Ander Retolaza, Jamie Rogers, Radu Tatar, Flavio Tonioni
备注：
47 Pages + Appendices, 2 Figures. V2: References added, minor corrections. V3: version published in JHEP with improvements to section 4.2 and minor corrections
We use the superspace formulation of supergravity in eleven and ten dimensions to compute fermion couplings on the M2-brane and on D$p$-branes. In this formulation fermionic couplings arise naturally from the $θ$-expansion of the superfields from which the brane actions are constructed. The techniques we use and develop can in principle be applied to determine the fermionic couplings to general background fields up to arbitrary order. Starting with the superspace formulation of 11-dimensional supergravity, we use a geometric technique known as the `normal coordinate' method to obtain the $θ$-expansion of the M2-brane action. We then present a method which allows us to translate the knowledge of fermionic couplings on the M2-brane to knowledge of such couplings on the D2-brane, and then to any D$p$-brane. This method is based on superspace generalizations of both the compactification taking 11-dimensional supergravity to type IIA supergravity and the T-duality rules connecting the type IIA and type IIB supergravities.
We analyze brane dualities in the non-relativistic limit of the worldvolume actions. In particular we have analyzed how the non-relativistic M2-brane is related via these dualities to non-relativistic D2-brane, non-relativistic IIA fundamental string and also, by using T-duality, to non-relativistic D1-string. These actions coincide with ones obtained from relativistic actions by taking non-relativistic limit, showing that the non-relativistic limit and the dualities commute in these cases.
An effective action for the M9-brane is proposed. We study its relation with other branes via dualities. Among these, we find actions for branes which are not suggested by the central charges of the Type II superalgebras.
In this paper we study the reduction of four-dimensional Seiberg duality to three dimensions from a brane perspective. We reproduce the non-perturbative dynamics of the three-dimensional field theory via a T-duality at finite radius and the action of Euclidean D-strings. In this way we also overcome certain issues regarding the brane description of Aharony duality. Moreover we apply our strategy to more general dualities, such as toric duality for M2-branes and dualities with adjoint matter fields.
It is important to reveal the brane-bulk correspondence for understanding the brane world cosmology. When gravitational waves exist in the bulk, however, it is difficult to make the analysis of the interrelationship between the brane and the bulk. Hence, the minimal model which allows gravitational waves in the bulk would be useful. As for such models, we adopt the Bianchi type midi-superspace models. In particular, the effects of gravitational waves in the bulk on the brane cosmology is examined using the midi-superspace approach.
Recent developments in string and M theory rely heavily on supersymmetry suggesting that a revival of superspace techniques in ten and eleven dimensions may be advantageous. Here we discuss three topics of current interest where superspace is already playing an important role and where an improved understanding of superspace might provide additional insight into the issues involved.
We give a broad overview of superstring duality, Dirichlet branes, and some implications of both for questions about the structure of space-time at short distances.
We find exact relations among the sphere partition functions of three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ superconformal Chern-Simons theories with circular quiver diagrams. These relations suggest new dualities in gauge theories which are the products of circular quiver gauge theories and decoupled linear quiver gauge theories. The dualities can be interpreted as simple brane transitions in the Hanany-Witten brane construction in type IIB string theory. Interestingly, the brane transitions cannot be generated by the Hanany-Witten transition or the ${\rm SL}\left(2,\mathbb{Z}\right)$ transformation. O…
We show that the M-theory/IIA and IIA/IIB superstring dualities together with the diffeomorphism invariance of the underlying theories require the presence of certain p-brane bound states in IIA and IIB superstring theories preserving 1/2 of the spacetime supersymmetry. We then confirm the existence of IIA and IIB supergravity solutions having the appropriate p-brane bound states interpretation.
F-theory requires a new Virasoro algebra, including $κ$-symmetry, with a worldvolume coordinate for each generator. (Similar is implied for the superstring.) Doubles of the spacetime coordinates are eliminated by selfduality, which now applies to all currents.
Tensionless super-p-branes in a generalized superspace with additional tensorial central charge coordinates may provide an extended object model for BPS preons, i.e. for the hypothetical constituents of M-theory preserving 31 of 32 supersymmetries [hep-th/0101113].
We review some aspects of the gravity duals of supersymmetric gauge theories, arising in the world-volume of D-branes wrapping supersymmetric cycles of special holonomy manifolds, within the framework of lower dimensional gauged supergravity.
We define the $SU(2)\times SU(2)$ harmonic superspace analogs of tensor and nonlinear $(4,4)$, $2D$ supermultiplets. They are described by constrained analytic superfields and provide an off-shell formulation of a class of torsionful $(4,4)$ supersymmetric sigma models with abelian translational isometries on the bosonic target. We examine their relation to $(4,4)$ twisted multiplets and discuss different types of $(4,4)$ dualities associated with them. One of these dualities implies the standard abelian $T$-duality relations between the bosonic targets in the initial and dual sigma model acti…
We study brane configurations which correspond to N=1 field theories in four dimensions. By inverting the order of the NS 5-branes and D6-branes, a check on dualities in four dimensional theories can be made. We consider a brane configuration which yields electric/magnetic duality for gauge theories with $SO(N_{c1})\times Sp(N_{c2})$ product gauge group. We also discuss the possible extension to any alternating product of SO and Sp groups. The new features arising from the intersection of the NS 5-branes on the orientifold play a crucial role in our construction.
A tubular D3-brane with electromagnetic flux is considered. It is verified that the quantized electric and magnetic charges are the F-string and D-string charges of the brane, respectively. The D3-brane with parallel electric and magnetic fields collapses to the bound state of strings. A D3-brane with nonzero Poynting vector can be viewed as expanded FD strings. A fundamental string is viewed as a collapsed D3-brane and mapped to the (n,m) strings via electric-magnetic duality rotations. This mapping is the same as a weak-strong duality transformation and therefore reveals the equivalence of t…
We present a manifestly supersymmetric description of A and B branes on Kaehler 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. This leads to a concrete realization of the still poorly understood coisotropic A branes. We also discuss briefly how the superspace description of a B brane provides an efficient way to compute higher loop beta-functions. In particular, we sketch how one obtains the fourth order derivative co…
We examine magnetic and electric near horizon regions of maximally supersymmetric D-brane and NS5-brane bound states and find transformations between near horizon regions with worldvolume dual magnetic and electric fluxes. These point to dual formulations of NCYM, NCOS and OD$p$ theories in the limit of weak coupling and large spatial or temporal non-commutativity length scale in terms of weakly coupled theories with fixed worldvolume dual non-commutativity based on open D-branes. We also examine the strong coupling behavior of the open D-brane theories and propose a unified web of dualities i…
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.
The gauge-fixed action of a `spacetime-filling' D3-brane with dilaton-axion coupling is formulated in N=1 superspace. We investigate its symmetries by paying special attention to a possible non-linearly realized extra (hidden) supersymmetry, and emphasize the need of a linear superfield coupled to an abelian Chern-Simons superfield to represent a dilaton-axion supermultiplet in the off-shell manifestly supersymmetric approach.
Dualities link M-theory, the 10+1 dimensional strong coupling limit of the IIA string, to other 11-dimensional theories in signatures 9+2 and 6+5, and to type II string theories in all 10-dimensional signatures. We study the Freund-Rubin-type compactifications and brane-type solutions of these theories, and find that branes with various world-volume signatures are possible. For example, the 9+2 dimensional M* theory has membrane-type solutions with world-volumes of signature (3,0) and (1,2), and a solitonic solution with world-volume signature (5,1).
We study N=1 four dimensional gauge theories as the world volume theory of D4-branes between NS 5-branes. We find constructions for a number of known field theory dualities involving $SU(N_c)\times SU(N_c')$ groups, coupled by matter fields F in the $(N_c, \bar N_c)$ representation, in terms of branes of type IIA string theory. The dual gauge group follows from simply reversing the ordering of the NS 5-branes and the D6-branes while conserving magnetic charge on the world volume of the branes. We interpret many field theory phenomena such as deformation of the superpotential $W = \Tr (F\tilde …
We review the salient features of spacetime and worldvolume supersymmetric super p-brane actions. These are sigma models for maps from a worldvolume superspace to the target superspace. For p-branes, the symmetries of the model depend crucially on the existence of closed super (p+1)-forms on a worldvolume superspace, built out of the pull-backs of the Kalb-Ramond super (p+1)-form in target superspace and its curvature. This formulation of super p-branes is usually referred to as the twistor-like formulation.
We classify canonical metric 3-algebra structures on matrix algebras and find novel three-dimensional conformally invariant actions in N=4 projective superspace based on them. These can be viewed as Chern-Simons theories with special matter content and couplings. We explore the relations of these actions with the N=2 actions based on generalized 3-Lie algebras found earlier and relate them to the original Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson action.
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 discuss how N=1 dualities in four dimensions are geometrically realized by wrapping D-branes about 3-cycles of Calabi-Yau threefolds. In this setup the N=1 dualities for SU, SO and USp gauge groups with fundamental fields get mapped to statements about the monodromy and relations among 3-cycles of Calabi-Yau threefolds. The connection between the theory and its dual requires passing through configurations which are T-dual to the well-known phenomenon of decay of BPS states in N=2 field theories in four dimensions. We compare our approach to recent works based on configurations of D-branes i…
We investigate features of duality in three dimensional N=2 Chern-Simons matter theories conjectured to describe M2 branes at toric Calabi Yau four-fold singularities. For 3D theories with non-chiral 4D parents we propone a Seiberg-like duality which turns out to be a toric duality. For theories with chiral 4D parents we discuss the conditions under which that Seiberg-like duality leads to toric duality. We comment on such duality in 3D theories without 4D parents.
We study various conjectural dual descriptions of a stack of M2-branes in M-theory including ADHM, ABJ(M), BLG, discrete gauge theories and quiver Chern-Simons (CS) theories and propose several new dualities of the M2-brane SCFTs by analyzing flavored supersymmetric indices in detail. The mapping of local operators, Coulomb, Higgs and mixed branch operators as well as global symmetries under the dualities are obtained from the precise matching of the indices. Furthermore, we find closed form expressions for the Coulomb limit of the indices of the $U(N)$ ADHM theory and the dual quiver CS theor…
We review extensions of the AdS/CFT correspondence to gauge/ gravity dualities with N=1 supersymmetry. In particular, we describe the gauge/gravity dualities that emerge from placing D3-branes at the apex of the conifold. We consider first the conformal case, with discussions of chiral primary operators and wrapped D-branes. Next, we break the conformal symmetry by adding a stack of partially wrapped D5-branes to the system, changing the gauge group and introducing a logarithmic renormalization group flow. In the gravity dual, the effect of these wrapped D5-branes is to turn on the flux of 3-f…
How to gauge fix $\k$-symmetry for the super 0-brane action on $AdS_2 \times S^2$ in Killing gauge properly is discussed in order to find the superconformal mechanics which describes super 0-brane probes moving on $AdS_2 \times S^2$. The dependence on the coordinate frame for the proper Killing gauge is considered and the subtleties of gauge-fixing $\k$-symmetry in Killing gauge are analysed explicitly. It is found that the Killing gauge works indeed without the imcompatibility if the magnetic charge of the super 0-brane is nonzero.
We show that the SL(2,R) duality symmetry of type IIB superstring theory can be formulated as the canonical transformation interchanging momenta and magnetic degrees of freedom associated to the abelian world-volume gauge field of the D-3-brane. D-strings are shown to be connected under the corresponding transformation in the world-sheet to the (m,n) family of string solutions of type IIB supergravity constructed by Schwarz. For the type IIA superstring the D-2-brane is mapped under the three dimensional world-volume electric-magnetic duality to the dimensional reduction of the membrane of M-t…
By using the systematic approach of parent action method, we derive one Weyl-noninvariant and two Weyl-invariant actions of bosonic $p$-branes ($p\geq 2$) starting from the Nambu-Goto action, and establish the duality symmetries in this set of four actions. Moreover, we discover a new bosonic $p$-brane action (including the string theory) and deduce two corresponding Weyl-invariant formulations by proposing a new special parent action. We find that the same duality symmetries as those mentioned above exist in this new set of actions. The new $p$-brane actions are also briefly analyzed.
We study brane configurations which correspond to field theories in four dimension with N=2 and N=1 supersymmetry. In particular we discuss brane motions that translate to Seiberg's duality in N=1 models recently studied by Elitzur, Giveon and Kutasov. We investigate, using the brane picture, the moduli spaces of the dual theories. Deformations of these models like mass terms and vacuum expectation values of scalar fields can be identified with positions of branes. The map of these deformations between the electric and dual magnetic theories is clarified. The models we study reproduce known fi…
We use the additional variables of suitably enlarged superspaces to write new actions for extended objects, with kappa-symmetry, in such a way that the tension emerges from them as an integration constant. Our actions correspond to the spacetime scale-invariant ones previously considered by Bergshoeff et al. once the worldvolume forms introduced there are reinterpreted in terms of fields associated with the coordinates of the enlarged superspaces. It is shown that the kappa-symmetry of the new actions is given by a certain type of right local transformations of the extended superspace groups. …
We give a brief account of the recently proposed N=3 superfield formulation of the N=6, 3D superconformal theory of Aharony et al (ABJM) describing a low-energy limit of the system of multiple M2-branes on the AdS_4 x S^7/Z_k background. This formulation is given in harmonic N=3 superspace and reveals a number of surprising new features. In particular, the sextic scalar potential of ABJM arises at the on-shell component level as the result of eliminating appropriate auxiliary fields, while there is no any explicit superpotential at the off-shell superfield level.
It is proved that a basic superembedding equation for the 2-dimensional worldsheet superspace $§^{(2|8+8)}$ embedded into D=10 type IIB superspace $M^{(10|16+16)}$ provides a universal, S-duality invariant description of a fundamental superstring and super-D1-brane. We work out generalized action principle, obtain superfield equations of motion for both these objects and find how the S-duality transformations relate the superfield equations of superstring and super-D1-brane. The superembedding of 6-dimensional worldsheet superspace $§^{(6|16)}$ into the D=10 type IIB superspace will probably p…
We engineer a brane picture for the reduction of Seiberg dualities from 4D to 3D, valid also in the presence of orientifold planes. We obtain effective 3D dualities on the circle by T-duality, geometrizing the non-perturbative superpotential which is an affine Toda potential. When reducing to pure 3D, we define a double-scaling limit which creates a confining sector, giving a unified mechanism for the brane reduction of dualities.
We study boundary states in (p,q) minimal superstring theory, combining the explicit form of matter wave functions. Within the modular bootstrap framework, Cardy states of (p,q) minimal superconformal field theory are completely determined in both cases of the different supercharge combinations, and the remaining consistency checks in the super-Liouville case are also performed. Using these boundary states, we determine the explicit form of FZZT- and ZZ-brane boundary states both in type 0A and 0B GSO projections. Annulus mplitudes of FZZT branes are evaluated and principal FZZT branes are ide…
6d SCFTs compactified on a circle can often be studied from nonperturbative 5d super-Yang-Mills theories, using instanton solitons. However, the 5d Yang-Mills theories with 6d UV fixed points frequently have too many hypermultiplet matters, which makes it difficult to use the ADHM techniques for instantons. With the examples of 6d $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ SCFTs with $Sp(N)$ gauge symmetry and $2N+8$ fundamental hypermultiplets, we show that one can still make rigorous studies of these 5d-6d relations in the `fractional D-brane sectors'. We test the recently proposed 5d duals given by $Sp(N+1)$ gaug…
We study four-dimensional N=1 gauge theories arising on D3-branes probing toric singularities. Toric dualities and flows between theories corresponding to different singularities are analyzed by encoding the geometric information into (p,q) webs. A new method for identifying global symmetries of the four-dimensional theories using the brane webs is developed. Five-dimensional theories are associated to the theories on the D3-branes by using (p,q) webs. This leads to a novel interpretation of Seiberg duality, as crossing curves of marginal stability in five dimensions.
Extending recent work on SU gauge theory, we engineer local string models for N=1 four-dimensional SO and USp gauge theories coupled to matter in the fundamental. The local models are type IIB orientifolds with D7 branes on a curved orientifold 7-plane, and matter realized by adding D3 branes on the orientifold plane. The Higgs branches of the SO and USp theories can be matched with the moduli spaces of SO and USp instantons on the compact four-dimensional part of the D7 branes worldvolume. The R-charge of the gauge theories is identified with a U(1) symmetry on the worldvolume of an Euclidean…
We describe a simple method for generating new string solutions for which the brane worldvolume is a curved space. As a starting point we use solutions with NS-NS charges combined with 2-d CFT's representing different parts of space-time. We illustrate our method with many examples, some of which are associated with conformally invariant sigma models. Using U-duality, we also obtain supergravity solutions with RR charges which can be interpreted as D-branes with non-trivial worldvolume geometry. In particular, we discuss the case of a D5-brane wrapped on AdS_3 x S^3, a solution interpolating b…
We discuss supersymmetry in twelve dimensions and present a covariant supersymmetric action for a brane with worldsheet signature (2,2), called a super (2+2)-brane, propagating in the osp(64,12) superspace. This superspace is explicitly constructed, and is trivial in the sense that the spinorial part is a trivial bundle over spacetime, unlike the twisted superspace of usual Poincare supersymmetry. For consistency, it is necessary to take a projection of the superspace. This is the same as the projection required for worldvolume supersymmetry. Upon compactification of this superspace, a torsion…
We consider geometric engineering of N=1 supersymmetric QFTs with matter in terms of a local model for compactification of F-theory on Calabi-Yau fourfold. By bringing 3-branes near 7-branes we engineer N=1 supersymmetric $SU(N_c)$ gauge theory with $N_f$ flavors in the fundamental. We identify the Higgs branch of this system with the instanton moduli space on the compact four dimensional space of the 7-brane worldvolume. Moreover we show that the Euclidean 3-branes wrapped around the compact part of the 7-brane worldvolume can generate superpotential for $N_f=N_c-1$ as well as lead to quantum…
We provide tests of dualities for three-dimensional N=4 quiver SCFTs with brane realizations in IIB string theory, by matching their exact partition functions on $S^3$. The dualities are generated by SL(2,Z) transformations and Hanany-Witten 5-brane moves. These contain mirror symmetry as well as dualities identifiying fixed points of Yang-Mills quivers and Chern-Simons theories. The partition function is given by a matrix model, that can be nicely rearranged into a sequence of factors mimicking the brane realization. Identities obeyed by these elementary factors can be used to match the parti…
I review certain aspects of Hanany-Witten setups and other approaches used to embed (and solve) gauge theories in string theory. Applications covered include dualities in 4 and 3 dimensions, fixed points in 6 dimensions, phase transitions between different geometric backgrounds and dualities between branes and geometry.
We consider space and time dependent fuzzy spheres $S^{2p}$ arising in $D1-D(2p+1)$ intersections in IIB string theory and collapsing D(2p)-branes in IIA string theory. In the case of $S^2$, where the periodic space and time-dependent solutions can be described by Jacobi elliptic functions, there is a duality of the form $r$ to ${1 \over r}$ which relates the space and time dependent solutions. This duality is related to complex multiplication properties of the Jacobi elliptic functions. For $S^4$ funnels, the description of the periodic space and time dependent solutions involves the Jacobi I…
We study supersymmetry breaking in theories with non-minimal multiplets (such as the complex linear or CNM multiplets), by using superspace higher derivative terms which give rise to new supersymmetry breaking vacuum solutions on top of the standard supersymmetric vacuum. We illustrate the decoupling of the additional massive sectors inside the complex linear and the CNM multiplets and show that only the Goldstino sector is left in the low energy limit. We also discuss the duality between non-minimal scalar multiplets and chiral multiplets in the presence of superspace higher derivatives. From…
We show that the multiparameter (intersecting) brane solutions of string/M theories given in the literature can all be obtained by a suitable combination of boosts in eleven dimension, S and T dualities. We also describe a duality property of the D dimensional multiparameter solutions describing branes smeared in compact directions. This duality is analogous to the T duality of the string theory but is valid for any value of D.
We discuss the rôle of enlarged superspaces in two seemingly different contexts, the structure of the $p$-brane actions and that of the Cremmer-Julia-Scherk eleven-dimensional supergravity. Both provide examples of a common principle: the existence of an {\it enlarged superspaces coordinates/fields correspondence} by which all the (worldvolume or spacetime) fields of the theory are associated to coordinates of enlarged superspaces. In the context of $p$-branes, enlarged superspaces may be used to construct manifestly supersymmetry-invariant Wess-Zumino terms and as a way of expressing the Born…
Chern-Simons quivers for M2-branes at Calabi-Yau singularities are best understood as the low energy theory of D2-branes on a dual type IIA background. We show how the D2-brane point of view naturally leads to three dimensional Seiberg dualities for Chern-Simons quivers with chiral matter content: They arise from a change of brane basis (or mutation), in complete analogy with the better known Seiberg dualities for D3-brane quivers. This perspective reproduces the known rules for Seiberg dualities in Chern-Simons-Yang-Mills theories with unitary gauge groups. We provide explicit examples of dua…
We lift the bosonic AdS_4 x CP^3 solution of type IIA supergravity preserving 24 supersymmetries to a D=10 superspace which has 32 Grassmann-odd directions. The type IIA superspace is obtained from D=11 via dimensional reduction of the coset superspace OSp(8|4)/SO(7) x SO(1,3) by realizing the latter as a Hopf fibration over the former. This construction generalizes to superspace the Hopf fibration of S^7 as a U(1) bundle over CP^3, and is suitable for writing the explicit form of Green-Schwarz-type actions encoding the dynamics of the type IIA string and branes in the AdS_4 x CP^3 superbackgr…
The N=1 superspace generalization of the 3-brane action in 6 dimensions with partially broken N=2 supersymmetry can be constructed using N=1 chiral, complex linear, or real linear superfields. The physical scalars of these multiplets give equivalent descriptions of the two transverse coordinates. The second supersymmetry is realized nonlinearly in all these actions. We derive the superspace brane actions and their nonlinear supersymmetry for both kinds of linear superfields when we break N=2 supersymmetry spontaneously. This breaking is realized in the free action of hypermultiplets that live …
We generalize recent construction of four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ SCFT from wrapping six-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ theory on a Riemann surface to the case of $D$-type with outer-automorphism twists. This construction allows us to build various dual theories for a class of $\mathcal{N}=1$ quiver theories of $SO-USp$ type. In particular, we find there are five dual frames to $SO(2N)/USp(2N-2)/G_2$ gauge theories with $(4N-4)/4N/8$ fundamental flavors, where three of them are non-Lagrangian. We check the dualities by computing the anomaly coefficients and the superconformal indices. In …
Geometric transitions between Calabi-Yau manifolds have proven to be a powerful tool in exploring the intricate and interconnected vacuum structure of string compactifications. However, their role in N=1, 4-dimensional string compactifications remains relatively unexplored. In this work we present a novel proposal for transitioning the background geometry (including NS5-branes and holomorphic, slope-stable vector bundles) of 4-dimensional, N=1 heterotic string compactifications through a conifold transition connecting Calabi-Yau threefolds. Our proposal is geometric in nature but informed by t…
We propose a general method to study open/closed string dualities from transitions in M theory which is valid for a large class of geometrical configurations. By T-duality we can transform geometrically engineered configurations into N = 1 brane configurations and study the transitions of the corresponding branes by lifting the configurations to M-theory. We describe the transformed degenerated M5 branes and extract the field theory information on gluino condensation by factorization of the Seiberg-Witten curve. We also include massive flavors and orientifolds and discuss Seiberg duality which…
The known extended algebras associated with p-branes are shown to be generated as topological charge algebras of the standard p-brane actions. A representation of the charges in terms of superspace forms is constructed. The charges are shown to be the same in standard/extended superspace formulations of the action.
We study Vafa's geometric transition from a brane setup in M-theory. In this transition D5 branes wrapped on P^1 cycles of a resolved conifold disappear and are replaced by fluxes on a deformed conifold. In the limit of small sized P^1, we describe this mechanism as a transition from curved M5 branes to plane M5 branes which replaces SU(N) MQCD by U(1) theories on the bulk. This agrees with the results expected from the geometric transition. We also discuss the reduction to ten dimensions and a brane creation mechanism in the presence of fluxes.
