We study hybrid models arising as homological projective duals (HPD) of certain projective embeddings f:X→P(V) of Fano manifolds X. More precisely, the category of B-branes of such hybrid models corresponds to the HPD category of the embedding f. B-branes on these hybrid models can be seen as global matrix factorizations over some compact space B or, equivalently, as the derived category of the sheaf of A-modules on B, where A is an A_∞ algebra. This latter interpretation corresponds to a noncommutative resolution of B. We compute explicitly the algebra A by several methods, for some specific class of hybrid models, and find that in general it takes the form of a smash product of an A_∞ algebra with a cyclic group. Then we apply our results to the HPD of f corresponding to a Veronese embedding of projective space and the projective embedding of Fano complete intersections in P^n.

We study BPS states of 5d N=1 SU(2) Yang-Mills theory on S^1×R^4. Geometric engineering relates these to enumerative invariants for the local Hirzebruch surface F_0. We illustrate computations of Vafa-Witten invariants via exponential networks, verifying fiber-base symmetry of the spectrum at certain points in moduli space, and matching with mirror descriptions based on quivers and exceptional collections. Albeit infinite, parts of the spectrum organize in families described by simple algebraic equations. Varying the radius of the M-theory circle interpolates smoothly with the spectrum of 4d N=2 Seiberg-Witten theory, recovering spectral networks in the limit.

The authors describe the relationships between categories of B-branes in different phases of the non-Abelian gauged linear sigma model. The relationship is described explicitly for the model proposed by Hori and Tong with non-Abelian gauge group that connects two non-birational Calabi-Yau varieties studied by Rødland. A grade restriction rule for this model is derived using the hemisphere partition function and it is used to map B-type D-branes between the two Calabi-Yau varieties.

In this paper, we study smooth complex projective varieties X such that some exterior power ⋀^rT_X of the tangent bundle is strictly nef. We prove that such varieties are rationally connected. We also classify the following two cases. If T_X is strictly nef, then X isomorphic to the projective space P^n. If ⋀^2T_X is strictly nef and if X has dimension at least 3, then X is either isomorphic to P^n or a quadric Q^n.

Let (X, g) be a compact Riemannian manifold with quasi-positive Riemannian scalar curvature. If there exists a complex structure J compatible with g, then the Kodaira dimension of (X, J) is equal to −∞ and the canonical bundle KX is not pseudo-effective. We also introduce the complex Yamabe number λc(X) for compact complex manifold X, and show that if λ_c(X) is greater than 0, then κ(X) is equal to −∞; moreover, if X is also spin, then the Hirzebruch A-hat genus \hat{A}(X) is zero.