<p>This thesis describes some aspects of noncommutative geometry and conformal field theory. The motivation for the investigations made comes to a large extent from string theory. This theory is today considered to be the most promising way to find a solution to the problem of unifying the four fundamental interactions in one single theory. The thesis gives a short background presentation of string theory and points out how noncommutative geometry and conformal field theory are of relevance within the string theoretical framework. There is also given some further information on noncommutative geometry and conformal field theory. The results from the three papers on which the thesis is based are presented in the text. It is shown in Paper 1 that, for a gauge theory in a flat noncommutative background only the gauge groups <i>U(N)</i> can be used in a straightforward way. These theories can arise as low energy limits of string theory. Paper 2 concerns boundary conformal field theory, which can be used to describe open strings in various backgrounds. Here different orbifold theories which are described using simple currents of the chiral algebra are investigated. The formalism is applied to ``branes´´ in <b>Z</b>₂<b> </b>orbifolds of the <i>SU(2)</i> WZW-model and to the <i>D</i>-series of unitary minimal models. In Paper 3 two different descriptions of an invariant star-product on <i>S²</i> are compared and the characteristic class that classifies the star-product is calculated. The Fedosov-Nest-Tsygan index theorem is used to compute the characteristic class.</p>

This thesis consists of two parts, which can be read separately. In the first part we study aspects of topological field theories. We show how to topologically twist three-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory using a contact structure on the underlying manifold. This gives us a formulation of Chern-Simons theory together with a set of auxiliary fields and an odd symmetry. For Seifert manifolds, we show how to use this odd symmetry to localize the path integral of Chern-Simons theory. The formulation of three-dimensional Chern-Simons theory using a contact structure admits natural generalizations to higher dimensions. We introduce and study these theories. The focus is on the five-dimensional theory, which can be understood as a topologically twisted version of N=1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. When formulated on contact manifolds that are circle fibrations over a symplectic manifold, it localizes to contact instantons. For the theory on the five-sphere, we show that the perturbative part of the partition function is given by a matrix model. In the second part of the thesis, we study supersymmetric sigma models in the Hamiltonian formalism, both in a classical and in a quantum mechanical setup. We argue that the so called Chiral de Rham complex, which is a sheaf of vertex algebras, is a natural framework to understand quantum aspects of supersymmetric sigma models in the Hamiltonian formalism. We show how a class of currents which generate symmetry algebras for the classical sigma model can be defined within the Chiral de Rham complex framework, and for a six-dimensional Calabi-Yau manifold we calculate the equal-time commutators between the currents and show that they generate the Odake algebra.

A number of philosophical questions, all connected to modern research in quantum gravity, are discussed in this dissertation. The goal of research in quantum gravity is to find a quantum theory for gravitation; the other fundamental forces are already understood in terms of quantum physics. Quantum gravity is studied within a number of different research programmes. The most popular are string theory and loop quantum gravity; besides these a number of other approaches are pursued. Due to the lack of empirical support, it is relevant to assess the scientific status of this research. This is done from four different points of view, namely the ones held by: logical positivists, Popper, Kuhn and Lakatos. It is then argued that research in quantum gravity may be considered scientific, conditional on scientists being open with the tentative and speculative nature of their pursuits. Given the lack of empirical progress, in all approaches to quantum gravity, a pluralistic strategy is advised. In string theory there are different theoretical formulations, or dualities, which are physically equivalent. This is relevant for the problem of underdetermination of theories by data, and the debate on scientific realism. Different views on the dualities are possible. It is argued that a more empiricist view on the semantics of theories, than what has been popular lately, ought to be adopted. This is of importance for our understanding of what the theories tell us about space and time. In physics and philosophy, the idea that there are worlds or universes other than our own, has appeared in different contexts. It is discussed how we should understand these different suggestions; how they are similar and how they are different. A discussion on, how and when theoretical multiverse scenarios can be empirically testable, is also given. The reliability of thought experiments in physics in general and in quantum gravity in particular is evaluated. Thought experiments can be important for heuristic purposes, but in the case of quantum gravity, conclusions based on thoght experiments are not very reliable.

One of the main topics in the modern String Theory are the conjectured string/gauge (AdS/CFT) dualities. Proving such conjectures is extremely difficult since the gauge and string theory perturbative regimes do not overlap. In this perspective, the discovery of infinitely many conserved charges, i.e. the integrability, in the planar AdS/CFT has allowed us to reach immense progresses in understanding and confirming the duality.The first part of this thesis is focused on the gravity side of the AdS5/CFT4 duality: we investigate the quantum integrability of the type IIB superstring on AdS5 x S5. In the pure spinor formulation we analyze the operator algebra by computing the operator product expansion of the Maurer-Cartan currents at the leading order in perturbation theory. With the same approach at one loop order, we show the path-independence of the monodromy matrix which implies the charge conservation law, strongly supporting the quantum integrability of the string sigma-model. We also verify that the Lax pair field strength remains well-defined at one-loop order being free from UV divergences. The same string sigma-model is analyzed in the Green-Schwarz formalism in the near-flat-space (NFS) limit. Such a limit remarkably simplifies the string world-sheet action but still leaving interesting physics. We use the NFS truncation to show the factorization of the world-sheet S-matrix at one-loop order. This property defines a two-dimensional field theory as integrable: it is the manifestation of the higher conserved charges. Hence, we have explicitly checked their presence at quantum level. The second part is dedicated to the AdS4/CFT3 duality: in particular the type IIA superstring on AdS4 x CP3. We compute the leading quantum corrections to the string energies for string configurations with a large but yet finite angular momentum on CP3 and show that they match the conjectured all-loop Bethe Ansatz equations.

This thesis describes some aspects of noncommutative geometry and conformal field theory. The motivation for the investigations made comes to a large extent from string theory. This theory is today considered to be the most promising way to find a solution to the problem of unifying the four fundamental interactions in one single theory. The thesis gives a short background presentation of string theory and points out how noncommutative geometry and conformal field theory are of relevance within the string theoretical framework. There is also given some further information on noncommutative geometry and conformal field theory. The results from the three papers on which the thesis is based are presented in the text. It is shown in Paper 1 that, for a gauge theory in a flat noncommutative background only the gauge groups U(N) can be used in a straightforward way. These theories can arise as low energy limits of string theory. Paper 2 concerns boundary conformal field theory, which can be used to describe open strings in various backgrounds. Here different orbifold theories which are described using simple currents of the chiral algebra are investigated. The formalism is applied to ``branes´´ in Z2 orbifolds of the SU(2) WZW-model and to the D-series of unitary minimal models. In Paper 3 two different descriptions of an invariant star-product on S² are compared and the characteristic class that classifies the star-product is calculated. The Fedosov-Nest-Tsygan index theorem is used to compute the characteristic class.

This dissertation splits into two distinct halves. The first half is devoted to the study of the holography of higher spin gauge theory in AdS$_3$. We present a conjecture that the holographic dual of $W_N$ minimal model in a 't Hooft-like large $N$ limit is an unusual ``semi-local" higher spin gauge theory on AdS$_3\times $S$^1$. At each point on the S$^1$ lives a copy of three-dimensional Vasiliev theory, that contains an infinite tower of higher spin gauge fields coupled to a single massive complex scalar propagating in AdS$_3$. The Vasiliev theories at different points on the S$^1$ are correlated only through the AdS$_3$ boundary conditions on the massive scalars. All but one single tower of higher spin symmetries are broken by the boundary conditions. This conjecture is checked by comparing tree-level two- and three-point functions, and also one-loop partition functions on both side of the duality. The second half focuses on the holography of higher spin gauge theory in AdS$_4$. We demonstrate that a supersymmetric and parity violating version of Vasiliev's higher spin gauge theory in AdS$_4$ admits boundary conditions that preserve ${\cal N}=0,1,2,3,4$ or $6$ supersymmetries. In particular, we argue that the Vasiliev theory with $U(M)$ Chan-Paton and ${\cal N}=6$ boundary condition is holographically dual to the 2+1 dimensional $U(N)_k\times U(M)_{-k}$ ABJ theory in the limit of large $N,k$ and finite $M$. In this system all bulk higher spin fields transform in the adjoint of the $U(M)$ gauge group, whose bulk t'Hooft coupling is $\frac{M}{N}$. Our picture suggests that the supersymmetric Vasiliev theory can be obtained as a limit of type IIA string theory in AdS$_4\times \mathbb{CP}^3$, and that the non-Abelian Vasiliev theory at strong bulk 't Hooft coupling smoothly turn into a string field theory. The fundamental string is a singlet bound state of Vasiliev's higher spin particles held together by $U(M)$ gauge interactions. / Physics

We describe a procedure for classifying 4D N=2 superconformal theories of the type introduced by Davide Gaiotto. Any punctured curve, C, on which the 6D (2,0) SCFT is compactified, may be decomposed into 3-punctured spheres, connected by cylinders. The 4D theories, which arise, can be characterized by listing the ``matter" theories corresponding to 3-punctured spheres, the simple gauge group factors, corresponding to cylinders, and the rules for connecting these ingredients together. Different pants decompositions of C correspond to different S-duality frames for the same underlying family of 4D \mathcal{N}=2 SCFTs. We developed such a classification for the A_{N-1} and the D_N series of 6D (2,0) theories. We outline the procedure for general A_{N-1} and D_N, and construct, in detail, the classification through A_4 and D_4, respectively. / text

One of the most important results emerging from string theory is the gauge gravity duality (AdS/CFT correspondence) which tells us that certain problems in particular gravitational backgrounds can be exactly mapped to a particular dual gauge theory a quantum theory very similar to the one explaining the interactions between fundamental subatomic particles. The chief merit of the duality is that a difficult problem in one theory can be mapped to a simpler and solvable problem in the other theory. The duality can be used both ways. Most of the current theoretical framework is suited to study equilibrium systems, or systems where time dependence is at most adiabatic. However in the real world, systems are almost always out of equilibrium. Generically these scenarios are described by quenches, where a parameter of the theory is made time dependent. In this dissertation I describe some of the work done in the context of studying quantum quench using the AdS/CFT correspondence. We recover certain universal scaling type of behavior as the quenching is done through a quantum critical point. Another question that has been explored in the dissertation is time dependence of the gravity theory. Present cosmological observations indicate that our universe is accelerating and is described by a spacetime called de-Sitter(dS). In 2011 there had been a speculation over a possible duality between de-Sitter gravity and a particular field theory (Euclidean SP(N) CFT). However a concrete realization of this proposition was still lacking. Here we explicitly derive the dS/CFT duality using well known methods in field theory. We discovered that the time dimension emerges naturally in the derivation. We also describe further applications and extensions of dS/CFT.

Polarized deep inelastic scattering experiments play a vital role in the exploration of the spin structure of the proton. The polarized proton-proton collider at RHIC provides direct access to the gluon spin distribution through longitudinal double spin asymmetry measurements of inclusive jets, pions, and dijets. This thesis presents the measurement of the dijet double differential cross-section in proton-proton collisions at center of mass energies of √s = 500 GeV. The data represent an integrated luminosity of 8.7 pb-1 recorded by the STAR detector during the 2009 RHIC run. A comprehensive jet analysis was performed to determine the ideal jet algorithm and jet parameters used in √s = 500 GeV collisions at the STAR detector. The cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass (30 ≤ Mij ≤ 152 GeV) in the mid rapidity region with a maximum rapidity range of |ymax| ≤ 0.8. This result shows agreement with theoretical next-to-leading order pQCD calculations, motivating the use of dijet asymmetries at STAR to further constrain the shape of Δg(x).

Σε αυτή την διδακτορική διατριβή μελετήσαμε την ευστάθεια δέσμιων καταστάσεων κουάρκ και δυονίων εντός της αντιστοιχίας AdS/CFT. Το κίνητρο για την μελέτη μας ήταν το ότι τα δυναμικά των δέσμιων αυτών καταστάσεων όπως αυτά υπολογίζονται εντός της αντιστοιχίας έχουν μερικές φορές συμπεριφορές οι οποίες είναι σε αντίθεση με τα προσδοκώμενα αποτελέσματα από την θεωρία πεδίου. Συγκεκριμένα συναντούμε: Πλειότιμα δυναμικά, Δυναμικά του οποίου το μήκος θωράκισης εξαρτάται ισχυρώς από τον προσανατολισμό της χορδής σε σχέση με τον άξονα του ζεύγους και Συμπεριφορές εγκλωβισμού κουάρκ στην N=4 SYM και διάφορες άλλες περιπτώσεις. Η ανάλυση της ευστάθειας των κλασσικών λύσεων επιλύει αυτές τις αντιφάσεις, αποδεικνύοντας ότι οι αυτές οι διατάξεις είναι ασταθείς και κατά συνέπεια είναι φυσικώς απαράδεκτες. / In this PhD thesis we studied the stabilty of quarks and dyons bound states within the AdS/CFT Correspondence. The motivation for our study was the fact that bound states potentials as these are calculated within AdS/CFT have in various cases behaviors which contradict the field theory expectations. In particular we find: Multivalued potentials, Potentials whose scrrening length heavily depends on the orientation of the string and quark confinment in N=4 SYM. Stability analysis of the classical solutions resolves these ambiguities between field theory expectations and their dual gravity description, proving that these configurations are unstable and thus they should be disgarded as unphysical.