We construct N=4 gauged linear sigma models in two dimensions whose Higgs branch has a R^8/Z_k orbifold singularity or its generalization. Our linear sigma models have either ALF or ALE type hyperKahler 8-manifolds as their Higgs branch. For the ALE case, the matter content of our model is specified by a quiver diagram which is a union of two A-type extended Dynkin diagrams overlapping at one link.
The Wess-Zumino couplings for generalized sigma-orbifold fixed-points are presented and the generalized GS 6-form that encoding the complete sigma-standard gauge-gravitational-non standard gauge anomaly and its opposite inflow is derived.
We study some aspects of Gauged Linear Sigma Models corresponding to orbifold singularities of the form $\BC^r/Γ$, for $r=2,3$ and $Γ= \BZ_n$ and $\BZ_n\times \BZ_m$. These orbifolds might be tachyonic in general. We compute expressions for the multi parameter sigma model Lagrangians for these orbifolds, in terms of their toric geometry data. Using this, we analyze some aspects of the phases of generic orbifolds of $\BC^r$.
Four tachyon scattering amplitude is derived from the $S^N\R^{24}$ orbifold sigma model in the large $N$ limit. The closed string interaction is described by a vertex which is a bosonic analog of the supersymmetric one, recently proposed by Dijkgraaf, Verlinde and Verlinde.
The $S^N\R^8$ supersymmetric orbifold sigma model is expected to describe the IR limit of the Matrix string theory. In the framework of the model the type IIA string interaction is governed by a vertex which was recently proposed by R.Dijkgraaf, E.Verlinde and H.Verlinde. By using this interaction vertex we derive all four particle scattering amplitudes directly from the orbifold model in the large $N$ limit.
In the IR limit the Matrix string theory is expected to be described by the $S^N\R^{8}$ supersymmetric orbifold sigma model. Recently Dijkgraaf, Verlinde and Verlinde proposed a vertex that may describe the type IIA string interaction. In this paper using this interaction vertex we derive the four graviton scattering amplitude from the orbifold model in the large $N$ limit.
Following recent advances in the local theory of current-algebraic orbifolds, we study various geometric properties of the general WZW orbifold, the general coset orbifold and a large class of (non-linear) sigma model orbifolds. Phase-space geometry is emphasized for the WZW orbifolds - while for the sigma model orbifolds we construct the corresponding {\it sigma model orbifold action}, which includes the previously-known general WZW orbifold action and general coset orbifold action as special cases. We focus throughout on the {\it twisted Einstein tensors} with diagonal monodromy, including t…
Toroidal orbifolds and their resolutions are described within the framework of (2,2) Gauged Linear Sigma Models (GLSMs). Our procedure describes two-tori as hypersurfaces in (weighted) projective spaces. The description is chosen such that the orbifold singularities correspond to the zeros of their homogeneous coordinates. The individual orbifold singularities are resolved using a GLSM guise of non-compact toric resolutions, i.e. replacing discrete orbifold actions by Abelian worldsheet gaugings. Given that we employ the same global coordinates for both the toroidal orbifold and its resolution…
The current status of `Mathieu Moonshine', the idea that the Mathieu group M24 organises the elliptic genus of K3, is reviewed. While there is a consistent decomposition of all Fourier coefficients of the elliptic genus in terms of Mathieu M24 representations, a conceptual understanding of this phenomenon in terms of K3 sigma-models is still missing. In particular, it follows from the recent classification of the automorphism groups of arbitrary K3 sigma-models that (i) there is no single K3 sigma-model that has M24 as an automorphism group; and (ii) there exist `exceptional' K3 sigma-models w…
In this work we attempt to bridge the gap between heterotic orbifold models and Calabi-Yau compactifications using gauged linear sigma models (GLSMs) with (2,0) worldsheet supersymmetry. We associate a specific GLSM to a heterotic orbifold model with twisted states that have non-vanishing vacuum expectation values (VEVs): The charges of the GLSM superfields are essentially determined by the shifted momenta of these states. When a twisted state contains an oscillator excitation, a fermionic gauging is introduced on the worldsheet inducing a non-Abelian gauge bundle, e.g. the standard embedding.…
We study the elliptic genera of two-dimensional orbifold CFTs, where the orbifolding procedure introduces du Val surface singularities on the target space. The N=4 character decompositions of the elliptic genus contributions from the twisted sectors at the singularities obey a consistent scaling property, and contain information about the arrangement of exceptional rational curves in the resolution. We also discuss how these twisted sector elliptic genera are related to twining genera and Hodge elliptic genera for sigma models with K3 target space.
In this paper, we study the perturbative aspects of the half-twisted variant of Witten's topological A-model on a complex orbifold X/G, where G is an isometry group of X. The objective is to furnish a purely physical interpretation of the mathematical theory of the Chiral de Rham complex on orbifolds recently constructed by Frenkel and Szczesny in [Chiral de Rham complex and orbifolds, arXiv: math.AG/0307181]. In turn, one can obtain a novel understanding of the holomorphic (twisted) N=2 superconformal structure underlying the untwisted and twisted sectors of the quantum sigma model, purely in…
We investigate toric GLSMs as models for tachyon condensation in type II strings on space-time non-supersymmetric orbifold singularities. The A-model correlators in these theories satisfy a set of relations related to the topology of the resolved orbifold. Using these relations we compute the correlators and find a non-trivial chiral ring in the IR, which we interpret as supported on isolated Coulomb vacua of the theory.
We investigate $N=2$ supersymmetric sigma model orbifolds of the sphere in the large radius limit. These correspond to $N=2$ superconformal field theories. Using the equations of topological-anti-topological fusion for the topological orbifold, we compute the generalized Dynkin diagrams of these theories - i.e., the soliton spectrum - which was used in the classification of massive superconformal theories. They correspond to the extended Dynkin diagrams associated to finite subgroups of $SO(3).$
We investigate in the simplest compact D=4 N=1 Type IIB orientifold models the sigma-model symmetry suggested by the proposed duality of these models to heterotic orbifold vacua. This symmetry is known to be present at the classical level, and is associated to a composite connection involving untwisted moduli in the low-energy supergravity theory. In order to study possible anomalies arising at the quantum level, we compute potentially anomalous one-loop amplitudes involving gluons, gravitons and composite connections. We argue that the effective vertex operator associated to the composite con…
Closed string tachyon condensation resolves the singularities of nonsupersymmetric orbifolds, however the resolved space typically has fewer D-brane charges than that of the orbifold. The description of the tachyon condensation process via a gauged linear sigma model enables one to track the topology as one passes from the sigma model's ``orbifold phase'' to its resolved, ``geometric phase,'' and thus to follow how the D-brane charges disappear from the effective spacetime dynamics. As a mathematical consequence, our results point the way to a formulation of a ``quantum McKay correspondence'' …
We compute the spectrum of massless gauge singlets in some heterotic string compactifications using Landau-Ginzburg, orbifold and non-linear sigma-model methods. This probes the worldsheet instanton corrections to the quadratic terms in the spacetime superpotential. Previous results predict that some of these states remain massless when instanton effects are included. We find vanishing masses in many cases not covered by these predictions. However, we discover that in the case of the Z-manifold the corrections do not vanish. Despite this, in all the examples studied, we find that the massless …
The K3 sigma model based on the Z_2-orbifold of the D_4-torus theory is studied. It is shown that it has an equivalent description in terms of twelve free Majorana fermions, or as a rational conformal field theory based on the affine algebra su(2)^6. By combining these different viewpoints we show that the N=(4,4) preserving symmetries of this theory are described by the discrete symmetry group Z_2^8:M_{20}. This model therefore accounts for one of the largest maximal symmetry groups of K3 sigma models. The symmetry group involves also generators that, from the orbifold point of view, map untw…
The five-dimensional space-time, with non-factorizable geometry and fifth dimension y being an orbifold S^1/Z_2, is studied. In such a scenario, originally suggested by Randall and Sundrum, there exist two branes at fixed points of the orbifold, and the four-dimensional metric is multiplied by a warp factor exp[sigma(y)]. In the present paper, the general solution sigma(y) of the Einstein-Hilbert's equations is presented which is symmetric with respect to the interchange of two branes. It obeys the orbifold symmetry y -> - y and explicitly reproduces jumps of its derivative on both branes. Thi…
Compact Type IIB D=4, N=1 orientifolds have certain U(1) sigma model symmetries at the level of the effective Lagrangian. These symmetries are generically anomalous. We study the particular case of $Z_N$ orientifolds and find that these anomalies may be cancelled by a generalized Green-Schwarz mechanism. This mechanism works by the exchange of twisted RR-fields associated to the orbifold singularities and it requires the mixing between twisted and untwisted moduli of the orbifold. As a consequence, the Fayet-Iliopoulos terms which are present for the gauged anomalous U(1)'s of the models get a…
We study systems of multiple localized closed string tachyons and the phenomena associated with their condensation, in C3/ZN nonsupersymmetric noncompact orbifold singularities using gauged linear sigma model constructions, following hep-th/0406039. Our study reveals close connections between the combinatorics of nonsupersymmetric flip transitions (between topologically distinct resolutions of the original singularity), the physics of tachyons of different degrees of relevance and the singularity structure of the corresponding residual endpoint geometries. This in turn can be used to study the…
We consider type IIB string theory on a seven dimensional orbifold with holonomy in G2. The motivation is to use D1-branes as probes of the geometry. The low energy theory on the D1-brane is a sigma-model with two real supercharges (N = (1,1) in two dimensional language). We study in detail the closed and open string sectors and propose a coupling of the twisted fields to the brane that modifies the vacuum moduli space so that the singularity at the origin is removed. Instead of coming from D-terms, which are not present here, the modification comes from a ``twisted'' mass term for the seven s…
We study D-branes in a nonsupersymmetric orbifold of type C^2/Γ, perturbed by a tachyon condensate, using a gauged linear sigma model. The RG flow has both higgs and coulomb branches, and each branch supports different branes. The coulomb branch branes account for the ``brane drain'' from the higgs branch, but their precise relation to fractional branes has hitherto been unknown. Building on the results of hep-th/0403016 we construct, in detail, the map between fractional branes and the coulomb/higgs branch branes for two examples in the type 0 theory. This map depends on the phase of the tach…
Motivated by an analogous result for K3 models, we classify all groups of symmetries of non-linear sigma models on a torus T^4 that preserve the N=(4,4) superconformal algebra. The resulting symmetry groups are isomorphic to certain subgroups of the Weyl group of E8, that plays a role similar to the Conway group for the case of K3 models. Our analysis heavily relies on the triality automorphism of the T-duality group SO(4,4,Z). As a byproduct of our results, we discover new explicit descriptions of K3 models as asymmetric orbifolds of torus CFTs.
We propose a formula for the exact central charge of a B-type D-brane that is expected to hold in all regions of the Kahler moduli space of a Calabi-Yau. For Landau-Ginzburg orbifolds we propose explicit expressions for the mathematical objects that enter into the central charge formula. We show that our results are consistent with results in FJRW theory and the hemisphere partition function of the gauged linear sigma model.
The Randall-Sundrum scenario with non-factorizable geometry and fifth dimension y being an orbifold, is studied. It has two branes located at fixed points of the orbifold. The four-dimensional metric is multiplied by a warp factor exp[sigma(y)]. Recently, a new general expression for sigma(y) was derived which has the orbifold symmetry y -> - y and explicitly reproduces jumps of its derivative on both branes. It is symmetric with respect to the branes. The function sigma(y) is determined by the Einstein-Hilbert's equations up to a constant C. In the present paper we demonstrate that different …
We formulate and study a class of massive N=2 supersymmetric gauge field theories coupled to boundary degrees of freedom on the strip. For some values of the parameters, the infrared limits of these theories can be interpreted as open string sigma models describing D-branes in large-radius Calabi-Yau compactifications. For other values of the parameters, these theories flow to CFTs describing branes in more exotic, non-geometric phases of the Calabi-Yau moduli space such as the Landau-Ginzburg orbifold phase. Some simple properties of the branes (like large radius monodromies and spectra of wo…
We construct yet another ${\mathcal N}=(4,4)$ gauged linear sigma model for the $A_N$-type ALE space. In our construction the toric data of the ALE space are manifest. Due to the $SU(2)_R$ symmetry, the F-term is automatically determined. The toric data, which govern the Kähler structures of the ALE space, are embedded into $U(1)$ charges of charged hypermultiplets. The F-term is also inevitable to determine the complex structures of the ALE space. In the IR limit, we obtain the Kähler potential of the $A_N$-type ALE space. We also find the origin of the ${\mathbb Z}_{N+1}$ orbifold symmetry i…
The ubiquitous ADE classification has induced many proposals of often mysterious correspondences both in mathematics and physics. The mathematics side includes quiver theory and the McKay Correspondence which relates finite group representation theory to Lie algebras as well as crepant resolutions of Gorenstein singularities. On the physics side, we have the graph-theoretic classification of the modular invariants of WZW models, as well as the relation between the string theory nonlinear $σ$-models and Landau-Ginzburg orbifolds. We here propose a unification scheme which naturally incorporates…
We study the Landau-Ginzburg (LG) mirror theory of the non-linear sigma model on the ALE space ${\cal M}$ obtained by resolving the singularity of the orbifold ${\bf C}^2/{\bf Z}_N$. In the LG description, the data of the BPS spectrum and the lines of marginal stability are encoded in the special Lagrangian submanifolds of the mirror manifold $\hat{\cal M}$. Our LG description is quite simple as compared with the quiver gauge theory analysis near the orbifold point. Furthermore our mirror analysis can be applied to any point on the moduli space of ${\cal M}$.
In this short note we give an overview of recent work on string propagation on stacks and applications to gauged linear sigma models. We begin by outlining noneffective orbifolds (orbifolds in which a subgroup acts trivially) and related phenomena in two-dimensional gauge theories, which realize string propagation on gerbes. We then discuss the `decomposition conjecture,' equating conformal field theories of strings on gerbes and strings on disjoint unions of spaces. Finally, we apply these ideas to gauged linear sigma models for complete intersections of quadrics, and use the decomposition co…
We analyze the ground states of a two-dimensional sigma-model whose target space is an elliptically fibered K3, with the sigma-model compactified on a circle with boundary conditions twisted by a duality symmetry. We show that the Witten index receives contributions from two kinds of states: (i) those that can be mapped to cohomology with coefficients in a certain line bundle over the target space, and (ii) states whose wave-functions are localized at singular fibers. We also discuss the orbifold limit and possible connections with geometric quantization of the target space.
We show how to obtain the O(N) non-linear sigma model in two dimensions as a strong coupling limit of the corresponding linear sigma model. In taking the strong coupling limit, the squared mass parameter must be given a specific coupling dependence that assures the finiteness of the physical mass scale. The relation discussed in this paper, which applies to the renormalized theories as opposed to the regularized theories, is an example of a general relation between the linear and non-linear models in two and three dimensions.
This is a review to classify all finite energy solutios of the two dimensional non-linear sigma model. These solutions could be important in understanding the vacuum structure of the non-linear sigma model.
We study an N=(4,4) supersymmetric gauged linear sigma model which gives rise to the nonlinear sigma model for multi-centered KK-monopoles. We find a new T-duality transformation of the model even in the presence of F-terms. Performing T-duality, we find the gauged linear sigma model whose IR limit describes the exotic 522-brane with B-field.
A new T-duality transformation is found in two-dimensional non-linear sigma models. This is a straightforward generalisation of Abelian and non-Abelian T-dualities.
The conditions under which a general two-dimensional non-linear sigma model is classically integrable are given. These requirements are found by demanding that the equations of motion of the theory are expressible as a zero curvature relation. Some new integrable two-dimensional sigma models are then presented.
We review N=(2,2) supersymmetric non-linear sigma-models in two dimensions and their relation to generalized Kahler and Calabi-Yau geometry. We illustrate this with an explicit non-trivial example.
We propose a gauged linear sigma model of k H-monopoles. We also consider the T-dual of this model describing KK-monopoles and clarify the meaning of "winding coordinate" studied recently in hep-th/0507204.
Using mirror symmetry, we resolve an old puzzle in the linear sigma model description of the spacetime Higgs mechanism in a heterotic string compactification with (2,2) worldsheet supersymmetry. The resolution has a nice spacetime interpretation via the normalization of physical fields and suggests that with a little care deformations of the linear sigma model can describe heterotic Higgs branches.
This is a review of the relation between supersymmetric non-linear sigma models and target space geometry. In particular, we report on the derivation of generalized Kähler geometry from sigma models with additional spinorial superfields. Some of the results reviewed are: Generalized complex geometry from sigma models in the Lagrangian formulation; Coordinatization of generalized Kähler geometry in terms of chiral, twisted chiral and semi-chiral superfields; Generalized Kähler geometry from sigma models in the Hamiltonian formulation.
We argue that two-dimensional (0,2) gauged linear sigma models are not destabilized by instanton generated world-sheet superpotentials. We construct several examples where we show this to be true. The general proof is based on the Konishi anomaly for (0,2) theories.
We describe the kink solitary waves of a massive non-linear sigma model with an ${\mathbb S}^2$ sphere as the target manifold. Our solutions form a moduli space of non-relativistic solitary waves in the long wavelength limit of ferromagnetic linear spin chains.
A master equation expressing the classical integrability of two-dimensional non-linear sigma models is found. The geometrical properties of this equation are outlined. In particular, a closer connection between integrability and T-duality transformations is emphasised. Finally, a whole new class of integrable non-linear sigma models is found and all their corresponding Lax pairs depend on a spectral parameter.
The current algebra of classical non-linear sigma models on arbitrary Riemannian manifolds is analyzed. It is found that introducing, in addition to the Noether current $j_μ$ associated with the global symmetry of the theory, a composite scalar field $j$, the algebra closes under Poisson brackets.
We study (0,2) deformations of a (2,2) supersymmetric gauged linear sigma model for a Calabi-Yau hypersurface in a Fano toric variety. In the non-linear sigma model these correspond to some of the holomorphic deformations of the tangent bundle on the hypersurface. Combinatorial formulas are given for the number of these deformations, and we show that these numbers are exchanged by mirror symmetry in a subclass of the models.
Non linear sigma models on Riemannian symmetric spaces constitute the most general class of classical non-linear sigma models which are known to be integrable. Using the current algebra structure of these models their canonical structure is analysed and it is shown that their non ultralocal fundamental Poisson bracket relation is governed by a field dependent non antisymmetric r-matrix obeying a dynamical Yang Baxter equation. Contribution presented at the XIX ICGTMP Salamanca June 92
We formulate a gauged linear sigma model on a supermanifold. The structure of classical vacua is investigated and one-loop corrections are calculated for an auxiliary D-field. We find out a constraint for the one-loop divergence to vanish, which is consistent with a Ricci flatness condition for the supermanifold. Two types of D-branes are obtained by analysing supersymmetric boundary conditions. We also provide extensions to a non-abelian gauged linear sigma model and a (0,2) supersymmetric model.
The Poisson brackets for non-linear sigma models on G/H are set up on the light-like plane. A quantity which transforms irreducibly by the Killing vectors, called Killing scalar, is constructed in an arbitrary representation of G. It is shown to satisfy the classical exchange algebra.
Compactifications of the heterotic string are a viable route to phenomenologically realistic vacua and interesting new mathematics. While supergravity aspects of heterotic compactifications are largely well-understood their worldsheet description remains largely unexplored. We review recent work in developing linear sigma model techniques aimed at elucidating the underlying worldsheet description.
We construct the general O(N)-symmetric non-linear sigma model in 2+1 spacetime dimensions at the Lifshitz point with dynamical critical exponent z=2. For a particular choice of the free parameters, the model is asymptotically free with the beta function coinciding to the one for the conventional sigma model in 1+1 dimensions. In this case, the model admits also a simple description in terms of adjoint currents.
We discuss the ultra-violet properties of bosonic and supersymmetric noncommutative non-linear sigma-models in two dimensions, both with and without a Wess-Zumino-Witten term.
We obtain novel factorization identities for non-linear sigma model amplitudes using a new integrand in the CHY double-cover prescription. We find that it is possible write very compact relations using only longitudinal degrees of freedom. We discuss implications for on-shell recursion.
We use the exact renormalization group (ERG) perturbatively to construct the Wilson action for the two-dimensional O(N) non-linear sigma model. The construction amounts to regularization of a non-linear symmetry with a momentum cutoff. A quadratically divergent potential is generated by the momentum cutoff, but its non-invariance is compensated by the jacobian of the non-linear symmetry transformation.
There exists a certain argument that in even dimensions, scale invariant quantum field theories are conformal invariant. We may try to extend the argument in $2n + ε$ dimensions, but the naive extension has a small loophole, which indeed shows an obstruction in non-linear sigma models in $2+ε$ dimensions. Even though it could have failed due to the loophole, we show that scale invariance does imply conformal invariance of non-linear sigma models in $2+ε$ dimension from the seminal work by Perelman on the Ricci flow.
We perform the calculation of the partition function of the Poisson-sigma model on the world sheet with the topology of a two-dimensional disc. Considering the special case of a linear Poisson structure we recover the partition function of the Yang-Mills theory. Using a glueing procedure we are able to calculate the partition function for arbitrary base manifolds.
In this letter we follow up recent work of Halverson-Kumar-Morrison on some exotic examples of gauged linear sigma models (GLSM's). Specifically, they describe a set of U(1) x Z_2 GLSM's with superpotentials that are quadratic in p fields, rather than linear as is typically the case. These theories RG flow to sigma models on branched double covers, where the double cover is realized via a Z_2 gerbe. For that gerbe structure, and hence the double cover, the Z_2 factor in the gauge group is essential. In this letter we propose an analogous geometric understanding of phases without that Z_2, in t…
We study both A-type and B-type D-branes in the gauged linear sigma model by considering worldsheets with boundary. The boundary conditions on the matter and vector multiplet fields are first considered in the large-volume phase/non-linear sigma model limit of the corresponding Calabi-Yau manifold, where we also find that we need to add a contact term on the boundary. These considerations enable to us to derive the boundary conditions in the full gauged linear sigma model, including the addition of the appropriate boundary contact terms, such that these boundary conditions have the correct non…
We conjecture that the $O(N)$-symmetric non-linear sigma model in the semi-infinite $(1+1)$-dimensional space is ``integrable'' with respect to the ``free'' and the ``fixed'' boundary conditions. We then derive, for both cases, the boundary S-matrix for the reflection of massive particles of this model off the boundary at $x=0$.
We show that the degeneracy of topological solitons in the gauged O(3) non-linear sigma model with Chern-Simons term may be removed by chosing a self-interaction potential with symmetry - breaking minima. The topological solitons in the model has energy,charge,flux and angular momentum quantised in each topological sector.