Topological String Partition Function Research Articles

Topological String Partition Functions as Polynomials

We investigate the structure of the higher genus topological string amplitudes on the quintic hypersurface. It is shown that the partition functions of the higher genus than one can be expressed as polynomials of five generators. We also compute the explicit polynomial forms of the partition functions for genus 2, 3, and 4. Moreover, some coefficients are written down for all genus.

M-theory, topological strings and spinning black holes

We consider M-theory compactification on Calabi-Yau threefolds. The recently discovered connection between the BPS states of wrapped M2 branes and the topological string amplitudes on the threefold is used both as a tool to compute topological string amplitudes at higher genera as well as to unravel the degeneracies and quantum numbers of BPS states. Moduli spaces of $k$-fold symmetric products of the wrapped M2 brane play a crucial role. We also show that the topological string partition function is the Calabi-Yau version of the elliptic genus of the symmetric product of $K3$'s and use the macroscopic entropy of spinning black holes in 5 dimensions to obtain new predictions for the asymptotic growth of the topological string amplitudes at high genera.

Instanton Counting and Chern-Simons Theory

The instanton partition function of N = 2, D = 4 SU(2) gauge theory is obtained by taking the field theory limit of the topological open string partition function, given by a Chern-Simons theory, of a CY3-fold. The CY3-fold on the open string side is obtained by geometric transition from local IP{sup 1} x IP{sup 1} which is used in the geometric engineering of the SU(2) theory. The partition function obtained from the Chern-Simons theory agrees with the closed topological string partition function of local IP{sup 1} x IP{sup 1} proposed recently by Nekrasov. We also obtain the partition functions for local F{sub 1} and F{sub 2} CY3-folds and show that the topological string amplitudes of all three local Hirzebruch surfaces give rise to the same field theory limit. It is shown that a generalization of the topological closed string partition function whose field theory limit is the generalization of the instanton partition function, proposed by Nekrasov, can be determined easily from the Chern-Simons theory.

The vertex on a strip

We demonstrate that for a broad class of local Calabi-Yau geometries built around a string of IP{sup 1}s--those whose toric diagrams are given by triangulations of a strip--we can derive simple rules, based on the topological vertex, for obtaining expressions for the topological string partition function in which the sums over Young tableaux have been performed. By allowing non-trivial tableaux on the external legs of the corresponding web diagrams, these strips can be used as building blocks for more general geometries. As applications of our result, we study the behavior of topological string amplitudes under flops, as well as check Nekrasov's conjecture in its most general form.

${\rm SU}(N)$ geometries and topological string amplitudes

It has been conjectured recently that the field theory limit of the topological string partition functions, including all higher genus contributions, for the family of CY3folds giving rise to N = 2 4D SU(N) gauge theory via geometric engineering can be obtained from gauge instanton calculus. We verify this surprising conjecture by calculating the partition functions for such local CYs using diagrammatic techniques inspired by geometric transitions. Determining the Gopakumar-Vafa invariants for these geometries to all orders in the fiber wrappings allows us to take the field theory limit.