We comment on the interpretation of the conformal symmetry of the CFT, and on generalizations to curved space., Comment: 47 pages, latex, 2 figures; v2: discussion of translations added, final version to appear in Nucl.Phys. B

An indication for the existence of a collective Myers solution in the non-abelian D0-brane Born-Infeld action is the presence of a tachyonic mode in fluctuations around the standard diagonal background. We show that this computation for non-abelian D0-branes in curved space has the geometric interpretation of computing the eigenvalues of the geodesic deviation operator for U(N)-valued coordinates. On general grounds one therefore expects a geometric Myers effect in regions of sufficiently negative curvature. We confirm this by explicit computations for non-abelian D0-branes on a sphere and a hyperboloid. For the former the diagonal solution is stable, but not so for the latter. We conclude by showing that near the horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole one also finds a tachyonic mode in the fluctuation spectrum, signaling the possibility of a near-horizon gravitationally induced Myers effect., Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages

We consider N = 1 supersymmetric U(N) field theories in four dimensions with adjoint chiral matter and a multi-trace tree-level superpotential. We show that the computation of the effective action as a function of the glueball superfield localizes to computing matrix integrals. Unlike the single-trace case, holomorphy and symmetries do not forbid non-planar contributions. Nevertheless, only a special subset of the planar diagrams contributes to the exact result. Some of the data of this subset can be computed from the large-N limit of an associated multi-trace Matrix model. However, the prescription differs in important respects from that of Dijkgraaf and Vafa for single-trace superpotentials in that the field theory effective action is not the derivative of a multi-trace matrix model free energy. The basic subtlety involves the correct identification of the field theory glueball as a variable in the Matrix model, as we show via an auxiliary construction involving a single-trace matrix model with additional singlet fields which are integrated out to compute the multi-trace results. Along the way we also describe a general technique for computing the large-N limits of multi-trace Matrix models and raise the challenge of finding the field theories whose effective actions they may compute. Since our models can be treated as N = 1 deformations of pure N =2 gauge theory, we show that the effective superpotential that we compute also follows from the N = 2 Seiberg-Witten solution. Finally, we observe an interesting connection between multi-trace local theories and non-local field theory., Comment: 35 pages, LaTeX, 6 EPS figures. v2: typos fixed, v3: typos fixed, references added, Sec. 5 added explaining how multi-trace theories can be linearized in traces by addition of singlet fields and the relation of this approach to matrix models

In this talk we entertain the possibility that the synthesis of general covariance and quantum mechanics requires an extension of the basic kinematical setup of quantum mechanics. According to the holographic principle, regions of spacetime bounded by a finite area carry finite entropy. When we in addition assume that the origin of the entropy is a finite dimensional Hilbert space, and apply this to cosmological solutions using a suitable notion of complementarity, we find as a consequence that gravitational effects can lead to dynamical variation in the dimensionality of such Hilbert spaces. This happens generally in cosmological settings like our own universe., Comment: Talk presented at the 3rd Sakharov International Conference on Physics, Moscow, June 2002; to appear in the proceedings of the conference

An overview of some of the developments in string theory over the past two years is given, focusing on four topics: realistic (standard model like) models from string theory, geometric engineering and theories with fluxes, the gauge theory-gravity correspondence, and time dependent backgrounds and string theory. Plenary talk at ICHEP'02, Amsterdam, July 24-31, 2002., Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, uses espcrc2.sty, v2: several references added, apologies for the delay in submitting this updated version

We introduce lattice models with explicit N=2 supersymmetry. In these interacting models, the supersymmetry generators Q^+ and Q^- yield the Hamiltonian H={Q^+,Q^-} on any graph. The degrees of freedom can be described as either fermions with hard cores, or as quantum dimers. The Hamiltonian of our simplest model contains a hopping term and a repulsive potential, as well as the hard-core repulsion. We discuss these models from a variety of perspectives: using a fundamental relation with conformal field theory, via the Bethe ansatz, and using cohomology methods. The simplest model provides a manifestly-supersymmetric lattice regulator for the supersymmetric point of the massless 1+1-dimensional Thirring (Luttinger) model. We discuss the ground-state structure of this same model on more complicated graphs, including a 2-leg ladder, and discuss some generalizations., Comment: 4 pages

6,13-dihydropentacene and pentacene co-crystallise in a ratio of 2:1 during vapour transport of commercial pentacene in a gas flow. The crystal structure is monoclinic P2_1/n and contains one dihydropentacene molecule, and half a pentacene molecule in the asymmetric unit., Comment: 4 pages, including 2 figures and 1 table

Pentacene crystallizes in a layered structure with a herringbone arrangement within the layers. The electronic properties depend strongly on the stacking of the molecules within the layers (Haddon et al., 2002). We have synthesized four different polymorphs of pentacene, identified by their layer periodicity, d(001): 14.1, 14.4, 15.0 and 15.4 A. Single crystals commonly adopt the 14.1 A structure, whereas all four polymorphs can be synthesized in thin film form, depending on growth conditions. We have identified part of the unit cell parameters of these polymorphs by X-ray and electron diffraction. The 15.0 and 15.4 A polymorphs transform at elevated temperature to the 14.1 and 14.4 A polymorphs, respectively. Using SCLC measurements, we determined the mobility of the 14.1 A polymorph to be 0.2 cm^2/Vs at room temperature., Comment: 9 pages, including 6 figures

We explore aspects of the physics of de Sitter (dS) space that are relevant to holography with a positive cosmological constant. First we display a nonlocal map that commutes with the de Sitter isometries, transforms the bulk-boundary propagator and solutions of free wave equations in de Sitter onto the same quantities in Euclidean anti-de Sitter (EAdS), and takes the two boundaries of dS to the single EAdS boundary via an antipodal identification. Second we compute the action of scalar fields on dS as a functional of boundary data. Third, we display a family of solutions to 3d gravity with a positive cosmological constant in which the equal time sections are arbitrary genus Riemann surfaces, and compute the action of these spaces as a functional of boundary data from the Einstein gravity and Chern-Simons gravity points of view. These studies suggest that if de Sitter space is dual to a Euclidean conformal field theory (CFT), this theory should involve two disjoint, but possibly entangled factors. We argue that these CFTs would be of a novel form, with unusual hermiticity conditions relating left movers and right movers. After exploring these conditions in a toy model, we combine our observations to propose that a holographic dual description of de Sitter space would involve a pure entangled state in a product of two of our unconventional CFTs associated with the de Sitter boundaries. This state can be constructed to preserve the de Sitter symmetries and and its decomposition in a basis appropriate to antipodal inertial observers would lead to the thermal properties of static patch., Comment: LaTeX, v2: references added

We propose a novel prescription for computing the boundary stress tensor and charges of asymptotically de Sitter (dS) spacetimes from data at early or late time infinity. If there is a holographic dual to dS spaces, defined analogously to the AdS/CFT correspondence, our methods compute the (Euclidean) stress tensor of the dual. We compute the masses of Schwarzschild-de Sitter black holes in four and five dimensions, and the masses and angular momenta of Kerr-de Sitter spaces in three dimensions. All these spaces are less massive than de Sitter, a fact which we use to qualitatively and quantitatively relate de Sitter entropy to the degeneracy of possible dual field theories. Our results in general dimension lead to a conjecture: Any asymptotically de Sitter spacetime with mass greater than de Sitter has a cosmological singularity. Finally, if a dual to de Sitter exists, the trace of our stress tensor computes the RG equation of the dual field theory. Cosmological time evolution corresponds to RG evolution in the dual. The RG evolution of the c function is then related to changes in accessible degrees of freedom in an expanding universe., Comment: 31 pages, LaTeX. v2: references and acknowledgements added, rewrite of "RG flow vs. cosmological evolution" section, log divergences commented on, typos corrected, comments on signs

In this paper we study the action for N D0-branes in a curved background. In particular, we focus on the meaning of space-time diffeomorphism invariance. For a single D-brane, diffeomorphism invariance acts in a naive way on the world-volume fields, but for multiple D-branes, the meaning of diffeomorphism invariance is much more obscure. The problem goes beyond the determination of an ordering of the U(N)-valued fields, because one can show that there is no lift of ordinary diffeomorphisms to matrix-valued diffeomorphisms. On the other hand, the action can presumably be constructed from perturbative string theory calculations. Based on the general characteristics of such calculations we determine a set of constraints on the action for N D0-branes, that ensure space-time covariance. These constraints can be solved order by order, but they are insufficient to determine the action completely. All solutions to the constraints obey the axioms of D-geometry. Moreover the action must contain new terms. This exhibits clearly that the answer is more than a suitable ordering of the action of a single D0 brane., Comment: latex, 38 pages

We study string compactifications with sixteen supersymmetries. The moduli space for these compactifications becomes quite intricate in lower dimensions, partly because there are many different irreducible components. We focus primarily, but not exclusively, on compactifications to seven or more dimensions. These vacua can be realized in a number ways: the perturbative constructions we study include toroidal compactifications of the heterotic/type I strings, asymmetric orbifolds, and orientifolds. In addition, we describe less conventional M and F theory compactifications on smooth spaces. The last class of vacua considered are compactifications on singular spaces with non-trivial discrete fluxes. We find a number of new components in the string moduli space. Contained in some of these components are M theory compactifications with novel kinds of ``frozen'' singularities. We are naturally led to conjecture the existence of new dualities relating spaces with different singular geometries and fluxes. As our study of these vacua unfolds, we also learn about additional topics including: F theory on spaces without section, automorphisms of del Pezzo surfaces, and novel physics (and puzzles) from equivariant K-theory. Lastly, we comment on how the data we gain about the M theory three-form might be interpreted., Comment: 150 pages, LaTeX; minor corrections; references added

In this lecture, we review the derivation of the holographic renormalization group given in hep-th/9912012. Some extra background material is included, and various applications are discussed., Comment: LaTeX, 21 pages, contribution to the proceedings of the workshop "The Quantum Structure of Spacetime and the Geometric Nature of Fundamental Interactions", Berlin, October 2000

Conical defects, or point particles, in AdS_3 are one of the simplest non-trivial gravitating systems, and are particularly interesting because black holes can form from their collision. We embed the BPS conical defects of three dimensions into the N=4b supergravity in six dimensions, which arises from IIB string theory compactified on K3. The required Kaluza-Klein reduction of the six dimensional theory on a sphere is analyzed in detail, including the relation to the Chern-Simons supergravities in three dimensions. We show that the six dimensional spaces obtained by embedding the 3d conical defects arise in the near-horizon limit of rotating black strings. Various properties of these solutions are analyzed and we propose a representation of our defects in the CFT dual to asymptotically AdS_3 x S^3 spaces. Our work is intended as a first step towards analyzing colliding defects that form black holes., Comment: LaTeX2e, 39 pages. v2: References added, corrected discussion of Kaluza-Klein ansatz