Quantum Barnes function as the partition function of the resolved conifold (Q1028874)

Summary: We give a short new proof of large \(N\) duality between the Chern-Simons invariants of the 3-sphere and the Gromov-Witten/Donaldson-Thomas invariants of the resolved conifold. Our strategy applies to more general situations, and it is to interpret the Gromov-Witten, the Donaldson-Thomas, and the Chern-Simons invariants as different characterizations of the same holomorphic function. For the resolved conifold, this function turns out to be the quantum Barnes function, a natural \(q\)-deformation of the classical one that in its turn generalizes the Euler gamma function. Our reasoning is based on a new formula for this function that expresses it as a graded product of \(q\)-shifted multifactorials.