The Runkel-Watts String

I will introduce a new family of two-dimensional string theories obtained by coupling Liouville CFT to the generalized Runkel–Watts CFT. In the landscape of two-dimensional strings, the Runkel–Watts string bridges the complex Liouville string, A-series minimal strings, and Virasoro minimal strings. An all-genus formula for Runkel–Watts string amplitudes is derived by taking an appropriate limit of the complex Liouville string, and a duality with a matrix integral is formulated. The theory can also be interpreted as two-dimensional SU(2) Yang–Mills theory coupled to gravity. This talk is based on work with M. Biancotto, L. Eberhardt, and V. Rodriguez.