A Nielsen-Olesen vortex usually sits in an environment that expels the flux that is confined to the vortex, so flux is not present both inside and outside. We construct vortices for which this is not true, where the flux carried by the vortex also permeates the `bulk' far from the vortex. The idea is to mix the vortex's internal gauge flux with an external flux using off-diagonal kinetic mixing. Such `dark' vortices could play a phenomenological role in models with both cosmic strings and a dark gauge sector. When coupled to gravity they also provide explicit ultra-violet completions for codimension-two brane-localized flux, which arises in extra-dimensional models when the same flux that stabilizes extra-dimensional size is also localized on space-filling branes situated around the extra dimensions. We derive simple formulae for observables such as defect angle, tension, localized flux and on-vortex curvature when coupled to gravity, and show how all of these are insensitive to much of the microscopic details of the solutions, and are instead largely dictated by low-energy quantities. We derive the required effective description in terms of a world-sheet brane action, and derive the matching conditions for its couplings. We consider the case where the dimensions transverse to the bulk compactify, and determine how the on- and off-vortex curvatures and other bulk features depend on the vortex properties. We find that the brane-localized flux does not gravitate, but just renormalizes the tension in a magnetic-field independent way. The existence of an explicit UV completion puts the effective description of these models on a more precise footing, verifying that brane-localized flux can be consistent with sensible UV physics and resolving some apparent paradoxes that can arise with a naive (but commonly used) delta-function treatment of the brane's localization within the bulk.
We construct the effective theory of intersecting branes and investigate the BPS monopoles in the theory. The monopoles obtained are the generalization of Nielsen-Olesen vortex. We study the properties of the solutions and interpret them as the D0-branes on the brane-intersections.
We investigate an action which resembles the effective action of brane-antibrane system derived from boundary string field theory. We find that the action has smooth vortex solutions which saturate the Bogomol'nyi bound.
The point where a D2-brane intersecting a stack of D2-branes is proposed as a candidate for the 't Hooft vortex in the world-volume theory of N D2-branes. This straightforwardly generalizes to D3-branes, where a vortex line is generated by the intersection. Similarly, there are such objects on M-branes. We use Maldacena's conjecture to compute the static potential between a vortex and an anti-vortex in each case, in the large N limit.
The Green-Siegel central extension of superalgebras for BPS branes is studied. In these cases commutators of usual bosonic brane charges only with the broken supersymmetry charges allow this central extension. We present an interpretation of these fermionic central charges as fermionic brane charges, and show that they take nonzero values for a nontrivial fermionic boundary condition. Such fermionic coordinates solutions are determined by equations of motion in a suitable gauge condition which manifests Nambu-Goldstone fermionic modes as well as bosonic modes in the static gauge. We also show …
We propose a novel and simple method to compute the partition function of statistical mechanics of local and semi-local BPS vortices in the Abelian-Higgs model and its non-Abelian extension on a torus. We use a D-brane realization of the vortices and T-duality relation to domain walls. We there use a special limit where domain walls reduce to gas of hard (soft) one-dimensional rods for Abelian (non-Abelian) cases. In the simpler cases of the Abelian-Higgs model on a torus, our results agree with exact results which are geometrically derived by an explicit integration over the moduli space of v…
We investigate a system of 1,3, and 7-branes in type IIB string theory. We identify the 1-brane with the vortex of the Abelian Higgs model. We claim that in the S-dual, the theory on the 3-brane confines electric flux which we identify with the fundamental string and that the dual photon has a mass. We then investigate ways of breaking supersymmetry in the brane set up.
The purpose of this paper is to describe a relationship between the moduli space of vortices and the moduli space of instantons. We study charge k vortices in U(N) Yang-Mills-Higgs theories and show that the moduli space is isomorphic to a special Lagrangian submanifold of the moduli space of k instantons in non-commutative U(N) Yang-Mills theories. This submanifold is the fixed point set of a U(1) action on the instanton moduli space which rotates the instantons in a plane. To derive this relationship, we present a D-brane construction in which the dynamics of vortices is described by the Hig…
We study BPS vortices in the mass-deformed non-relativistic ${\C N}=6$ $U(N)_k\times U(N)_{-k}$ Chern-Simons-matter theory. We focus on the massive deformation that preserves the maximal ${\C N}=6$ supersymmetry, and consider a non-relativistic limit that carry 14 supercharges. In this non-relativistic field theory we find Jackiw-Pi type exact vortex solutions combined with $S^3$ fuzzy sphere geometry. We analyse their properties and show that they preserve one dynamical, one conformal and five kinematical supersymmetries among the full super Schrödinger symmetry.
It is shown that the tachyons which originate from unstable D-branes carry energy and momentum at the velocity $β= c^2/v,$ where $v$ is the phase velocity which is greater than $c.$ For an observer who moves with the velocity $β,$ tachyon is observed to be moving from one of the ground states of the tachyon potential to the potential hill. It is found that tachyon either passes over the hill or bounces back to the original ground state. Another possible solution is the case which is margial to these, that is tachyon reaches to the top of the potential hill and stays there forever.
We study the partition functions of BPS vortices and magnetic monopole operators, in gauge theories describing $N$ M2-branes. In particular, we explore two closely related methods to study the Cardy limit of the index on $S^2\times\mathbb{R}$. The first method uses the factorization of this index to vortex partition functions, while the second one uses a continuum approximation for the monopole charge sums. Monopole condensation confines most of the $N^2$ degrees of freedom except $N^{\frac{3}{2}}$ of them, even in the high temperature deconfined phase. The resulting large $N$ free energy stat…
We discuss a 4-dimensional nonsupersymmetric black hole solution to low energy type IIA string theory which carries D0- and D6-brane charges. For equal charges this solution reduces to the one discussed recently by Sheinblatt. We present a new parametrization of the solution in terms of four numbers which reveals the underlying brane and antibrane structure of the black hole arbitrarily far from extremality. In this parametrization, the entropy of the general nonextremal black hole takes on a simple U-duality invariant form. A Yang-Mills solution for the brane configuration corresponding to th…
We study BPS solitons in N=6 U(N) \times U(N) Chern-Simons-matter theory deformed by an F-term mass. The F-term mass generically breaks N=6 supersymmetry down to N=2. At vacua, M2-branes are polarized into a fuzzy S^3 forming a spherical M5-brane with topology \mathbf{R}^{1,2} \times S^3. The polarization is interpreted as Myers' dielectric effect caused by an anti-self-dual 4-form flux T_4 in the eleven-dimensional supergravity. Assuming a polarized M2-brane configuration, the model effectively reduces to the well-known abelian Chern-Simons-Higgs model studied in detail by Jackiw-Lee-Weinberg…
We study the low energy dynamics of a single Dp-brane carrying sufcient large number of D0-brane charges in type IIA theory. We assume the D-brane topology to be $R \times \mathcal{M}_{2n} $ , where $\mathcal{M}_{2n}$ is a closed manifold admitting a symplectic structure. We propose a new gauge fixing condition which eliminates the spatial gauge fluctuations on the Dp-brane. Using a conventional regularization method, one finds that the dynamics is characterized by D0-brane matrix description when the density of D0-branes is large enough. We also calculate the leading order interactions betwee…
In the Seiberg-Witten limit, the low-energy dynamics of N weakly coupled identical open strings on a D3-brane can behave as two-dimensional incompressible hydrodynamics. Classical vortices are frozen in the fluid and described by an action expressed in terms of two canonical conjugate fields, which can be taken as the new space coordinate. The noncommutative space naturally arises when this pair of conjugate fields are quantized. To the lowest order of $\hbar$, the vorticity can replace the background $B$-field on the D3 brane, thereby yielding a spatially and temporally varying noncommutative…
We study the moduli spaces of k U(N) vortices which are realized by the Higgs branch of a U(k) supersymmetric gauge theory. The theory has 4 supercharges and lives on k D1-branes in a N D3- and NS5-brane background. We realize the vortex moduli space as a C* projection of the vortex master space. The Hilbert series is calculated in order to characterize the algebraic structure of the vortex master space and to identify the precise C* projection. As a result, we are able to fully classify the moduli spaces up to 3 vortices.
We construct explicit BPS and non-BPS solutions of the Yang-Mills equations on the noncommutative space R^{2n}_θx S^2 which have manifest spherical symmetry. Using SU(2)-equivariant dimensional reduction techniques, we show that the solutions imply an equivalence between instantons on R^{2n}_θx S^2 and nonabelian vortices on R^{2n}_θ, which can be interpreted as a blowing-up of a chain of D0-branes on R^{2n}_θinto a chain of spherical D2-branes on R^{2n} x S^2. The low-energy dynamics of these configurations is described by a quiver gauge theory which can be formulated in terms of new geometri…
We study BPS vortex configurations in three dimensional U(N) Yang-Mills theories with Chern-Simons interaction coupled to scalar fields carrying flavor. We consider two kind of configurations: local vortices (when the number of flavors $N_f=N$), and semi-local vortices (when $N_f>N$). In both cases we carefully analyze the electric and magnetic properties and present explicit numerical solutions.
We report on the existence of a new type of cosmic string solutions in the Witten model with U(1)xU(1) symmetry. These solutions are superconducting with radially excited condensates that exist for both gauge and ungauged currents. Our results suggest that these new configurations can be macroscopically stable, but microscopically unstable to radial perturbations. Nevertheless, they might have important consequences for the network evolution and particle emission. We discuss these effects and their possible signatures. We also comment on analogies with non-relativistic condensed matter systems…
An (m, n)-string bound state (with m, n relatively prime integers) in type IIB string theory can be interpreted from the D-string worldsheet point of view as n D-strings carrying m units of quantized electric flux or quantized electric field. We argue, from the D-brane worldvolume point of view, that similar Dp-brane bound states should also exist for $2 \le p \le 8$ in both type IIA (when $p$ is even) and type IIB (when $p$ is odd) string theories. As in $p = 1$ case, these bound states can each be interpreted as $n$ Dp-branes carrying m units of quantized constant electric field. In particul…
We study three-dimensional Yang-Mills-Higgs theories with and without a Chern-Simons interaction. We find that these theories admit a rich spectrum of vortex solitons carrying both a topological charge and a global flavour charge. We further derive a low-energy description of the vortex dynamics from a gauged linear sigma model on the vortex worldline.
We explore various properties of interaction between D$_p$ and D$_{p'}$ with each carrying a worldvolume flux and with the $p'$-branes placed along $p'$ spatial worldvolume directions of the p-branes at a separation when $p - p' = 2$. Carefully analyzing the annulus amplitudes calculated via the boundary state approach, we find that many features of amplitudes remain similar to those studied when $p = p'$ such as the nature of force on the brane separation, the onset of various instabilities when the brane-separation is on the order of string scale and the occurrence of pair production of open…
We study straight vortices with global longitudinal currents in the Bogomol'ny limit of the Abelian Higgs model with two charged scalar fields. The model possesses global SU(2) and local electromagnetic U(1) symmetries spontaneously broken to global U(1) group, and corresponds to a semilocal limit of the standard electroweak model. We show that the contribution of the global SU(2) current to the vortex energy is proportional to the total current squared. Locally, these vortices carry also longitudinal electromagnetic currents, while the total electromagnetic current flowing through a transvers…
Non-abelian gauge theories in the Higgs phase admit a startling variety of BPS solitons. These include domain walls, vortex strings, confined monopoles threaded on vortex strings, vortex strings ending on domain walls, monopoles threaded on strings ending on domain walls, and more. After presenting a self-contained review of these objects, including several new results on the dynamics of domain walls, we go on to examine the possible interactions of solitons of various types. We point out the existence of a classical binding energy when the string ends on the domain wall which can be thought o…
We study the behaviour of Polyakov confining string in the Georgi-Glashow model in three dimensions near confining-deconfining phase transition described in hep-th/0010201. In the string language, the transition mechanism is the decay of the confining string into D0 branes (charged W bosons of the Georgi-Glashow model). In the world-sheet picture the world-lines of heavy D0 branes at finite temperature are represented as world-sheet vortices of a certain type, and the transition corresponds to the condensation of these vortices. We also show that the ``would be'' Hagedorn transition in the con…
We report a systematic study of the stringy interaction between two sets of Dp branes placed parallel at a separation in the presence of two worldvolume fluxes for each set. We focus in this paper on that the two fluxes on one set have the same structure as those on the other set but they in general differ in values, which can be both electric or both magnetic or one electric and one magnetic. We compute the respective stringy interaction amplitude and find that the presence of electric fluxes gives rise to the open string pair production while that of magnetic ones to the open string tachyon …
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 study various three-dimensional supersymmetric Maxwell Chern-Simons solitons by using type IIB brane configurations. We give a systematic classification of soliton spectra such as topological BPS vortices and nontopological vortices in $\mathcal{N}=2,3$ supersymmetric Maxwell Chern-Simons system via the branes of type IIB string theory. We identify the brane configurations with the soliton spectra of the field theory and obtain a nice agreement with field theory aspects. We also discuss possible brane constructions for BPS domain wall solutions.
We construct explicit BPS and non-BPS solutions of the U(2k) Yang-Mills equations on the noncommutative space R^{2n}_θx S^2 with finite energy and topological charge. By twisting with a Dirac multi-monopole bundle over S^2, we reduce the Donaldson-Uhlenbeck-Yau equations on R^{2n}_θx S^2 to vortex-type equations for a pair of U(k) gauge fields and a bi-fundamental scalar field on R^{2n}_θ. In the SO(3)-invariant case the vortices on R^{2n}_θdetermine multi-instantons on R^{2n}_θx S^2. We show that these solutions give natural physical realizations of Bott periodicity and vector bundle modifica…
A detailed analysis of Chern-Simons (CS) theories in which a compact abelian direct product gauge group U(1)^k is spontaneously broken down to a direct product H of (finite) cyclic groups is presented. The spectrum features global H charges, vortices carrying flux labeled by the elements of H and dyonic combinations. Due to the Aharonov-Bohm effect these particles exhibit toplogical interactions. The remnant of the U(1)^k CS term in the discrete H gauge theory describing the effective long distance physics of such a model is shown to be a 3-cocycle for H summarizing the nontrivial topological …
We study analytically and numerically the core structure of global vortices forming on topologically deformed brane-worlds with a single toroidally compact extra dimension. It is shown that for an extra dimension size larger than the scale of symmetry breaking the magnitude of the complex scalar field at the vortex center can dynamically remain non-zero. Singlevaluedness and regularity are not violated. Instead, the winding escapes to the extra dimension at the vortex center. As the extra dimension size decreases the field magnitude at the core dynamically decreases also and in the limit of ze…
In analogy to the Schwinger pair production in QED, there exists also the so-called open string pair production for a system of two Dp branes, placed parallel at a separation, with at least one brane carrying a worldvolume electric flux, in Type II string theories. There is however no such pair production if an isolated Dp brane carrying an electric flux is considered. The produced open strings are directly related to the brane separation, therefore to the extra-dimensions if taken from the viewpoint of a brane observer. This pair production can be greatly enhanced if one Dp brane carries also…
We examine the possibility that gauge field configurations on stacks of parallel Dp branes support topological solitons. We give an exhaustive list of possible soliton charges for p<7. We also discuss how configurations carrying the soliton charges can be constructed from intersecting branes.
We show that the construction of vortex solitons of the noncommutative Abelian-Higgs model can be extended to a critically coupled gauged linear sigma model with Fayet-Illiopolous D-terms. Like its commutative counterpart, this fuzzy linear sigma model has a rich spectrum of BPS solutions. We offer an explicit construction of the degree$-k$ static semilocal vortex and study in some detail the infinite coupling limit in which it descends to a degree$-k$ $\C\Pk^{N}$ instanton. This relation between the fuzzy vortex and noncommutative lump is used to suggest an interpretation of the noncommutativ…
We study worldsheet instanton corrections to the exotic 522-brane geometry in type II string theory. The BPS vortices in the N=(4,4) gauged linear sigma model modify the geometry of the 522-brane. We find that the modification of the geometry is understood by the localization in the T-dualized winding direction.
We study the dynamical Myers effect by allowing the fuzzy (or the dynamical dielectric brane) coordinates to be time dependent. We find three novel kinds of the dynamical spherical dielectric branes depending on their respective excess energies. The first represents a dynamical spherical brane carrying a negative excess energy (having a lower bound) with its radius oscillating periodically between two given non-zero values. The second is the one with zero excess energy and whose time dependence can be expressed in terms of a simple function. This particular dynamical spherical configuration re…
We construct Nielsen-Olesen vortex solution in the noncommutative abelian Higgs model. We derive the quantized topological flux of the vortex solution. We find that the flux is integral by explicit computation in the large $θ$ limit as well as in the small $θ$ limit. In the context of a tachyon vortex on the brane-antibrane system we demonstrate that it is this topological charge that gives rise to the RR charge of the resulting BPS D-brane. We also consider the left-right-symmetric gauge theory which does not have a commutative limit and construct an exact vortex solution in it.
The worldvolume field equations of M-branes and D-branes are known to admit p-brane soliton solutions. These solitons are shown to saturate a BPS-type bound on their p-volume tensions, which are expressed in terms of central charges that are expected to appear in the worldvolume supertranslation algebra. The cases we consider include vortices, `BIons', instantons and dyons (both abelian and non-abelian), and the string boundaries of M-2-branes in the M-5-brane.
We study the scalar fields of the five-dimensional N=2 hypermultiplets using the method of symplectic covariance developed in previous work. For static spherically symmetric backgrounds, we show that exactly two possibilities exist. One of them is a Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfeld (BPS) zero-brane carrying charge under the hypermultiplets. We find an explicitly symplectic solution of the fields in this background and derive the conditions required for a full spacetime understanding.
Using a reformulation of topological ${\cal N}=2$ QFT's in M-theory setup, where QFT is realized via M5 branes wrapping co-associative cycles in a $G_2$ manifold constructed from the space of self-dual 2-forms over $X^4$, we show that superconducting vortices are mapped to M2 branes stretched between M5 branes. This setup provides a physical explanation of Taubes' construction of the Seiberg-Witten invariants when $X^4$ is symplectic and the superconducting vortices are realized as pseudo-holomorphic curves. This setup is general enough to realize topological QFT's arising from ${\cal N}=2$ QF…
Wilson lines in N=4SYM can be computed in terms of branes carrying electric flux, i.e. F-strings dissolved in their worldvolumes. It is then natural to think that those configurations are the effective description of strings expanding due to dielectric effect to D-branes. In this note we explicitly show this for a class of such configurations, namely those dual to Wilson lines either in the symmetric or in the antisymmetric tensor product of fundamentals.
We find half-BPS vortex solitons, at both weak and strong coupling, in the N=6 supersymmetric mass deformation of ABJM theory with U(N) x U(N) gauge symmetry and Chern-Simons level k. The strong coupling gravity dual is obtained by performing a Z_k quotient of the N=8 supersymmetric eleven dimensional supergravity background of Lin, Lunin and Maldacena corresponding to the mass deformed M2-brane theory. At weak coupling, the BPS vortices preserving six supersymmetries are found in the Higgs vacuum of the theory where the gauge symmetry is broken to U(1) x U(1). The classical vortex solitons br…
We continue consideration of models where the Higgs effect is produced by the presence of 3-brane fluctuating in compact extra dimensions. The consistent examples of such models may be obtained from previously known solutions of 6D supergravity. The low-energy limit for these models coincides with a version of Higgs model written in terms of gauge-invariant supercurrent variables. We also elaborate on vortices in the Abelian version of the theory and show how vortices that are singular from the 4D point of view become allowed due to higher-dimensional resolution of singularity.
We consider a sigma model formulation of open string theory with boundary fermions carrying Chan-Paton charges at the string ends. This formalism is particularly suitable for studying world-volume potentials on D-branes. We perform explicit two-loop sigma model computations of the potential T-dual to the non-abelian Born-Infeld action. We also discuss the world-volume couplings of NS fluxes which are responsible for Myers' dielectric effect.
We examine the behavior of the vortex defects, which are represented by the sine-Gordon potential, on the world-sheet when a solitonic d-5 brane is existing in the d-dimensional target space. The d-5 brane solution is obtained as an extension of 5-brane in 10d supergravity. It is shown that the vortices of any charge should be dissociated to the free gas when they approach to the brane. The meanings of this fact are addressed through the analysis of the renormalization group equations on the world sheet.
Codimension-two objects on a system of brane-antibrane are studied in the context of Born-Infeld type effective field theory with a complex tachyon and U(1)$\times$U(1) gauge fields. When the radial electric field is turned on in D2${\bar {\rm D}}$2, we find static regular global and local D-vortex solutions which could be candidates of straight cosmic D-strings in a superstring theory. A natural extension to DF-strings is briefly discussed.
In a recent paper, we studied the scalar fields of the five dimensional N=2 hypermultiplets using the method of symplectic covariance. For static spherically symmetric backgrounds, we showed that exactly two possibilities exist and detailed one of them. In this paper, we present the second case: Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield (BPS) one-branes carrying charge under the hypermultiplets. We find an explicitly symplectic solution of the fields in this background and derive the conditions required for a full spacetime understanding.
The paper is motivated by observation of a kind of branes in the vacuum state of the lattice SU(2) gluodynamics. The branes represent two-dimensional vortices whose total area scales in physical units while the non-Abelian action diverges in the ultraviolet. We consider the question whether effects of the branes can be accommodated into the continuum theory. We demonstrate that at least in case of the gluon condensate (plaquette action) and of the heavy quark potential the contribution of the branes corresponds to the ultraviolet renormalon. Thus, the vortices might represent a non-perturbativ…
We study the open string pair production between two D3 branes, which will give rise to similar effect as Schwinger pair production for observers on one of the D3 branes. The D3 branes are placed parallel at a distance, and they are carrying world-volume electromagnetic fluxes that takes general form. We derive the pair production rate by computing the interaction amplitude between the D3 branes. We discussed how to maximize the pair production rate in this general case. We also mentioned that the general result can be used to describe other system such as D3-D1, where the pair production is u…
We propose a mechanism to create a vorton or three-dimensional skyrmion in phase-separated two-component BECs with the order parameters Psi_1 and Psi_2 of the two condensates. We consider a pair of a domain wall (brane) and an anti-domain wall (anti-brane) stretched by vortices (strings), where the Psi_2 component with a vortex winding is sandwiched by two domains of the Psi_1 component. The vortons appear when the domain wall pair annihilates. Experimentally, this can be realized by preparing the phase separation in the order Psi_1, Psi_2 and Psi_1 components, where the nodal plane of a dark …
We consider a complex scalar field in (p+3)-dimensional bulk with a negative cosmological constant and study global vortices in two extra-dimensions. We reexamine carefully the coupled scalar and Einstein equations, and show that the boundary value of scalar amplitude at infinity of the extra-dimensions should be smaller than vacuum expectation value. The brane world has a cigar-like geometry with an exponentially decaying warp factor and a flat thick p-brane is embedded. Since a coordinate transformation identifies the obtained brane world as a black p-brane world bounded by a horizon, this s…
We present a new set of analytic solutions of general relativity with a negative cosmological constant, which describe black strings and black p-branes in arbitrary number of dimensions, $D$. The solutions are supported by minimally coupled, free scalar fields, carrying finite energy density.
We elaborate on the decay of branes inside throat geometries that are supported by flux carrying charges opposite to the brane. Our main point is that such backgrounds necessarily have a local, possibly diverging, pile up of brane-charges dissolved in flux around the anti-brane due to the (fatal) attraction of the flux towards the brane. We explain that this causes enhanced brane-flux annihilation and is in tension with the idea that anti-branes can be used to construct meta-stable vacua. We argue that stable configurations -- if they at all exist -- are not obtainable within SUGR. The problem…
We consider scattering of minimally coupled scalars from a six-dimensional black string carrying one and five brane charges but no Kaluza-Klein momentum. The leading correction to the absorption cross section is found by improved matching of inner and outer solutions to the wave equation. The world sheet interpretation of this correction follows from the breaking of conformal invariance by irrelevant Born-Infeld corrections. We note that discrepancies in normalisation are caused by there being two effective length scales in the black string geometry but only one in the effective string model a…
Vortices carrying truly non-Abelian flux moduli, which do not dynamically reduce to Abelian vortices, are found in the context of softly-broken ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric chromodynamics (SQCD). By tuning the bare quark masses appropriately we identify the vacuum in which the underlying SU(N) gauge group is partially broken to $SU(n) \times SU(r) \times U(1)/{\mathbbm Z}_{K}$, where $K$ is the least common multiple of $(n, r)$, and with $N_{f}^{su(n)}=n$ and $N_{f}^{su(r)}=r$ flavors of light quark multiplets. At much lower energies the gauge group is broken completely by the squark VEVs, and …
We present a discussion of black 2-branes coupled to the fields of the universal hypermultiplet of ungauged N=2 supergravity theory in five dimensions. Using a general ansatz dependent on a spherically symmetric harmonic function, we show that there are exactly two such solutions, both of which can be thought of as arising from the dimensional reduction of either M2- or M5-branes over special Lagrangian cycles of a Calabi-Yau 3-fold, confirming previous results. By relaxing some of the constraints on the ansatz, we proceed to find a more general solution carrying both M-brane charges and discu…
We use the abelian Born-Infeld action for the worldvolume gauge field and transverse displacement scalars to explore new aspects of D-brane structure and dynamics. We study several classic gauge field configurations, including point charges in any worldvolume dimension and vortices in two worldvolume dimensions, and show that, with an appropriate excitation of the transverse coordinate field, they are BPS-saturated solutions. The Coulomb point charge solutions turn out to represent, with considerable fidelity, fundamental strings attached to the brane (their magnetic counterparts describe D1-b…
Scalar field theories with appropriate potentials in Minkowski space can have time-dependent classical solutions containing topological defects which correspond to S-branes - i.e. branes all of whose tangential dimensions are spacelike. It is argued that such S-branes arise in string theory as time-dependent solutions of the worldvolume tachyon field of an unstable D-brane or D-brane-anti-D-brane pair. Using the known coupling of the spacetime RR fields to the worldvolume tachyon it is shown that these S-branes carry a charge, defined as the integral of a RR field strength over a sphere (conta…
