Witten's gauged linear sigma model [Wi1] is one of the universal frameworks or structures that lie behind stringy dualities. Its A-twisted moduli space at genus 0 case has been used in the Mirror Principle [LLY] that relates Gromov-Witten invariants and mirror symmetry computations. In this paper the A-twisted moduli stack for higher genus curves is defined and systematically studied. It is proved that such a moduli stack is an Artin stack. For genus 0, it has the A-twisted moduli space of [MP] as the coarse moduli space. The detailed proof of the regularity of the collapsing morphism by Jun Li in [LLY: I and II] can be viewed as a natural morphism from the moduli stack of genus 0 stable maps to the A-twisted moduli stack at genus 0.

We discuss conjectures following from the attractor mechanism in type II string theory about the possible Chern classes of stable holomorphic vector bundles on Calabi-Yau threefolds. In particular, we give sufficient conditions for Chern classes to correspond to stable bundles.

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We consider surfaces of geometric genus 3 with the property that their transcendental cohomology splits into 3 pieces, each piece coming from a K3 surface. For certain families of surfaces with this property, we can show there is a similar splitting on the level of Chow groups (and Chow motives).