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arXiv · 2403.17258

NS5-brane backgrounds and coset CFT partition functions

Andrea Dei·Emil J. Martinec
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Abstract

Worldsheet string theory is solvable for a variety of backgrounds involving Neveu-Schwarz fivebranes, in terms of gauged nonlinear sigma models on group manifolds. We compute the worldsheet torus partition function of these models, and propose gauging of null isometries as a unifying principle and conceptual framework for this large family of string backgrounds. In the process, we explain how partition functions of asymmetrically gauged Wess-Zumino-Witten models can be computed from the path integral, and organize and systematize various results scattered throughout the literature.

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Andrea Dei, Emil J. Martinec. 2024-03-25. NS5-brane backgrounds and coset CFT partition functions. https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.17258

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