We calculate the topological string partition function to all genus on the conifold, in the presence of branes. We demonstrate that the partition functions for different brane backgrounds (smoothly connected along a quantum corrected moduli space) can be interpreted as the same wave function in different polarizations. This behavior has a natural interpretation in the Chern-Simons target space description of the topological theory. Our detailed analysis however indicates that non-perturbatively, a modification of real Chern-Simons theory is required to capture the correct target space theory of the topological string. We perform our calculations in the framework of a free fermion representation of the open topological string, demonstrating that this framework extends beyond the simple C^3 geometry. The notion of a fermionic brane creation operator arises in this setting, and we study to what extent the wave function properties of the partition function can be extended to this operator.
Categories: hep-th