Twists of Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theory in Topological String Theory

Abstract

We show that every twist of pure supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with gauge group GL(N) can be realized as an open-string field theory in topological string theory. Our approach reinterprets twists of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory as generalized Chern-Simons theories, and identifies topological string backgrounds that produce the corresponding Chern-Simons theories.

24 pages; typo fixed; exposition clarified