This article is devoted to a world sheet analysis of A-type D-branes in N=(2,2) supersymmetric non-linear sigma models. In addition to the familiar Lagrangian submanifolds with flat connection we reproduce the rank one A-branes of Kapustin and Orlov, which are supported on coisotropic submanifolds. The main focus is however on gauge fields of higher rank and on tachyon profiles on brane-antibrane pairs. This will lead to the notion of a complex of coisotropic A-branes. A particular role is played by the noncommutative geometry on the brane world volume. It ensures that brane-antibrane pairs localize again on coisotropic submanifolds.
We study coisotropic A-branes in the sigma model on a four-torus by explicitly constructing examples. We find that morphisms between coisotropic branes can be equated with a fundamental representation of the noncommutatively deformed algebra of functions on the intersection. The noncommutativity parameter is expressed in terms of the bundles on the branes. We conjecture these findings hold in general. To check mirror symmetry, we verify that the dimensions of morphism spaces are equal to the corresponding dimensions of morphisms between mirror objects.
We compute the anomaly of the axial U(1) current in the A-model on a Calabi-Yau manifold, in the presence of coisotropic branes discovered by Kapustin and Orlov. Our results relate the anomaly-free condition to a recently proposed definition of graded coisotropic branes in Calabi-Yau manifolds. More specifically, we find that a coisotropic brane is anomaly-free if and only if it is gradable. We also comment on a different grading for coisotropic submanifolds introduced recently by Oh.
We study disk-instantons ending on coisotropic branes preserved by real torus action in toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds. In particular, we find fermion zero modes on disk multi-covers ending on a coisotropic brane in local P^1 geometry with normal bundle (-a,a-2). It turns out that, independent of a, disk multi-cover formula is the same as for disks ending on a Lagrangian brane in resolved conifold. We further construct an example of a coisotropic brane in Calabi-Yau 3-fold used in geometric engineering of 4d N=2 SU(K) gauge theory, where this brane provides a surface defect.
We describe mirror symmetry on higher dimensional tori, paying special attention to the behaviour of D-branes under mirror symmetry. To find the mirror D-branes the description of mirror symmetry on D-branes due to Ooguri, Oz en Yin is used. This method allows us to deal with the coisotropic D-branes recently introduced by Kapustin and Orlov. We compare this to the description of mirror symmetry on D-branes using the Fourier-Mukai transform of charges.
Up to now chiral type IIA vacua have been mostly based on intersecting D6-branes wrapping special Lagrangian 3-cycles on a CY three-fold. We argue that there are additional BPS D-branes which have so far been neglected, and which seem to have interesting model-building features. They are coisotropic D8-branes, in the sense of Kapustin and Orlov. The D8-branes wrap 5-dimensional submanifolds of the CY which are trivial in homology, but contain a worldvolume flux that induces D6-brane charge on them. This induced D6-brane charge not only renders the D8-brane BPS, but also creates D=4 chirality w…
General boundary conditions ("branes") for the Poisson sigma model are studied. They turn out to be labeled by coisotropic submanifolds of the given Poisson manifold. The role played by these boundary conditions both at the classical and at the perturbative quantum level is discussed. It turns out to be related at the classical level to the category of Poisson manifolds with dual pairs as morphisms and at the perturbative quantum level to the category of associative algebras (deforming algebras of functions on Poisson manifolds) with bimodules as morphisms. Possibly singular Poisson manifolds …
We study conditions on the topological D-branes of types A and B obtained by requiring a proper matching of the spectral flow operators on the boundary. These conditions ensure space-time supersymmetry and stability of D-branes. In most cases, we reproduce the results of Marino-Minasian-Moore-Strominger, who studied the same problem using the supersymmetric Born-Infeld action. In some other cases, corresponding to coisotropic A-branes, our stability condition is new. Our results enable us to define an analogue of the Maslov class and grading for coisotropic A-branes. We expect that they play a…
We discuss D-branes of the topological A-model (A-branes), which are believed to be closely related to the Fukaya category. We give string theory arguments which show that A-branes are not necessarily Lagrangian submanifolds in the Calabi-Yau: more general coisotropic branes are also allowed, if the line bundle on the brane is not flat. We show that a coisotropic A-brane has a natural structure of a foliated manifold with a transverse holomorphic structure. We argue that the Fukaya category must be enlarged with such objects for the Homological Mirror Symmetry conjecture to be true.
We complete the investigation of N=(2,2) supersymmetric nonlinear sigma-models in the presence of a boundary. We study the full bihermitian geometry parameterized by chiral, twisted chiral and semi-chiral superfields and identify the D-brane configurations preserving an N=2 worldsheet supersymmetry. Combining twisted with semi-chiral superfields leads to a clearly defined notion of lagrangian and coisotropic branes generalizing lagrangian and coisotropic A-branes on Kahler manifolds to manifolds which are not necessarily Kahler (but still bihermitian). Adding chiral fields complicates the pict…
We complete the study of the Poisson-Sigma model over Poisson-Lie groups. Firstly, we solve the models with targets $G$ and $G^*$ (the dual group of the Poisson-Lie group $G$) corresponding to a triangular $r$-matrix and show that the model over $G^*$ is always equivalent to BF-theory. Then, given an arbitrary $r$-matrix, we address the problem of finding D-branes preserving the duality between the models. We identify a broad class of dual branes which are subgroups of $G$ and $G^*$, but not necessarily Poisson-Lie subgroups. In particular, they are not coisotropic submanifolds in the general …
We scan for massive type IIA SU(3)-structure compactifications of the type AdS4 x CP3 with internal symmetry group SO(4). This group acts on CP3 with cohomogeneity one, so that one would expect new non-homogeneous solutions. We find however that all such solutions enhance their symmetry group to Sp(2) and form, in fact, the homogeneous family first described in arXiv:0712.1396. This is in accordance with arXiv:0901.0969, which argues from the CFT-side that although new vacua with SO(4) symmetry group and N=2 supersymmetry should exist, they fall outside our ansatz of strict SU(3)-structure, an…
We prove a relative version of Kontsevich's formality theorem. This theorem involves a manifold M and a submanifold C and reduces to Kontsevich's theorem if C=M. It states that the DGLA of multivector fields on an infinitesimal neighbourhood of C is L-infinity-quasiisomorphic to the DGLA of multidifferential operators acting on sections of the exterior algebra of the conormal bundle. Applications to the deformation quantisation of coisotropic submanifolds are given. The proof uses a duality transformation to reduce the theorem to a version of Kontsevich's theorem for supermanifolds, which we a…
In this paper, we study deformations of coisotropic submanifolds in a symplectic manifold. First we derive the equation that governs $C^\infty$ deformations of coisotropic submanifolds and define the corresponding $C^\infty$-moduli space of coisotropic submanifolds modulo the Hamiltonian isotopies. This is a non-commutative and non-linear generalization of the well-known description of the local deformation space of Lagrangian submanifolds as the set of graphs of {\it closed} one forms in the Darboux-Weinstein chart of a given Lagrangian submanifold. We then introduce the notion of {\it strong…
We show that certain submanifolds of generalized complex manifolds ("weak branes") admit a natural quotient which inherits a generalized complex structure. This is analog to quotienting coisotropic submanifolds of symplectic manifolds. In particular Gualtieri's generalized complex submanifolds ("branes") quotient to space-filling branes. Along the way we perform reductions by foliations (i.e. no group action is involved) for exact Courant algebroids - interpreting the reduced Ševera class - and for Dirac structures.
Following the general formalism reviewed in 0810.5355 [hep-th] we present several examples of possible D3-brane configurations on four-dimensional generalized Kaehler geometries. We will discuss T-duality transformations in N = 2 boundary superspace and apply the duality transformations to the constructed D3-branes. The duality transformations lead to a systematic method to construct coisotropic branes, even on target spaces that are not hyper-Kaehler.
We give a manifest supersymmetric description of A and B branes on Kahler manifolds using a completely local N=2 superspace formulation of the world-sheet nonlinear sigma-model in the presence of a boundary. In particular, we show that an N=2 superspace description of type A boundaries is possible, at least when the background is Kahler. This leads to an elegant and concrete setting for studying coisotropic A branes. Here, apgesan important role is played by the boundary potential, whose precise physical meaning remains to be fully understood. Duality transformations relating A and B branes in…
Level-rank duality of untwisted and twisted D-branes of WZW models is explored. We derive the relation between D0-brane charges of level-rank dual untwisted D-branes of su(N)_K and sp(n)_k, and of level-rank dual twisted D-branes of su(2n+1)_2k+1. The analysis of level-rank duality of twisted D-branes of su(2n+1)_2k+1 is facilitated by their close relation to untwisted D-branes of sp(n)_k. We also demonstrate level-rank duality of the spectrum of an open string stretched between untwisted or twisted D-branes in each of these cases.
We analyze the level-rank duality of untwisted and epsilon-twisted D-branes of the so(N)_K WZW model. Untwisted D-branes of so(N)_K are characterized by integrable tensor and spinor representations of so(N)_K. Level-rank duality maps untwisted so(N)_K D-branes corresponding to (equivalence classes of) tensor representations onto those of so(K)_N. The epsilon-twisted D-branes of so(2n)_2k are characterized by (a subset of) integrable tensor and spinor representations of so(2n-1)_2k+1. Level-rank duality maps spinor epsilon-twisted so(2n)_2k D-branes onto those of so(2k)_2n. For both untwisted a…
We analyze the level-rank duality of omega_c-twisted D-branes of SU(N)_K (when N and K>2). When N or K is even, the duality map involves Z_2-cominimal equivalence classes of twisted D-branes. We prove the duality of the spectrum of an open string stretched between omega_c-twisted D-branes, and ascertain the relation between the charges of level-rank-dual omega_c-twisted D-branes.
We discuss Type IIB 5-brane configurations for 5d $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theories with hypermultiplets in the rank-3 antisymmetric representation and with various other hypermultiplets, which flow to a UV fixed point at the infinite coupling. We propose 5-brane web diagrams for the theories of $SU(6)$ and $Sp(3)$ gauge groups with rank-3 antisymmetric matter and check our proposed 5-brane webs against several consistency conditions implied from the one-loop corrected prepotential. Using the obtained 5-brane webs for rank-3 antisymmetric matter, we apply the topological vertex method to compute …
We consider Type IIB 5-brane configurations for 5d rank 2 superconformal theories which are classified recently by geometry in arXiv:1801.04036. We propose all the 5-brane web diagrams for these rank 2 theories and show dualities between some of different gauge theories with explicit duality map of mass parameters and Coulomb branch moduli. In particular, we explicitly construct 5-brane configurations for $G_2$ gauge theory with six flavors and its dual $Sp(2)$ and $SU(3)$ gauge theories. We also present 5-brane webs for $SU(3)$ theories of Chern-Simons level greater than 5.
We consider the left-right entanglement (LREE) entropy in 1+1 dimensions for WZW models on a circle, and for WZW models on untwisted and twisted D-branes. The consequences of level-rank duality for these applications is presented which provides a map of LREE from large to small central charge.
We derive level-rank duality in pure Chern-Simons gauge theories from a non-supersymmetric Seiberg duality by using a non-supersymmetric brane configuration in type IIB string theory. The brane configuration consists of fivebranes, N D3 antibranes and an O3 plane. By swapping the fivebranes we derive a 3d non-supersymmetric Seiberg duality. After level shifts from loop effects, this identifies the IR of Sp(2N)_{2k-2N+2} and Sp(2k-2N+2)_{-2N} pure Chern-Simons theories, which is a level-rank pair. We also derive level-rank duality in a Chern-Simons theory based on a unitary group.
The consequences of level-rank duality for untwisted D-branes on an SU(N) group manifold are explored. Relations are found between the charges of D-branes (which are classified by twisted K-theory) belonging to su(N)_K and su(K)_N WZW theories, in the case of odd N+K. An isomorphism between the charge algebras is also demonstrated in this case.
We consider a low-energy effective action for the gauge field on Wess-Zumino-Witten D-branes in a compact simple Lie group, in the limit of large k. We prove that the effective action is bounded from below, and study stability of various D-brane configurations, including some class of non-maximally symmetric ones. We show that for Lie groups of rank higher than one, the D-brane ground state breaks the Kac-Moody symmetry of the boundary theory. We then give arguments hinting that the "fuzzy sphere" D2-brane which is known to be the stable brane configuration in the case of SU(2), may also corre…
In this paper we study correlation functions of circular Wilson loops in higher dimensional representations with chiral primary operators of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. This is done using the recently established relation between higher rank Wilson loops in gauge theory and D-branes with electric fluxes in supergravity. We verify our results with a matrix model computation, finding perfect agreement in both the symmetric and the antisymmetric case.
We consider Hanany-Witten setups of 3- and 5-branes in type IIB string theory that realize N=(1,0),(2,0) and (1,1) gauged WZW models in 1+1 dimensions. The gauged WZW models arise as theories residing on the boundary of D3 branes ending on D5 branes. From the point of view of low energy dynamics the D5 branes play the role of half-BPS co-dimension-1 defects (domain walls) in 3d N=1 or N=2 Chern-Simons theories. Extending the analysis of previous works on the subject of boundary conditions in (supersymmetric) Chern-Simons theory, we discuss in detail the field theory construction of a large cla…
We discuss a new class of brane models (extending both p-brane and Dp-brane cases) where the brane tension appears as an additional dynamical degree of freedom instead of being put in by hand as an ad hoc dimensionfull scale. Consistency of dynamics naturally involves the appearence of additional higher-rank antisymmetric tensor gauge fields on the world-volume which can couple to charged lower-dimensional branes living on the original Dp-brane world-volume. The dynamical tension has the physical meaning of electric-type field strength of the additional higher-rank world-volume gauge fields. I…
Electric S-brane solutions with two non-composite electric branes and a set of l scalar fields are considered. The intersection rules for branes correspond to Lie algebras A_2, C_2 and G_2. The solutions contain five factor spaces. One of them, M_0, is interpreted as our 3-dimensional space. It is shown that there exists a time interval where accelerated expansion of our 3-dimensional space is compatible with a small enough variation of the effective gravitational constant G(τ). This interval contains τ_0, a point of minimum of the function G(τ). A special solution with two phantom scalar fiel…
We investigate the hierarchies of half-supersymmetric branes in maximal supergravity theories. By studying the action of the Weyl group of the U-duality group of maximal supergravities we discover a set of universal algebraic rules describing the number of independent 1/2-BPS p-branes, rank by rank, in any dimension. We show that these relations describe the symmetries of certain families of uniform polytopes. This induces a correspondence between half-supersymmetric branes and vertices of opportune uniform polytopes. We show that half-supersymmetric 0-, 1- and 2-branes are in correspondence w…
The holographic configurations dual to Wilson loops in higher rank representations in the ABJM theory are described by branes with electric flux along their world volumes. In particular, D2 and D6 branes with electric flux play a central role as potential dual to totally symmetric and totally antisymmetric representations, respectively. We compute the spectra of excitations of these brane configurations in both, the bosonic and fermionic sectors. We highlight a number of aspects that distinguish these configurations from their D3 and D5 cousins including new peculiar mixing terms in the fluctu…
The Yukawa couplings of the simpler models of D-branes on toroidal orientifolds suffer from the so-called ``rank one'' problem -- there is only a single non-zero mass and no mixing. We consider the one-loop contribution of E2-instantons to Yukawa couplings on intersecting D6-branes, and show that they can solve the rank one problem. In addition they have the potential to provide a geometric explanation for the hierarchies observed in the Yukawa coupling. In order to do this we provide the necessary quantities for instanton calculus in this class of background.
A sliver state is a classical solution of the string field theory of the tachyon vacuum that represents a background with a single D25-brane. We show that the sliver wavefunctional factors into functionals of the left and right halves of the string, and hence can be naturally regarded as a rank-one projector in a space of half-string functionals. By developing an algebraic oscillator approach we are able construct higher rank projectors that describe configurations of multiple D-branes of various dimensionalities and located at arbitrary positions. The results bear remarkable similarities with…
Equations of motion for M2- and M5-branes are written down in the $E_{11}$ current algebra formulation of M-theory. These branes correspond to currents of the second and the fifth rank antisymmetric tensors in the $E_{11}$ representation, whereas the electric and magnetic fields (coupled to M2- and M5-branes) correspond to currents of the third and the sixth rank antisymmetric tensors, respectively. We show that these equations of motion have solutions in terms of the coordinates on M2- and M5-branes. We also discuss the geometric equations, and show that there are static solutions when M2- or…
We show that the rank reduction of the gauge group on orientifolds in presence of non vanishing discrete Kalb-Ramond field can be explained by the presence of an induced field strength in a non trivial bundle on the branes. This field strength is also necessary for the tadpole cancellation and the number of branes is left unchanged by the presence of the discrete Kalb-Ramond background.
We study the dynamics of M-theory on isolated non-toric Calabi-Yau threefold singularities of type $(A_j,A_l)$ and $(A_k,D_n)$, engineering five-dimensional rank-zero SCFTs. Our approach consists in mapping these backgrounds to type IIA string theory with D6 branes at angles and O6$^{-}$ planes, computing the five-dimensional open string modes located at the brane intersections. This permits us to characterize the Higgs Branches of these theories as algebraic varieties, determine the flavour and gauge group and inspect subtleties related to T-branes. Our methods apply for all the considered si…
We investigate a holographic realization in Type-IIB string theory of pure Chern-Simons theories, and focus on the level/rank dualities that they enjoy. The level/rank duality is established between the boundary theory, engineered utilizing D3-branes compactified on a $S^1$, and the theory on probe D7-branes located at a specific bulk location. Paying attention to the boundary conditions imposed on the Ramond-Ramond (RR) two- and six-forms, we show that holography precisely reproduces several different level/rank dual pairs. The $SL(2,\mathbf{Z})$ action relating all these theories is realized…
In this paper time dependent solutions of supergravities with dilaton and arbitrary rank antisymmetric tensor field are found. Although the solutions are nonsupersymmetric the equations of motions can be integrated in a simple form. Such supergravity solutions are related to Euclidean or spacelike branes (S-branes).
Composite fluxbrane and S-brane solutions for a wide class of intersection rules are considered. These solutions are defined on a product manifold R_{*} x M_1 x ... x M_n which contains n Ricci-flat spaces M_1, ..., M_n with 1-dimensional factor spaces R_{*} and M_1. They are determined up to a set of functions obeying non-linear differential equations equivalent to Toda-type equations with certain boundary conditions imposed. Exact solutions corresponding to configurations with two branes and intersections related to simple Lie algebras C_2 and G_2 are obtained. In these cases, the functions …
We consider equivariant dimensional reduction of Yang-Mills theory on K"ahler manifolds of the form M times CP^1 times CP^1. This induces a rank two quiver gauge theory on M which can be formulated as a Yang-Mills theory of graded connections on M. The reduction of the Yang-Mills equations on M times CP^1 times CP^1 induces quiver gauge theory equations on M and quiver vortex equations in the BPS sector. When M is the noncommutative space R_theta^{2n} both BPS and non-BPS solutions are obtained, and interpreted as states of D-branes. Using the graded connection formalism, we assign D0-brane ch…
We introduce a systematic approach to constructing $\mathcal{N}=1$ Lagrangians for a class of interacting $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs. We analyse in detail the simplest case of the construction, arising from placing branes at an orientifolded $\mathbb{C}^2/\mathbb{Z}_2$ singularity. In this way we obtain Lagrangian descriptions for all the $R_{2,k}$ theories. The rank one theories in this class are the $E_6$ Minahan-Nemeschansky theory and the $C_2\times U(1)$ Argyres-Wittig theory. The Lagrangians that arise from our brane construction manifestly exhibit either the entire expected flavour symmetry …
We study the Higgs branches of five-dimensional N=1 rank-zero theories obtained from M-theory on two classes non-toric non-compact Calabi-Yau threefolds: Reid's pagodas, and Laufer's examples. Our approach consists in reducing to IIA with D6-branes and O6-planes, and computing the open-string spectra giving rise to hypermultiplets. Starting with the seven-dimensional worldvolume theories, we switch on T-brane backgrounds to give rise to bound states with angles. We observe that the resulting partially Higgsed 5d theories have discrete gauge groups, from which we readily deduce the geometry of …
The defining properties of Yano tensors naturally generalize those of Killing vectors to anti-symmetric tensor fields of arbitrary rank. We show how the Yano tensors of flat spacetime can be used to construct new, conserved gravitational charges for transverse asymptotically flat spacetimes. The relationship of these new charges to Yano tensors parallels that of ordinary ADM conserved charges to Killing vectors. Hence, we call them Y-ADM charges. A rank n Y-ADM charge is given by an integral over a co-dimension $n$ slice of spatial infinity. In particular, a rank (p+1) Y-ADM charge in a p-bran…
In the context of brane solutions of supergravity, we discuss a general method to introduce collective modes of any spin by exploiting a particular way of breaking symmetries. The method is applied to the D3, M2 and M5 branes and we derive explicit expressions for how the zero-modes enter the target space fields, verify normalisability in the transverse directions and derive the corresponding field equations on the brane. In particular, the method provides a clear understanding of scalar, spinor, and rank r tensorial Goldstone modes, chiral as well as non-chiral, and how they arise from the gr…
In this work we consider the issue of localization of antisymmetric tensor fields of arbitrary rank in a D dimensional Space-time with a codimension two. A string-like defect is used to simulate the membrane. The localization of massless and massive fields is found. The mass spectrum is infinitely degenerate for each mass level and this is solved by coupling the $q-$form to fermions.
We use the F-theoretic engineering of four-dimensional rank-one superconformal field theories to provide a geometric understanding of the phenomenon of supersymmetry enhancement along the RG flow, recently observed by Maruyoshi and Song. In this context, the superpotential deformations responsible for such flows are interpreted as T-brane backgrounds and encoded in the geometry of elliptically-fibered fourfolds. We formulate a simple algebraic criterion to select all supersymmetry-enhancing flows and, without any maximization process, derive the main features of the corresponding N=2 theories …
We consider the Yukawa couplings for quarks and leptons in the context of Pati-Salam model using intersecting D-brane models where the Yukawa coupling matrices are rank one in a simple choice of family replication. The CKM mixings can be explained by perturbing the rank 1 matrix using higher order terms involving new Higgs fields available in the model. We show that the near bi-large neutrino mixing angles can be naturally explained, choosing the light neutrino mass matrix to be type II seesaw dominant. The predicted value of U_{e3} is in the range \simeq 0.05-0.15. In the quark sector, V_{cb}…
We propose a generalization of S-folds to 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories. This construction is motivated by the classification of rank one 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ super-conformal field theories (SCFTs), which we reproduce from D3-branes probing a configuration of $\mathcal{N}=2$ S-folds combined with 7-branes. The main advantage of this point of view is that realizes both Coulomb and Higgs branch flows and allows for a straight forward generalization to higher rank theories.
We determine the anomaly polynomial of the E-string theory and its higher-rank generalizations, that is, the 6d $\mathcal{N} =(1, 0)$ superconformal theories on the worldvolume of one or multiple M5-branes embedded within the end-of-the-world brane with $E_8$ symmetry.
We compute the circular Wilson loop of N=4 SYM theory at large N in the rank k symmetric and antisymmetric tensor representations. Using a quadratic Hermitian matrix model we obtain expressions for all values of the 't Hooft coupling. At large and small couplings we give explicit formulae and reproduce supergravity results from both D3 and D5 branes within a systematic framework.
In this work we investigate a braneworld scenario where a Kalb-Ramond field propagates, together with gravity, in a five dimensional AdS slice. The rank-2 Kalb-Ramond field is associated with torsion. We study the compactification of the Kalb-Ramond field to four dimensional space-time without gauge fixing, focusing on the effects of torsion. On the brane the Kalb-Ramond field interacts with $A_μ$-gauge and scalar matter fields. We analyze the propagators of this theory and as an application investigate the consistency of such a model in the presence of a cosmic string configuration. One inter…
We consider a class of higher order corrections in the form of Euler densities of arbitrary rank $n$ to the standard gravity action in $D$ dimensions. We have previously shown that this class of corrections allows for domain wall solutions despite the presence of higher powers of the curvature. In the present paper we explicitly solve the linearized equation of motion for gravity fluctuations around the domain wall background and show that there always exist one massless state (graviton) propagating on the wall and a continuous tower of massive states propagating in the bulk.
The moduli space of toroidal type I vacua, which are consistent at the non-perturbative level, consists of independent branches characterized by the number (0, 16 or 32) of rigid branes sitting on top of orientifold planes. This structure persists also when supersymmetry is spontaneously broken a la Scherk-Schwarz. We show that all the components of the moduli space in dimension $D\ge 5$ indeed admit heterotic dual components, by explicitly constructing heterotic-type I dual pairs with the rank of the gauge group reduced by 0, 8 or 16 units. In the presence of spontaneous breaking of supersymm…
We compute the vacuum expectation values of $1/6$ supersymmetric Wilson loops in higher dimensional representations of the gauge group in ABJM theory. We present results for the $m$-symmetric and $m$-antisymmetric representations by exploiting standard matrix model techniques. At leading order, in the saddle point approximation, our expressions reproduce holographic results from both D6 and D2 branes corresponding to the antisymmetric and symmetric representations, respectively. We also compute 1/N corrections to the leading saddle point results.
We complete the list of fluxbrane solutions in classical supergravities by introducing Melvin type space-times supported by antisymmetric forms of rank $D-1$ and their pseudoscalar duals. In IIB theory these solutions belong to the same family as the seven-brane and D-instanton. In current notation, a fluxbrane supported by the D-1 form is an F0 brane, its euclidean continuation is a cylindrical background which ``interacts'' with a pointlike instanton. The general F0 brane can have a transverse space S_k times R^{(D-k-2)} with 1 <= k <= D-2. For k=1 we find the complete solution containing fo…
We describe projection operators in the matter sector of Witten's cubic string field theory using modes on the right and left halves of the string. These projection operators represent a step towards an analytic solution of the equations of motion of the full string field theory, and can be used to construct Dp-brane solutions of the string field theory when the BRST operator Q is taken to be pure ghost, as suggested in the recent conjecture by Rastelli, Sen and Zwiebach. We show that a family of solutions related to the sliver state are rank one projection operators on the appropriate space o…
