Topological string theory

In theoretical physics, topological string theory is a simplified version of string theory. The operators in topological string theory represent the algebra of operators in the full string theory that preserve a certain amount of supersymmetry. Topological string theory may be obtained by a topological twist of the worldsheet description of ordinary string theory: the operators are given different spins. The operation is fully analogous to the construction of topological field theory which is a related concept. Consequently, there are no local degrees of freedom in topological string theory.

There are two main versions of topological string theory: the topological A-model and the topological B-model. The results of the calculations in topological string theory generically encode all holomorphic quantities within the full string theory whose values are protected by spacetime supersymmetry. Various calculations in topological string theory are closely related to Chern-Simons theory, Gromov-Witten invariants, mirror symmetry, and many other topics. As you can see, these are mathematical topics. Indeed, topological string theory cannot be understood as a realistic theory to describe the physical world.

Topological string theory was established and is studied by physicists like Edward Witten and Cumrun Vafa.