We investigate various aspects of noncommutative geometry and fuzzy field theory and their relations to string theory. In particular, we study the BPS and non-BPS solutions of the CJPN nonlinear sigma model on the noncommutative plane in some detail and show among other things that a class of its solitonic excitations may be built from bound states of noncommutative scalar solitons. We then go on to construct a fuzzy extension of the semilocal SU(N)a x U(l)L Yang-Mills-Riggs model. We find that not only does this noncommutative model support a large class of BPS vortex solutions but, unlike in the commutative model, these are exact solutions of the BPS equations. We also study the large coupling limit of the semilocal model and demonstrate conclusively the metamorphosis of the semilocal vortex to an appropriate degree instanton of the fuzzy CJPN model. In the second part of this work, we study the perpendicular intersection of Dl- and D7-branes in type liB string theory and the fuzzy 6-sphere that resolves the singularity of the intersection. We demonstrate the equivalence of the D7 and dual D-string descriptions by computing the energy, charge and radial profiles of the solution in each description. We conclude the thesis with a foray into cosmology by constructing a realisation of a recently proposed singularity-free inflating universe. We discuss the basic characteristics of this model and show that none are at odds with current observations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/19023 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Murugan, Jeffrey |
| Contributors | Ellis, George F R |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Science, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Format | application/pdf |
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