Superstrings and Topological Strings at Large N

TL;DR

This paper explores the embedding of large N dualities between gauge theories and topological strings into superstring theory, revealing new insights into superpotentials, fluxes, and D-brane systems on Calabi-Yau manifolds.

Contribution

It introduces a novel embedding of large N duality into superstrings and analyzes the effects of D-branes and fluxes on Calabi-Yau backgrounds, including all-order superpotential contributions.

Findings

Large N duality is embedded into superstring theory with fluxes.

Superpotentials in N=1 theories are captured by non-critical string amplitudes.

D-brane/anti-D-brane systems induce background shifts in Calabi-Yau manifolds.

Abstract

We embed the large N Chern-Simons/topological string duality in ordinary superstrings. This corresponds to a large $N$ duality between generalized gauge systems with N=1 supersymmetry in 4 dimensions and superstrings propagating on non-compact Calabi-Yau manifolds with certain fluxes turned on. We also show that in a particular limit of the N=1 gauge theory system, certain superpotential terms in the N=1 system (including deformations if spacetime is non-commutative) are captured to all orders in 1/N by the amplitudes of non-critical bosonic strings propagating on a circle with self-dual radius. We also consider D-brane/anti-D-brane system wrapped over vanishing cycles of compact Calabi-Yau manifolds and argue that at large $N$ they induce a shift in the background to a topologically distinct Calabi-Yau, which we identify as the ground state system of the Brane/anti-Brane system.