Motivated by the desire to do proper model building with D7-branes and fluxes, we study the motion of D7-branes on a Calabi-Yau orientifold from the perspective of F-theory. We consider this approach promising since, by working effectively with an elliptically fibred M-theory compactification, the explicit positioning of D7-branes by (M-theory) fluxes is straightforward. The locations of D7-branes are encoded in the periods of certain M-theory cycles, which allows for a very explicit understanding of the moduli space of D7-brane motion. The picture of moving D7-branes on a fixed underlying space relies on negligible backreaction, which can be ensured in Sen's weak coupling limit. However, even in this limit we find certain 'physics obstructions' which reduce the freedom of the D7-brane motion as compared to the motion of holomorphic submanifolds in the orientifold background. These obstructions originate in the intersections of D7-branes and O7-planes, where the type IIB coupling can not remain weak. We illustrate this effect for D7-brane models on CP^1 x CP^1 (the Bianchi-Sagnotti-Gimon-Polchinski model) and on CP^2. Furthermore, in the simple example of 16 D7-branes and 4 O7-planes on CP^1 (F-theory on K3), we obtain a completely explicit parameterization of the moduli space in terms of periods of integral M-theory cycles. In the weak coupling limit, D7-brane motion factorizes from the geometric deformations of the base space.
A Casimir obstruction to asymptotically flat black-brane completions of non-supersymmetric 7-branes
High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK)（高能加速器研究机构）；SOKENDAI（综合研究大学院大学）；RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS), RIKEN（理化学研究所交叉理论数学科学中心）
The behaviour of supersymmetric D-branes under deformations of the closed string background is studied using world-sheet methods. We explain how lines of marginal stability and obstructions arise from this point of view. We also show why N=2 B-type branes may be obstructed against (cc) perturbations, but why such obstructions do not occur for N=4 superconformal branes at c=6, i.e. for half-supersymmetric D-branes on K3. Our analysis is based on a field theory approach in superspace, as well as on techniques from perturbed conformal field theory.
We find the orbifold analog of the topological relation recently found by Freed and Witten which restricts the allowed D-brane configurations of Type II vacua with a topologically non-trivial flat $B$-field. The result relies in Douglas proposal -- which we derive from worldsheet consistency conditions -- of embedding projective representations on open string Chan-Paton factors when considering orbifolds with discrete torsion. The orbifold action on open strings gives a natural definition of the algebraic K-theory group -- using twisted cross products -- responsible for measuring Ramond-Ramond…
A study of the relation between topology change, energy and Lie algebra representations for fuzzy geometry in connection to $M$-theory is presented. We encounter two different types of topology change, related to the different features of the Lie algebra representations appearing in the matrix models of $M$-theory. From these studies, we propose a new method of obtaining non-commutative solutions for the non-Abelian $D$-brane action found by Myers. This mechanism excludes one of the two topology changing processes previously found in other non-commutative solutions of many matrix-based models …
We discuss a model in which our universe is pictured as a recoiling Dirichlet brane: we find that a proper treatment of the recoil leads naturally to supersymmetry obstruction on the four-dimensional world. An essential feature of our approach is the fact that the underlying worldsheet sigma model is non-critical, and the Liouville mode plays the role of the target time. Also, the extra bulk dimensions are viewed as sigma model couplings, and as such have to be averaged by appropriate summation over worldsheet genera. The recoiling brane is in an excited state rather than its ground state, to …
We identify the obstructions for T-dualizing the boundary WZW model and make explicit how they depend on the geometry of branes. In particular, the obstructions disappear for certain brane configurations associated to non-regular elements of the Cartan torus. It is shown in this case that the boundary WZW model is "nested" in the twisted boundary WZW model as the dynamical subsystem of the latter.
In the orbifold limit of K3, one can give exact conformal field theory description of D-branes wrapped on certain non-supersymmetric cycles of K3. We study the effect of switching on the `non-geometric blow up modes' corresponding to anti-symmetric tensor gauge field flux through the 2-cycles on these D-branes. Working to first order in the blow up parameter, we determine the region of the moduli space in which these D-branes are stable. Across the boundary of this region, the D-brane wrapped on the non-supersymmetric cycle decays to a pair of D-branes, each wrapped on a supersymmetric cycle, …
Sometimes a homology cycle of a nonsingular compactification manifold cannot be represented by a nonsingular submanifold. We want to know whether such nonrepresentable cycles can be wrapped by D-branes. A brane wrapping a representable cycle carries a K-theory charge if and only if its Freed-Witten anomaly vanishes. However some K-theory charges are only carried by branes that wrap nonrepresentable cycles. We provide two examples of Freed-Witten anomaly-free D6-branes wrapping nonrepresentable cycles in the presence of a trivial NS 3-form flux. The first occurs in type IIA string theory compac…
We show that non-Spin cycles in type IIB Calabi-Yau orientifold compactifications with vanishing B field naturally support orientifold-invariant D-brane instantons. These instantons, associated to the holomorphic cotangent bundle of the non-Spin cycle, can lead to non-perturbative corrections to the superpotential.
In certain regions of the moduli space of K3 and Calabi-Yau manifolds, D-branes wrapped on non-supersymmetric cycles may give rise to stable configurations. We show that in the orbifold limit, some of these stable configurations can be described by solvable boundary conformal field theories. The world-volume theory of N coincident branes of this type is described by a non-supersymmetric U(N) gauge theory. At the boundary of the region of stability, there are marginal deformations connecting the non-supersymmetric brane to a pair of D-branes wrapped on supersymmetric cycles. We also discuss var…
We construct supergravity duals of D6-branes wrapping Kahler four-cycles inside a Calabi-Yau threefold, CY_3. We obtain the purely gravitational M-theory description, which turns out to be a Calabi-Yau fourfold, CY_4. We also analyze the dynamics of a probe D6 in this background.
We obtain a supergravity solution arising when D6-branes are wrapped on coassociative four-cycles of constant curvature in seven manifolds of G_2 holonomy. The solutions preserve two supercharges and thus represent supergravity duals of three dimensional Yang-Mills with N=1 supersymmetry. When uplifted to eleven dimensions our solution describes M-theory on the background of an eight manifold with Spin(7) holonomy.
We consider chains of generalized submanifolds, as defined by Gualtieri in the context of generalized complex geometry, and define a boundary operator that acts on them. This allows us to define generalized cycles and the corresponding homology theory. Gauge invariance demands that D-brane networks on flux vacua must wrap these generalized cycles, while deformations of generalized cycles inside of a certain homology class describe physical processes such as the dissolution of D-branes in higher-dimensional D-branes and MMS-like instantonic transitions. We introduce calibrations that identify t…
We characterize the geometry produced by M5-branes wrapping a Special Lagrangian 3-cycle in a Calabi-Yau 3-fold. The presence of the brane replaces the the Calabi-Yau by a real manifold with an almost complex structure. We show that, in this classification, a distinguished (1,1) form as well as a globally defined (3,0) form play an important role. The requirements of supersymmetry preservation impose constraints on these structures which can be used to classify the background.
We investigate the quantum volume of D-branes wrapped around cycles of various dimension in Calabi-Yau fourfolds and fivefolds. Examining the cases of the sextic and heptic hypersurface Calabi-Yau varieties, as well as one example in weighted projective space, we find expressions for periods which vanish at the singular point analogous to the conifold point. As in the known three-dimensional cases, it is the top dimensional cycle which attains zero quantum volume, even though lower dimensional cycles remain non-degenerate, indicating this phenomena to be a general feature of quantum geometry.
We study quiver gauge theories on D7-branes wrapped over vanishing holomorphic 4-cycles. We investigate how to incorporate O7-planes and/or flavor D7-branes, which are necessary to cancel anomalies. These theories are chiral, preserve four supercharges and exhibit very rich infrared dynamics. Geometric transitions and duality in the presence of O-planes are analyzed. We study the Higgs branch of these quiver theories, showing the emergence of fuzzy internal dimensions. This branch is related to noncommutative instantons on the divisor wrapped by the seven-branes. Our results have a natural app…
We study the central charges of the supersymmetry algebra of branes in backgrounds corresponding to wrapped M5-branes. In the case of M5-branes wrapping a holomorphic 2-cycle in two complex-dimensional space, we find this allows for a supersymmetric M5-brane probe which is related to the M2-brane probe which describes the BPS spectra of the corresponding N=2 worldvolume gauge theory. For the case of M5-branes wrapping a holomorphic 2-cycle in three complex-dimensional space, we find that the central charges allow for a supersymmetric M5-brane probe wrapping a Cayley calibrated 4-cycle, which h…
Compactifications of M-theory on manifolds with reduced holonomy arise as the local eleven-dimensional description of D6-branes wrapped on supersymmetric cycles in manifolds of lower dimension with a different holonomy group. Whenever the isometry group SU(2) is present, eight-dimensional gauged supergravity is a natural arena for such investigations. In this paper we use this approach and review the eleven dimensional description of D6-branes wrapped on coassociative 4-cycles, on deformed 3-cycles inside Calabi-Yau threefolds and on Kahler 4-cycles.
We consider the supergravity back-reaction of M2 branes wrapping around the space-time cycles in 1/8-BPS microstate geometries. We show that such brane wrappings will generically break all the supersymmetries. In particular, all the supersymmetries will be broken if there are such wrapped branes but the net charge of the wrapped branes is zero. We show that if M2 branes wrap a single cycle, or if they wrap a several of co-linear cycles with the same orientation, then the solution will be 1/16-BPS, having two supersymmetries. We comment on how these results relate to using W-branes to understan…
A framework of second-quantization of D5-branes is proposed. It is based on the study of topology of the moduli space of their low energy effective worldvolume theory. Among the topological cycles which resolve singularities caused by overlapping D5-branes, it is introduced those cycles which duals, constituting a subspace of cohomology group of the moduli space, turn out to define the Fock space of the second-quantized D5-branes. The second-quantized operators are given by creation and annihilation operators of those cycles or their duals.
RR fields in string backgrounds including orientifold planes and branes on top of them are classified by K-theory. Following the idea introduced in hep-th/0103183, we also classify such fluxes by cohomology. Both of them are compared through the Atiyah-Hirzebruch Spectral Sequence. Some new correlations between branes on orientifold planes $Op^\pm$ and obstructions to the existence of some branes are found. Finally, we find a topological condition that avoid the presence of global gauge anomalies in lower dimensional systems.
Supergravity solution describing two intersecting M5-branes is presented. The branes are fixed in the relative transverse directions and are delocalized along the overall transverse ones. The intersection can be smoothed, so that the M5-branes present one holomorphic cycle. We also obtain a solution corresponding to an M5-brane on a holomorphic cycle of multi-Taub-NUT space. All these solutions preserve 1/4 of supersymmetry.
Making use of the N=2 Liouville theory and world-sheet techniques, we study the properties of D-branes wrapped around vanishing SUSY cycles of singular Calabi-Yau n-folds (n=2,3,4). After constructing boundary states describing the wrapped branes, we evaluate the disc amplitudes corresponding to the periods of SUSY cycles. We use the old technique of KPZ scaling in Liouville theory and derive holomorphicity and scaling behavior of vanishing cycles which are in agreement with geometrical considerations. We also discuss the open string Witten index using the N=2 Liouville theory and obtain the i…
We study the space of geometric and open string moduli of type IIB compactifications from the perspective of complex structure deformations of F-theory. In order to find a correspondence, we work in the weak coupling limit and for simplicity focus on compactifications to 6 dimensions. Starting from the topology of D7-branes and O7-planes, we construct the 3-cycles of the F-theory threefold. We achieve complete agreement between the degrees of freedom of the Weierstrass model and the complex structure deformations of the elliptic Calabi-Yau. All relevant quantities are expressed in terms of the…
We study the geometry of M5-branes wrapping a 2-cycle which is Special Lagrangian with respect to a specific complex structure in a Calabi-Yau two-fold. Using methods recently applied to the three-fold case, we are again able find a characterization of the geometry, in terms of a non-integrable almost complex structure and a (2,0) form. This time, however, due to the hyper-K{ä}hler nature of the underlying 2-fold we also have the freedom of choosing a different almost complex structure with respect to which the wrapped 2-cycle is holomorphic. We show that this latter almost complex structure i…
We apply some methods of homology and K-theory to special classes of branes wrapping homologically nontrivial cycles. We treat the classification of four-geometries in terms of compact stabilizers (by analogy with Thurston's classification of three-geometries) and derive the K-amenability of Lie groups associated with locally symmetric spaces listed in this case. More complicated examples of T-duality and topology change from fluxes are also considered. We analyse D-branes and fluxes in type II string theory on ${\mathbb C}P^3\times Σ_g \times {\mathbb T}^2$ with torsion $H-$flux and demonstra…
We study the Gepner model description of D-branes in Calabi-Yau manifolds with singular curves. From a geometrical point of view, the resolution of singularities leads to additional homology cycles around which branes can wrap. Using techniques from conformal field theory we address the construction of boundary states for branes wrapping additional 3-cycles on the resolved Calabi-Yau manifold. Explicit formulas are provided for Z_2 singular curves.
We consider D-branes wrapped around supersymmetric cycles of Calabi-Yau manifolds from the viewpoint of N=2 Landau-Ginzburg models with boundary as well as by consideration of boundary states in the corresponding Gepner models. The Landau-Ginzburg approach enables us to provide a target space interpretation for the boundary states. The boundary states are obtained by applying Cardy's procedure to combinations of characters in the Gepner models which are invariant under spectral flow. We are able to relate the two descriptions using the common discrete symmetries of the two descriptions. We are…
Brane-world singularities are analysed, emphasizing the case of supergravity in singular spaces where the singularity puzzle is naturally resolved. These naked singularities are either time-like or null, corresponding to the finite or infinite amount of conformal time that massless particles take in order to reach them. Quantum mechanically we show that the brane-world naked singularities are inconsistent. Indeed we find that time-like singularities are not wave-regular, so the time-evolution of wave packets is not uniquely defined in their vicinity, while null singularities absorb incoming ra…
Much work has been done by a number of authors with the aim of constructing the supersymmetric Standard Model in type IIA intersecting-brane theories compactified on an orientifold with various Z_N or Z_M x Z_N point groups. Here we consider the Z_{12} point group which has previously received comparatively little attention. We consider intersecting D6-branes that wrap 3-cycles consisting of a 2-cycle of the 4-dimensional lattice upon which the Z_{12} is realised times a 1-cycle of the remaining 2-torus. Our discussion is restricted to the case when these 2-cycles are "factorisable" in the sen…
We study complex structure deformations of special Lagrangian cycles associated to fractional D-branes at $\mathbb{Z}_2$ singularities in Type II/$Ω\mathcal{R}$ orientifold models. By means of solving hypersurface constraints, we show how to compute the volumes of the most simple D-brane configurations. These volumes are given as a function of the deformation parameters depending on the D-brane position relative to the smoothed out singularity. We observe which cycles keep the special Lagrangian property in various deformation scenarios and what orientifold involutions are allowed. As expected…
This work discusses string compactifications on the torus with optional Z_4 x Z_4 or Z_2 x Z_2 orbifold action from the perspective of matrix factorizations. The method is brought to a level where model building on these backgrounds is possible. Whereas branes discussed in the literature typically wrap factorizable cycles, that is cycles which are products of 1-cycles, branes studied here can be in generic homology classes, can have arbitrary position and Wilson line, have full complex structure respectively Kahler moduli dependence and can be subject to any consistent orientifold action. It i…
I construct a map from the Grothendieck group of coherent sheaves to $K$-homology. This results in explicit realizations of $K$-homology cycles associated with D-brane configurations. Non-Abelian degrees of freedom arise in this framework from the deformation quantization of $N$-tuple cycles. The large $N$ limit of the gauge theory on D-branes wrapped on a subvariety $V$ of some variety $X$ is geometrically interpreted as the deformation quantization of the formal completion of $X$ along $V.$
We construct the six-dimensional topological field theory appropriate to describe the ground-state configurations of D5-branes. A close examination on the degenerations of D5-branes gives us the physical observables which can be regarded as the Poincaré duals of the cycles of the moduli space. These observables are identified with the creation opeartors of the bound states of D5-branes and lead to the second quantization of five-branes. This identification of the bound states with the cycles also provides their topological stability and suggests that the bound states of five-branes have intern…
We study the addition of N_f flavor D5-branes to supergravity solutions describing D5-branes wrapping two-cycles of genus g>1 inside a six-dimensional space equipped with an SU(3)-structure. The non-zero genus g on the gravity side is dual to the existence of massless adjoint chiral superfields. Three types of internal manifolds are considered, each involving one of the following fibered products: H_2 x SL_2, S^2 x SL_2 or H_2 x S^3, where SL_2 stands for the universal cover of SL(2,R). For the first one, we investigate the dual field theories. We show that some of the solutions with N_f non-z…
We consider an abelian T-duality on a deformation of the gravitational solution of \cite{Maldacena2001}, which is the gravity dual of $N_c$ D5-branes wrapping a three-cycle inside a manifold that admits a $G_2$ structure. Performing the T-duality we find $N_c$ D$4$-branes wrapping a two-cycle with non-trivial antisymmetric fields in the NS-NS and RR sector. We study some aspects of its dual field theory and we compare with the original solution.
Much has been learned about string theory over the last few years by studying properties of cycles and branes in a given background geometry. Here we discuss three situations (quantum volume, attractor flows/D-brane stability, and dynamical topology change) in which cycles in a Calabi-Yau background evolve and/or degenerate in some manner, yielding various insights into aspects of quantum geometry. Based in part on talk given at Strings 2000.
We investigate a class of N=4 quiver Chern-Simons theories and their gravity duals. We define the group of fractional D3-brane charges in a type IIB brane setup with taking account of D3-brane creation due to Hanany-Witten effect, and confirm that it agrees with the 3-cycle homology of the dual geometry, which describes the charges of fractional M2-branes, M5-branes wrapped on 3-cycles. The relation between the fractional brane charge and the torsion of the three-form potential field is partially established. We also discuss the duality between baryonic operators in the Chern-Simons theories a…
We consider type IIA string theory on a Calabi-Yau 2-fold with D6-branes wrapping 2-cycles in the 2-fold. We find a complete set of conditions on the supergravity solution for any given wrapped brane configuration in terms of SU(2) structures. We reduce the problem of finding a supergravity solution for the wrapped branes to finding a harmonic function on R$\times$CY$_2$. We then lift this solution to 11-dimensions as a product of R$^{(4.1)}$ and a Calabi-Yau 3-fold. We show how the metric on the 3-fold is determined in terms of the wrapped brane solution. We write down the distinguished (3,0)…
We consider N=1 dualities in four dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories as a geometrical realization of wrapping D 6-branes around 3-cycles of Calabi-Yau threefolds in type IIA string theory. By extending the recent work of Ooguri and Vafa to the case of $SU, SO and Sp$ gauge groups with additional fields together with defining fields, we give simple geometrical descriptions of the interrelation between the electric theory and its magnetic dual in terms of the configuration of D 6-branes wrapped 3-cycles.
Fractional branes on the non-compact orbifold $\C^3/\Z_5$ are studied. First, the boundary state description of the fractional branes are obtained. The open-string Witten index calculated using these states reproduces the adjacency matrix of the quiver of $\Z_5$. Then, using the toric crepant resolution of the orbifold $\C^3/\Z_5$ and invoking the local mirror principle, B-type branes wrapped on the holomorphic cycles of the resolution are studied. The boundary states corresponding to the five fractional branes are identified as bound states of BPS D-branes wrapping the 0-, 2- and 4-cycles in …
We consider the couplings induced on the world-volume field theory of D3-branes at local toric Calabi-Yau singularities by euclidean D3-brane (E3-brane) instantons wrapped on (non-compact) holomorphic 4-cycles. These instantons produce insertions of BPS baryonic or mesonic operators of the four-dimensional ${\cal{N}}=1$ quiver gauge theory. We argue that these systems underlie, via the near-horizon limit, the familiar AdS/CFT map between BPS operators and D3-branes wrapped on supersymmetric 3-cycles on the 5d horizon. The relation implies that there must exist E3-brane instantons with appropri…
We study the supergravity duals of supersymmetric theories arising in the world-volume of D6 branes wrapping holomorphic two-cycles and special Lagrangian three-cycles within the framework of eight dimensional gauged supergravity. When uplifted to 11d, our solutions represent M-theory on the background of, respectively, the small resolution of the conifold and a manifold with G_2 holonomy. We further discuss on the flop and other possible geometrical transitions and its implications.
In the vicinity of points in Calabi-Yau moduli space where there are degenerating three-cycles the low energy effective action of type IIA string theory will contain significant contributions arising from membrane instantons that wrap around these three-cycles. We show that the world-volume description of these instantons is Chern-Simons theory.
We construct dual supergravity descriptions of D3-branes wrapping associative 3-cycles $L$. We analyse the conditions for having five-dimensional background solutions of the form $AdS_2 \times L$ and show that they require $L$ to be of constant negative curvature type. This provides $AdS_2$ background solutions when $L$ is the hyperbolic space $H^3$ or its quotients by subgroups of its isometry group. We construct a regular numerical solution interpolating between $AdS_5$ in the UV and $AdS_2 \times H^3$ in the IR. The IR fixed point exists at the ``intersection'' of the Coulomb and Higgs bran…
We obtain a family of supersymmetric solutions of type IIB supergravity with dynamic SU(2) structure, which describe the local geometry near a stack of four D7-branes and one O7-plane wrapping a rigid four-cycle. The deformation to a generalized complex geometry is interpreted as a consequence of nonperturbative effects in the seven-brane gauge theory. We formulate the problem for seven-branes wrapping the base of an appropriate del Pezzo cone, and in the near-stack limit in which the four-cycle is flat, we obtain an exact solution in closed form. Our solutions serve to characterize the local …
We study the brane/flux annihilation in the double-throat system in which the corresponding cycles of two throats are homologically equivalent. When we put $\overline{\rm D3}$-branes at only one of throat tips, two throats are no longer identical. Then the brane/flux annihilation can be interpreted as the process for reducing the difference between two throat geometries through the transition to the supersymmetric vacuum. To see this, we describe the changes in the amounts of the NSNS 3-form flux supporting the B-cycle contained in two throat regions during the brane/flux annihilation. We also…
Wrap m D5-branes around the 2-cycle of a conifold, place n D3-branes at a point and watch the system relax. The D5-branes source m units of RR 3-form flux on the 3-cycle, which cause dielectric NS5-branes to nucleate and repeatedly sweep out the 3-cycle, each time gaining m units of D3-charge while the stack of D5-branes loses m units of D3-charge. A similar description of the Klebanov-Strassler cascade has been proposed by Kachru, et al. when m>>m-n. Using the T-dual MQCD we argue that the above process occurs for any m and n and in particular may continue for more than one step. The nonbaryo…
We determine torsion class constraints for the supergravity background produced by D6-branes wrapping special Lagrangian cycles in a Calabi-Yau 3-fold. We employ a recently introduced method which involves probing the putative background by all possible supersymmetric brane configurations. We then lift this background to 11-dimensions to a product of 4-d Minkowski space and a 7-fold of G2-holonomy. The latter is a particular U(1) bundle over an almost complex manifold of SU(3) structure with specific torsion class constraints. We construct the closed 3- and 4-forms which calibrate the 3- and 4…
We consider D3-branes at an orbifolded conifold whose horizon ${X_5}$ resolves into a smooth Einstein manifold which joins several copies of ${\bf T}^{1,1}$. We describe in details the resolution of the singular horizon ${X_5}$ and describe different types of two-cycles appearing in the resolution. For a large number of D3 branes, the AdS/CFT conjecture becomes a duality between type IIB string theory on $AdS_5 \times {X_5} $ and the ${\cal N} = 1$ field theory living on the D3 branes. We study the fractional branes as small perturbations of the string background and we reproduce the logarithm…
We study N=1 dualities in four dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories by D 6-branes wrapping around 3-cycles of Calabi-Yau threefolds in the type IIA string theory. We consider the models involving $SU(N_{c1})\times SU(N_{c2})$ product gauge group without or with adjoint matter in terms of geometrical realisation of the configuration of D 6-branes wrapped 3-cycles. We also find simple geometric description for the triple product gauge group $SU(N_{c1})\times SU(N_{c2})\times SU(N_{c3})$ interpreted recently by Brodie and Hanany in the context of D brane configurations together with NS 5-bra…
We show that M-theory on spaces with irreducible holonomy represent Type IIA backgrounds in which a collection of D6-branes wrap a supersymmetric cycle in a manifold with a holonomy group different from the one appearing in the M-theory description. For example, we show that D6-branes wrapping a supersymmetric four-cycle on a manifold with G_2 holonomy is described in eleven dimensions by M-theory on a space with Spin(7) holonomy. Examples of such Type IIA backgrounds which lift to M-theory on spaces with SU(3), G_2, SU(4) and Spin(7) holonomy are considered. The M-theory geometry can then be …
We consider the field theories on multiple stacks of D5 branes wrapped on four cycles of resolved/deformed conifold geometries fibered over a two torus. The central charges of the D5 branes are slightly misaligned when the branes are wrapped on various rigid holomorphic two cycles or when they have different charges with respect to a magnetic flux turned on the two torus. The wrapped D5 branes preserve (0,2) supersymmetry in two dimensions if the Kahler moduli and the magnetic flux are related. Our geometries are T-dual to the brane configurations considered by Kutasov-Lin and we provide a geo…
D-branes are classified by twisted K-theory. Yet twisted K-theory is often hard to calculate. We argue that, in the case of a compactification on a simply-connected six manifold, twisted K-theory is isomorphic to a much simpler object, twisted homology. Unlike K-theory, homology can be twisted by a class of any degree and so it classifies not only D-branes but also M-branes. Twisted homology classes correspond to cycles in a certain bundle over spacetime, and branes may decay via Kachru-Pearson-Verlinde transitions only if this cycle is trivial. We provide a spectral sequence which calculates …
In the presence of a D-brane a string theory develops a new subsector. We show that for curved D-branes the corresponding sector is a (partially twisted) topological field theory. We use this result to compute the degeneracy of 2-branes wrapped around $K3$ cycles as well as 3-branes wrapped around CY threefold vanishing 3-cycles. In both cases we find the degeneracy is in accord with expectation. The counting of BPS states of a gas of 0-branes in the presence of a 4-brane in $K3$ is considered and it is noted that the effective 0-brane charge is shifted by 1, due to a quantum correction. This …
Coincident M2 branes at a conical singularity are related to M theory on AdS_4 x X_7 for an appropriate 7 dimensional Sasaki-Einstein manifold X_7. For X_7=Q^{1,1,1}=(SU(2) x SU(2) x SU(2))/(U(1) x U(1)) which was found sometime ago, the infrared limit of the theory on N M2 branes was constructed recently. It is the SU(N) x SU(N) x SU(N) gauge theories with three series of chiral fields A_i, i=1,2 transforming in the (N, \bar{N},1) representation, B_j, j=1,2 transforming in the (1,N, \bar{N}) representation and C_k, k=1,2 transforming in the (\bar{N},1,N) representation. From the scalar Laplac…
We investigate the instanton effect due to D3 branes wrapping a four-cycle in a Calabi-Yau orientifold with D7 branes. We study the condition for the nonzero superpotentials from the D3 instantons. For that matter we work out the zero mode structures of D3 branes wrapping a four-cycle both in the presence of the fluxes and in the absence of the fluxes. In the presence of the fluxes, the condition for the nonzero superpotential could be different from that without the fluxes. We explicitly work out a simple example of the orientifold of $K3 \times T^2/Z_2$ with a suitable flux to show such beha…
