The complex geometry of topological string partition functions

Abstract: The goal of this talk will be to review some aspects of a program inspired by work of Tom Bridgeland aiming at a non-perturbative characterisation of topological string partition functions. The program is based on two main ingredients: The complex geometry of the underlying moduli spaces on the one hand, and cluster algebra structures defined by BPS- or DT-invariants on the other hand. The general picture is nicely illustrated by the Borel summation of the conifold partition functions recently studied with M. Alim, A. Saha and I. Tulli, with Stokes jumps of the partition functions getting related to wall-crossing phenomena in the theory of DT-invariants. Based on this and other examples we will propose a conjectural characterisation of the partition functions for local Calabi-Yau manifolds, generalising earlier proposals by Marino and collaborators, and related to earlier proposals by Alexandrov, Pioline and collaborators based on the geometry of hypermultiplet moduli spaces.

differential geometrymetric geometry

Audience: researchers in the discipline

Western Hemisphere colloquium on geometry and physics

Series comments: Description: Biweekly colloquium of geometers and physicists

This weekly online colloquium features geometers and physicists presenting current research on a wide range of topics in the interface of the two fields. The talks are aimed at a broad audience. They will take place via Zoom on alternate Mondays at 3pm Eastern, noon Pacific, 4pm BRT. Each session features a 60 minute talk, followed by 15 minutes for questions and discussion. You may join the meeting 15 minutes in advance. Questions and comments may be submitted to the moderator via the chat interface during the talk, or presented in person during the Q&A session. These colloquia will be recorded and will be available (linked from the website) asap after the event.