Equivalence of Geometric Engineering and Hanany-Witten via Fractional Branes

TL;DR

This paper establishes a direct connection between two string theory methods for constructing gauge theories, using T-duality to relate Hanany-Witten setups to fractional branes, thus unifying different engineering approaches.

Contribution

It explicitly demonstrates the equivalence of Geometric Engineering and Hanany-Witten methods through T-duality involving fractional branes.

Findings

T-duality relates Hanany-Witten setups to fractional branes.

Unified understanding of gauge theory realizations in string theory.

Bridges the gap between two prominent string engineering techniques.

Abstract

We present an explicit relation between the Hanany-Witten and Geometric Engineering approaches of realising gauge theories in string theory. The last piece in the puzzle is a T-duality relating arbitrary Hanany-Witten setups and fractional branes.