Paper detail

Topological wave functions and the 4D-5D lift

We revisit the holomorphic anomaly equations satisfied by the topological string amplitude from the perspective of the 4D-5D lift, in the context of ''magic'' N=2 supergravity theories. In particular, we interpret the Gopakumar-Vafa relation between 5D black hole degeneracies and the topological string amplitude as the result of a canonical transformation from 4D to 5D charges. Moreover we use the known Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of 5D black holes to constrain the asymptotic behavior of the topological wave function at finite topological coupling but large Kähler classes. In the process, some subtleties in the relation between 5D black hole degeneracies and the topological string amplitude are uncovered, but not resolved. Finally we extend these considerations to the putative one-parameter generalization of the topological string amplitude, and identify the canonical transformation as a Weyl reflection inside the 3D duality group.