Week 04.05.2015 – 10.05.2015

I would like to explain, with emphasis on computational details, how one starts from the refined topological vertex, constructs a topological partition function, and chooses the parameters of the latter to obtain conformal blocks of Virasoro minimal models.

I will discuss recent progress in formulating superconformal quantum mechanics models which describe the (2,0) theory and N=4 super Yang-Mills in discrete light-cone quantisation.

ps. Prof. Foda will give an introduction to topological string theory and minimal models in the first hour or so before launching into his more technical topic.

I will discuss how to construct rigid supersymmetric gauge theories on Riemannian five-manifolds following a holographic approach. This approach realises the five-manifold as the conformal boundary of a six-dimensional bulk supergravity solution and leads to a systematic classification of five-dimensional supersymmetric backgrounds with gravity duals. The background metric is furnished with a conformal Killing vector, which generates a transversely holomorphic foliation with a transverse Hermitian structure. Finally, I’ll also construct supersymmetric Lagrangians for gauge theories coupled to arbitrary matter on such backgrounds.