In this article we continue our study of chiral fermions on a quantum curve. This system is embedded in string theory as an I-brane configuration, which consists of D4 and D6-branes intersecting along a holomorphic curve in a complex surface, togethe
r with a B-field. Mathematically, it is described by a holonomic D-module. Here we focus on spectral curves, which play a prominent role in the theory of (quantum) integrable hierarchies. We show how to associate a quantum state to the I-brane system, and subsequently how to compute quantum invariants. As a first example, this yields an insightful formulation of (double scaled as well as general Hermitian) matrix models. Secondly, we formulate c=1 string theory in this language. Finally, our formalism elegantly reconstructs the complete dual Nekrasov-Okounkov partition function from a quantum Seiberg-Witten curve.
We consider N=4 theories on ALE spaces of $A_{k-1}$ type. As is well known, their partition functions coincide with $A_{k-1}$ affine characters. We show that these partition functions are equal to the generating functions of some peculiar classes of
partitions which we introduce under the name orbifold partitions. These orbifold partitions turn out to be related to the generalized Frobenius partitions introduced by G. E. Andrews some years ago. We relate the orbifold partitions to the blended partitions and interpret explicitly in terms of a free fermion system.
We argue that the holographic description of four-dimensional BPS black holes naturally includes multi-center solutions. This suggests that the holographic dual to the gauge theory is not a single AdS_2 times S^2 but a coherent ensemble of them. We v
erify this in a particular class of examples, where the two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory gives a holographic description of the black holes obtained by branes wrapping Calabi-Yau cycles. Using the free fermionic formulation, we show that O(e^{-N}) non-perturbative effects entangle the two Fermi surfaces. In an Euclidean description, the wave-function of the multi-center black holes gets mapped to the Hartle-Hawking wave-function of baby universes. This provides a concrete realization, within string theory, of effects that can be interpreted as the creation of baby universes. We find that, at least in the case we study, the baby universes do not lead to a loss of quantum coherence, in accord with general arguments.
Matrix model correlators show universal behaviour at short distances. We provide a derivation for these universal correlators by inserting probe branes in the underlying effective geometry. We generalize these results to study correlators of branes a
nd their universal behaviour in the Calabi-Yau crystals, where we find a role for a generalized brane insertion.
In this note, we first explain the equivalence between the interaction Hamiltonian of Green-Schwarz light-cone gauge superstring field theory and the twist field formalism known from matrix string theory. We analyze the role of the large N limit in m
atrix string theory, in particular in relation with conformal perturbation theory around the orbifold SCFT that reproduces light-cone string perturbation theory. We show how the scaling with N is directly related to measures on the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. The scaling dimension 3 of the Mandelstam vertex as reproduced by the twist field interaction is in this way related to the dimension 3(h-1) of the moduli space. We analyze the structure and scaling of the higher order twist fields that represent the contact terms. We find one relevant twist field at each order. More generally, the structure of string field theory seems more transparent in the twist field formalism. Finally we also investigate the modifications necessary to describe the pp-wave backgrounds in the light-cone gauge and we interpret a diagram from the BMN limit as a stringy diagram involving the contact term.
We provide evidence of the relation between supersymmetric gauge theories and matrix models beyond the planar limit. We compute gravitational R^2 couplings in gauge theories perturbatively, by summing genus one matrix model diagrams. These diagrams g
ive the leading 1/N^2 corrections in the large N limit of the matrix model and can be related to twist field correlators in a collective conformal field theory. In the case of softly broken SU(N) N=2 super Yang-Mills theories, we find that these exact solutions of the matrix models agree with results obtained by topological field theory methods.
