A generic half-BPS surface defect of ${\mathcal N}=4$ supersymmetric U$(N)$ Yang-Mills theory is described by a partition of $N = n_1 + \ldots + n_M$ and a set of $4M$ continuous parameters. We show that such a defect can be realized by $n_I$ stacks of fractional D3-branes in Type II B string theory on a $\mathbb{Z}_M$ orbifold background in which the brane world-volume is partially extended along the orbifold directions. In this set up we show that the $4M$ continuous parameters correspond to constant background values of certain twisted closed string scalars of the orbifold. These results extend and generalize what we have presented for the simple defects in a previous paper.
The defects and permutation branes for the Liouville field theory are considered. By exploiting cluster condition, equations satisfied by permutation branes and defects reflection amplitudes are obtained. It is shown that two types of solutions exist, discrete and continuous families.
Topological defects are generically expected to form in models of brane inflation. Brane-anti-brane annihilation provides a way to gracefully end inflation, and the dynamics of the tachyon field results in defect formation. The formation of defects has been studied mainly from the brane world-volume point of view, but the defects are themselves lower-dimensional branes, and as a result they couple to bulk fields. To investigate the impact of bulk fields on brane defect formation, we construct a toy model that captures the essential features of the tachyon condensation with bulk fields. In this…
We discuss the ``fractional D-branes'' which arise in orbifold resolution. We argue that they arise as subsectors of the Coulomb branch of the quiver gauge theory used to describe both string theory D-brane and Matrix theory on an orbifold, and thus must form part of the full physical Hilbert space. We make further observations confirming their interpretation as wrapped membranes.
We define the notion of A-model Lagrangian D-branes as introducing defects in the Calabi-Yau crystal. The crystal melting in the presence of these defects reproduces all genus string amplitudes as well as leads to additional non-perturbative terms.
We study phase transitions induced by topological defects in Abelian gauge theories of open p-branes in (d+1) space-time dimensions. Starting from a massive antisymmetric tensor theory for open p-branes we show how the condensation of topological defects can lead to a decoupled phase with a massless tensor coupled to closed (p-1)-branes and a massive tensor coupled to open (p+1)-branes. We also consider the case, relevant in string theory, in which the boundaries of the p-branes are constrained to live on a Dirichlet n-branes.
We examine the effects of instantons in four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric gauge theory by including D0-branes in type IIA brane constructions. We examine instanton generated superpotentials in supersymmetric QCD and find that they are due to a repulsive force between D4-branes bound to D0-branes ending on NS 5-branes. We study situations where instanton effects break supersymmetry such as the Intriligator-Thomas-Izawa-Yangagida model and relate this to a IIA brane construction. We also argue how confinement due to a condensate of fractional instantons manifests itself in Super Yang-Mills the…
Compactifications of type IIB string theory on AdS5 x X5, where X5 is an Einstein space, can have one-fourth or half maximal supersymmetry for certain choices of X5. Some of these theories admit exotic domain walls arising from 5-branes wrapping 2-cycles in X5. We explore the relationship among these domain walls, fractional branes and branes stretched on intervals. World-volume fluxes in the wrapped branes play an important role in the analysis. We draw some parallels between the AdS background with exotic domain walls and N=1 supersymmetric MQCD, and identify other extended objects on the Ad…
We derive type II supergravity solutions corresponding to space-filling regular and fractional Dp branes on (9-p)-dimensional conical transverse spaces. Fractional Dp-branes are wrapped D(p+2)-branes; therefore, our solutions exist only if the base of the cone has a non-vanishing Betti number b_2. We also consider 11-dimensional SUGRA solutions corresponding to regular and fractional M2 branes on 8-dimensional cones whose base has a non-vanishing b_3. (In this case a fractional M2-brane is an M5-brane wrapped over a 3-cycle.) We discuss the gauge theory intepretation of these solutions, as wel…
We study a local description of composite five-branes of codimension two. The formulation is constructed by virtue of $SL(2,{\mathbb Z}) \times SL(2,{\mathbb Z)}$ monodromy associated with two-torus. Applying conjugate monodromy transformations to the complex structures of the two-torus, we obtain a field configuration of a defect $(p,q)$ five-brane. This is a composite state of $p$ defect NS5-branes and $q$ exotic $5^2_2$-branes. We also obtain a new example of hyper-Kähler geometry. This is an ALG space, a generalization of an ALF space which asymptotically has a tri-holomorphic two-torus ac…
We study the world volume action of fractional Dp-branes of type IIA string theory compactified on the orbifold T^4/Z_2. The geometric relation between these branes and wrapped branes is investigated using conformal techniques. In particular we examine in detail various scattering amplitudes and find that the leading low-energy interactions are consistent with the boundary action derived geometrically.
We describe a D--brane inflation model which consists of two fractional D3 branes separated on a transverse $T^2 \times K3$. Inflation arises due to the resolved orbifold singularity of $K3$ which corresponds to an anomalous D--term on the brane. We show that D--brane inflation in the bulk corresponds to D--term inflation on the brane. The inflaton and the trigger field parametrize the interbrane distances on $T^2$ an $K3$ respectively. After inflation the branes reach a supersymmetric configuration in which they are at the origin of $T^2$ but separated along the $K3$ directions.
In the first part of this article, we find fractional D3-branes supergravity solutions on orientifolded C^2/Z_2 orbifolds of type IIB string theory. The one-loop corrected gauge couplings for the symplectic or orthogonal groups living on the D-branes are reproduced on the world-volume of probes. In the second part of the paper, we construct a D3-brane solution on the two-centers Taub-NUT manifold which interpolates between fractional D3-branes in the ALE space limit and a T-dual smeared type IIA configuration. Then, we lift this configuration to M-theory and comment on the connections with wra…
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 …
In this note we show how the anomalies of both pure and matter coupled N=1,2 supersymmetric gauge theories describing the low energy dynamics of fractional branes on orbifolds can be derived from supergravity.
In a tachyon effective field theory of a non-BPS brane, we construct a classical solution representing a parallel brane-antibrane. The solution is made of a kink and an antikink placed at antipodal points of S^1. Estimation of the brane energy suggests an excitation of a string connecting the two branes, even though the theory is Abelian. We performed fluctuation analysis around the obtained solution, and find the structure of the supersymmetry breaking by the co-existence of the brane and the antibrane. We discuss possible processes of the pair-annihilation of the brane defect.
We construct non-extremal fractional D-brane solutions of type-II string theory at the Z_2 orbifold point of K3. These solutions generalize known extremal fractional-brane solutions and provide further insights into N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories and dual descriptions thereof. In particular, we find that for these solutions the horizon radius cannot exceed the non-extremal enhancon radius. As a consequence, we conclude that a system of non-extremal fractional branes cannot develop into a black brane. This conclusion is in agreement with known dual descriptions of the system.
We study T-branes on compact Kaehler surfaces, in the presence of fields localised at curves. If such fields are treated as defects, their vevs induce delta-function sources for the 7-brane background, possibly leading to profiles with poles. We find that the presence of defect sources relaxes the constraints on globally well-defined T-brane configurations, avoiding the obstruction to building them on surfaces of positive curvature. Profiles with poles can be understood, from a 4d viewpoint, as non-trivial vevs for massive modes induced by the defects, and come with their own set of constraint…
We compute the boundary state corresponding to a fractional D$p$-brane with transverse motion and internal background fields: Kalb-Ramond and a $U(1)$ gauge field. The spacetime has the orbifold structure $\mathbb{R}^{1,5} \times\mathbb{C}^{2}/\mathbb{Z}_{2}$. The calculations are in the superstring theory. Using this boundary state we shall obtain the interaction amplitude between two parallel moving fractional D$p$-branes. We shall extract behavior of the interaction amplitude for large distances of the branes.
We show how to get the one-loop beta function and the chiral anomaly of N=1 Super QCD from a stack of fractional N D3-branes localized inside the world-volume of 2M fractional D7-branes on the orbifold C^3/(Z_2 x Z_2). They are obtained by analyzing the classical supergravity background generated by such a brane configuration, in the spirit of the gauge/gravity correspondence.
We systematically study and obtain the large-volume analogues of fractional two-branes on resolutions of orbifolds C^3/Z_n. We study a generalisation of the McKay correspondence proposed in hep-th/0504164 called the quantum McKay correspondence by constructing duals to the fractional two-branes. Details are explicitly worked out for two examples -- the crepant resolutions of C^3/Z_3 and C^3/Z_5.
Brane inflation and the production of topological defects at the end of the inflationary phase are discussed. After a description of the inflationary setup we discuss the properties of the cosmic strings produced at the end of inflation. Specific examples of brane inflation are described: $D-\bar D$ inflation, $D3/D7$ inflation and modular inflation
We study the (p,q)5-brane dynamics from the viewpoint of Matrix string theory in the T-dualized ALE background. The most remarkable feature in the (p,q)5-brane is the existence of ``fractional string'', which appears as the instanton of 5-brane gauge theory. We approach to the physical aspects of fractional string by means of the two types of Matrix string probes: One of which is that given in hep-th/9710065. As the second probe we present the Matrix string theory describing the fractional string itself. We calculate the moduli space metrics in the respective cases and argue on the specific be…
We construct several geometric representatives for the C^n/Z_m fractional branes on either a partially or the completely resolved orbifold. In the process we use large radius and conifold-type monodromies, and provide a strong consistency check. In particular, for C^3/Z_5 we give three different sets of geometric representatives. We also find the explicit Seiberg-duality, in the Berenstein-Douglas sense, which connects our fractional branes to the ones given by the McKay correspondence.
We derive the classical type IIB supergravity solution describing fractional D3-branes transverse to a C^2/Gamma orbifold singularity, for Gamma any Kleinian ADE subgroup. This solution fully describes the N=2 gauge theory with appropriate gauge groups and matter living on the branes, up to non-perturbative instanton contributions.
We study the prototype of fractional D3 branes at non-isolated singularities in gauge/gravity duality at the nonperturbative level. We embed the quantum moduli space of N=2 SU(M) pure SYM, the gauge theory on fractional D3 branes at the A_1 singularity, into that of the cascading quiver gauge theory on regular and fractional D3 branes at the same singularity, for which a gravity dual description exists. We deduce a simple analytic expression for the exact twisted sector fields in the type IIB string dual, which encodes the full quantum dynamics of the gauge theory. Nonperturbative effects in t…
We study a bound state of fractional D3-branes localized inside the world-volume of fractional D7-branes on the orbifold C^3/Z_2 x Z_2. We determine the open string spectrum that leads to N=1 U(N1)xU(N2)xU(N3)xU(N4) gauge theory with matter having the number of D7-branes as a flavor index. We derive the linearized boundary action of the D7-brane on this orbifold using the boundary state formalism and we discuss the tadpole cancellation. After computing the asymptotic expression of the supergravity solution the anomalies of the gauge theory are reproduced.
We construct fractional branes in Landau-Ginzburg orbifold categories and study their behavior under marginal closed string perturbations. This approach is shown to be more general than the rational boundary state construction. In particular we find new D-branes on the quintic -- such as a single D0-brane -- which are not restrictions of bundles on the ambient projective space. We also exhibit a family of deformations of the D0-brane in the Landau-Ginzburg category parameterized by points on the Fermat quintic.
We establish that the relevant geometric data for the target space description of world sheet topological defects are submanifolds - which we call bi-branes - in the product M1 x M2 of the two target spaces involved. Very much like branes, they are equipped with a vector bundle, which in backgrounds with non-trivial B-field is actually a twisted vector bundle. We explain how to define Wess-Zumino terms in the presence of bi-branes and discuss the fusion of bi-branes. In the case of WZW theories, symmetry preserving bi-branes are shown to be biconjugacy classes. The algebra of functions on a bi…
The supergravity dual to N regular and M fractional D2-branes on the cone over \mathbb{CP}^3 has a naked singularity in the infrared. One can resolve this singularity and obtain a regular fractional D2-brane solution dual to a confining 2+1 dimensional N = 1 supersymmetric field theory. The confining vacuum of this theory is described by the solution of Cvetic, Gibbons, Lu and Pope. In this paper, we explore the alternative possibility for resolving the singularity - the creation of a regular horizon. The black-hole solution we find corresponds to the deconfined phase of this dual gauge theory…
By looking at fractional Dp-branes of type IIA on T_4/Z_2 as wrapped branes and by using boundary state techniques we construct the effective low-energy action for the fields generated by fractional branes, build their world-volume action and find the corresponding classical geometry. The explicit form of the classical background is consistent only outside an enhancon sphere of radius r_e, which encloses a naked singularity of repulson-type. The perturbative running of the gauge coupling constant, dictated by the NS-NS twisted field that keeps its one-loop expression at any distance, also fail…
Fractional branes added to a large stack of D3-branes at the singularity of a Calabi-Yau cone modify the quiver gauge theory breaking conformal invariance and leading to different kinds of IR behaviors. For toric singularities admitting complex deformations we propose a simple method that allows to compute the anomaly free rank distributions in the gauge theory corresponding to the fractional deformation branes. This algorithm fits Altmann's rule of decomposition of the toric diagram into a Minkowski sum of polytopes. More generally we suggest how different IR behaviors triggered by fractional…
We present an explicit relation between the Hanany-Witten and Geometric Engineering approaches of realising gauge theories in string theory. The last piece in the puzzle is a T-duality relating arbitrary Hanany-Witten setups and fractional branes.
We calculate the bosonic boundary state corresponding to a moving fractional D$p$-brane in a partially orbifoldized spacetime $\mathbb{R}^{1, d-5} \times\mathbb{C}^{2}/\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ in the presence of the Kalb-Ramond field, the $U(1)$ gauge potential and the tachyon field. Using this boundary state we obtain interaction amplitude of two parallel moving D$p$-branes with the above background fields. Various properties of the interaction will be investigated. Besides, we study effects of the tachyon condensation on a moving fractional D$p$-brane with the above background fields through the boun…
We present the perturbative Yukawa couplings of the Standard Model on fractional intersecting D6-branes on T6/Z6' and discuss two mechanisms of creating mass terms for the vector-like particles in the matter spectrum, through perturbative three-point couplings and through continuous D6-brane displacements.
We study non-BPS D-branes in the type II string vacua with chiral space-time SUSY constructed based on the asymmetric orbifolds of $\mbox{K3} \cong T^4/{\Bbb Z}_2$ as a succeeding work of arXiv:1704.05262[hep-th]. We especially focus on the fractional D-branes that contains the contributions from the twisted sector of the ${\Bbb Z}_2$ orbifolding. We show that the cylinder partition functions for these fractional branes do not vanish, as in the cases of ordinary non-BPS D-branes. This aspect is in a sharp contrast with the bulk-type branes studied in arXiv:1704.05262[hep-th]. We then discuss t…
In this note I review the construction of higher-dimensional instantons and heterotic NS5-branes on Ricci-flat cones from arXiv:1109.3552, as well as fractional strings from arXiv:1202.5046. The focus is on methods and interpretation. I show, furthermore, that smeared 5-brane supergravity solutions on manifolds with holonomy G2 or Spin(7) can be obtained quite generally by a conformal deformation of the Ricci-flat metric, whereas Calabi-Yau and hyperkähler manifolds require more sophisticated deformations and a case by case treatment.
In this paper D-brane monodromies are studied from a world-sheet point of view. More precisely, defect lines are used to describe the parallel transport of D-branes along deformations of the underlying bulk conformal field theories. This method is used to derive B-brane monodromies in Kahler moduli spaces of non-linear sigma models on projective hypersurfaces. The corresponding defects are constructed at Landau-Ginzburg points in these moduli spaces where matrix factorisation techniques can be used. Transporting them to the large volume phase by means of the gauged linear sigma model we find t…
We find explicit solutions of Type IIB string theory on R^4/Z_2 corresponding to the classical geometry of fractional D1-branes. From the supergravity solution obtained, we capture perturbative information about the running of the coupling constant and the metric on the moduli space of N=4, D=2 Super Yang Mills.
We study tachyon condensation on brane-antibrane systems in orbifold theories from the viewpoint of boundary string field theory. We show that the condensation of holomorphic tachyon fields generates various fractional D-branes. The boundary N=2 supersymmetry in the world-sheet theory ensures this result exactly. Furthermore, our results are consistent with the twisted RR-charges from detailed calculations of boundary states. We also discuss the generation of RR-charges due to holomorphic tachyon fields on multiple brane-antibrane pairs in flat space.
We determine the boundary states, associated with a fractional D$p$-brane in the presence of the Kalb-Ramond field and a $U(1)$ gauge potential. The background spacetime is the non-compact orbifold $ \mathbb{R}^{1, 21} \otimes \mathbb{R}^4/ \mathbb{Z}_2$. Besides, the brane has a transverse velocity. We compute the radiation amplitude of a massless closed string from the interaction of two fractional D$p$-branes with the previous background fields. The branes have been dressed by different fields and have transverse motions. The total radiation amplitude will be investigated for large inter-br…
We study the dynamics of fractional branes at toric singularities, including cones over del Pezzo surfaces and the recently constructed Y^{p,q} theories. We find that generically the field theories on such fractional branes show dynamical supersymmetry breaking, due to the appearance of non-perturbative superpotentials. In special cases, one recovers the known cases of supersymmetric infrared behaviors, associated to SYM confinement (mapped to complex deformations of the dual geometries, in the gauge/string correspondence sense) or N=2 fractional branes. In the supersymmetry breaking cases, wh…
We study analytically the dynamical formation of lower dimensional branes at the endpoint of brane-antibrane inflation through the condensation of topological defects of the tachyon field which describes the instability of the initial state. We then use this information to quantify the efficiency of the reheating which is due to the coupling of time dependent tachyon background to massless gauge fields which will be localized on the final state branes. We improve upon previous estimates indicating that this can be an efficient reheating mechanism for observers on the brane.
We study fractional branes in ${\CN}=2$ orbifold and ${\CN}=1$ conifold theories. Placing a large number $N$ of regular D3-branes at the singularity produces the dual ${\bf AdS}_5\times X^5$ geometry, and we describe the fractional branes as small perturbations to this background. For the orbifolds, $X^5={\bf S}^5/Γ$ and fractional D3-branes excite complex scalars from the twisted sector which are localized on the fixed circle of $X^5$. The resulting solutions are given by holomorphic functions and the field-theoretic beta-function is simply reproduced. For $N$ regular and $M$ fractional D3-br…
We study the IR dynamics of the type IIB supergravity solution describing N D3-branes and M fractional D3-branes on the resolved conifold. The baryon mass and the tension of domain wall in the dual gauge theory are evaluated and compared with those for the deformed conifold. The IR behavior of the solution for the general conifold is also discussed. We show that the area law behavior of the Wilson loop is attributed to the existence of the locus in the IR where the D3-brane charge vanishes.
The defect conformal field theory describing intersecting D3-branes at a C^2/Z_k orbifold is used to (de)construct the theory of intersecting M5-branes, as well as M5-branes wrapping the holomorphic curve xy=c. The possibility of a 't Hooft anomaly due to tensionless strings at the intersection is discussed. This note is based on a talk given by Zachary Guralnik at the 35th International Symposium Ahrenshoop on the Theory of Elementary Particles.
Recently, a new example of a complete non-compact Ricci-flat metric of G_2 holonomy was constructed, which has an asymptotically locally conical structure at infinity with a circular direction whose radius stabilises. In this paper we find a regular harmonic 3-form in this metric, which we then use in order to obtain an explicit solution for a fractional D2-brane configuration. By performing a T-duality transformation on the stabilised circle, we obtain the type IIB description of the fractional brane, which now corresponds to D3-brane with one of its world-volume directions wrapped around the…
We investigate a five-branes interpretation of hyper-Kähler geometry with torsion (HKT). This geometry is obtained by conformal transformation of the Taub-NUT space which represents a Kaluza-Klein five-brane. This HKT would represent an NS5-brane on the Taub-NUT space. In order to explore the HKT further, we compactify one transverse direction, and study the $O(2,2;{\mathbb Z}) = SL(2,{\mathbb Z}) \times SL(2,{\mathbb Z})$ monodromy structure associated with two-torus. Performing the conjugate transformation, we obtain a new solution whose physical interpretation is a defect $(p,q)$ five-brane…
We shall construct two boundary states which are corresponding to a dynamical fractional D$p$-brane in the presence of the fluxes of the Kalb-Ramond field and a $U(1)$ gauge potential, in the partially orbifold spacetime $\mathbb{R}^{1, 5}\times\mathbb{C}^{2}/\mathbb{Z}_{2}$. These states accurately describe the D$p$-brane in the twisted and untwisted sectors under the orbifold projection. We use them to compute the interaction of two parallel fractional D$p$-branes with the transverse velocities, tangential rotations and tangential linear motions. Various properties of the interaction, such a…
We study the N=2 super Yang Mills theory living in the world volume of a bound state made of fractional D3/D7 branes at the orbifold R^{1,5}*R^4/ Z_2, by using the probe technique. We also discuss the boundary action for the system.
We study fractional D-branes in the Type-IIA theory on a non-compact orientifold of the orbifold C^3/Z_3 in the boundary state formalism. We find that the fractional D0-branes of the orbifold theory become unstable due to the presence of a tachyon, while there is a stable D-instanton whose tachyon gets projected out. We propose that the D-instanton is obtained after tachyon condensation. We evidence this by calculating the Whitehead group of the Abelian category of objects corresponding to the boundary states as being isomorphic to Z_2.
A small number of M-theory branes as giant gravitons in the M-theory sector of LLM geometry is studied as a probe. The abelian way shows that the low energy effective action for M-theory brane is exactly the 2d electron subject to a vertical magnetic field. We also briefly discuss the microscopic description of M2-brane giant graviton in this geometry, in the language of a combination of D0-branes as fuzzy 2-spheres. Then we go to the well-established Noncommutative Chern-Simons theory description. After quantization, well behaved Fractional Quantum Hall Effect is demonstrated. This goes beyon…
We study the enhancon mechanism for fractional D-branes in conifold and orbifold backgrounds and show how it can resolve the repulson singularity of these geometries. In particular we show that the consistency of the excision process requires that the interior space be not empty. In the orbifold case, we exploit the boundary state formalism to obtain an explicit conformal description and emphasize the non trivial role of the volume of the internal manifold.
In this note we study the N=1 abelian gauge theory on the world volume of a single fractional D3-brane. In the limit where gravitational interactions are not completely decoupled we find that a superpotential and a fermionic bilinear condensate are generated by a D-brane instanton effect. A related situation arises for an isolated cycle invariant under an orientifold projection, even in the absence of any gauge theory brane. Moreover, in presence of supersymmetry breaking background fluxes, such instanton configurations induce new couplings in the 4-dimensional effective action, including non-…
We investigate the anomalous creation of fundamental strings using the boundary state formalism of fractional D-branes on ALE spaces in the orbifold limit. The open string Witten index plays a crucial role in this calculation and so the result remains unchanged even if we blow up the orbifold geometrically, matching the anomaly inflow argument. Further we consider the quiver gauge theories on such fractional D3-branes and see that the string creation mechanism determines 1-loop logarithmic monodromy of these gauge theories. Also we comment on the relation of D(-1)-D3 amplitude to the 1-loop be…
We obtain two boundary states corresponding to the two folds of a fractional-wrapped D$p$-brane, i.e. the twisted version under the orbifold $\mathbb{C}^{2}/\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ and the untwisted version. The brane has rotation and linear motion, in the presence of the following background fields: the Kalb-Ramond tensor, a $U(1)$ internal gauge potential and a tachyon field. The rotation and linear motion are inside the volume of the brane. The brane lives in the $d$-dimensional spacetime, with the orbifold-toroidal structure $T^n \times \mathbb{R}^{1, d-n-5} \times\mathbb{C}^{2}/\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ in…
The supergravity dual of $N$ regular and $M$ fractional D1-branes on the cone over the Einstein manifold $Q^{1,1,1}$ has a naked singularity in the infrared. The supergravity dual of $N$ regular and $M$ fractional D3-branes on the conifold also has such a singularity. Buchel suggested and Gubser et al. have shown that in the D3-brane case, the naked singularity is cloaked by a horizon at a sufficiently high temperature. In this paper we derive the system of second-order differential equations necessary to find such a solution for $Q^{1,1,1}$. We also find solutions to this system in perturbati…
We use holography to study codimension-2 surface defects in 5d SCFTs engineered by $(p,q)$ 5-brane webs. The three-dimensional defects are realized by D3-branes ending on the brane web. We identify the holographic representation of the defects in Type IIB $AdS_6$ solutions as probe D3-branes, and study conformal and non-conformal defects which, respectively, preserve one half and one quarter of the supersymmetry. For a sample of 5d SCFTs, including the $T_N$ theories, we provide explicit solutions for conformal and non-conformal defects. For the conformal defects we obtain their contribution t…
We shall obtain the interaction of the D$p_1$- and D$p_2$-branes in the toroidal-orbifold spacetime $\mathit{T}^{n}\times\mathbb{R}^{1, d-n-5} \times\mathbb{C}^{2}/\mathbb{Z}_{2}$. The configuration of the branes is: non-intersecting, perpendicular, moving-rotating, wrapped-fractional with background fields. For this, we calculate the bosonic boundary state corresponding to a dynamical fractional-wrapped D$p$-brane in presence of the Kalb-Ramond field, a $U(1)$ gauge potential and an open string tachyon field. The long-range behavior of the interaction amplitude will be extracted.
We compare two applications of the gauge/gravity correspondence to a non conformal gauge theory, based respectively on the study of D-branes wrapped on supersymmetric cycles and of fractional D-branes on orbifolds. We study two brane systems whose geometry is dual to N=4, D=2+1 super Yang-Mills theory, the first one describing D4-branes wrapped on a two-sphere inside a Calabi-Yau two-fold and the second one corresponding to a system of fractional D2/D6-branes on the orbifold R^4/Z_2. By probing both geometries we recover the exact perturbative running coupling constant and metric on the moduli…
