Topics in string theory
Abstract
This Thesis explores aspects of superstring theory on orbifold spaces and applies some of the intuition gleaned from the study of the non-commutative geometry of space-time to understanding the fractional quantum Hall effect. The moduli space of vacua of marginal and relevant deformations of N = 4 super-Yang-Mills gauge theory in four dimensions is interpreted in terms of non-commutative geometry. A formalism for thinking about the algebraic geometry of the moduli space is developed. Within this framework, the representation theory of the algebras studied provides a natural exposition of D-brane fractionation. The non-commutative moduli space of deformations preserving N = 1 supersymmetry is examined in detail through various examples. In string theory, by the AdS/CFT correspondence, deformations of the N = 4 field theory are dual to the near-horizon geometries of D-branes on orbifolds of AdS5 x S 5. The physics of D-branes on the dual AdS backgrounds is explored. Quivers encapsulate the matter content of supersymmetric field theories on the worldvolumes of D-branes at orbifold singularities. New techniques for constructing quivers are presented here. When N is a normal subgroup of a finite group G, the quiver corresponding to fixed points of the orbifold M/G is computed from a G/N action on the quiver corresponding to M/G . These techniques prove useful for constructing non-Abelian quivers and for examining discrete torsion orbifolds. Quivers obtained through our constructions contain interesting low-energy phenomenology. The matter content on a brane at an isolated singularity of the Delta27 orbifold embeds the Standard Model. The symmetries of the quiver require exactly three generations of fields in the particle spectrum. Lepton masses are suppressed relative to quark masses because lepton Yukawa couplings do not appear in the superpotential. Lepton masses are generated through the Kahler potential and are related to the supersymmetry breaking scale. The model makes falsifiable predictions about TeV scale physics. Susskind has proposed that the fractional quantum Hall system can be realized through an Abelian Chern-Simons theory with a Moyal product. Susskind's Chern-Simons field is a hydrodynamical quantity. Lopez and Fradkin have an alternate Chern-Simons description couched in terms of a statistical gauge field. We show that this statistical Chern-Simons theory also possesses a non-commutative structure and develop the dictionary between the two Chern-Simons pictures.
- Publication:
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Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- January 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002PhDT........49J