On M2-, M5-, and D3-branes from 12d anomalies: an equivariant perspective on duality

Abstract

We revisit the twelve-dimensional anomaly polynomial that has long been known to govern M5-brane worldvolume theories, together with its more recently proposed D3-brane counterpart. We show that these constructions naturally fit into the framework of equivariant integration, allowing the anomaly inflow formulas to be rewritten entirely in terms of equivariant volumes. In particular, we use the fact that the Bott--Cattaneo formula for the integral of powers of the global angular form on $S^{2k}$ emerges from the equivariant Euler-class integration of $\mathbb{C}^k$, with two copies glued antipodally at the north and south poles of the sphere. Building on this perspective, we generalize the anomaly construction to include both electrically and magnetically charged branes, thereby incorporating M2-branes as well as a dual formulation of D3-branes. This provides a unified framework encompassing a number of classical results together with several recent developments, and offers a natural interpretation of the recently proposed M2/M5 duality, arxiv:2604.06343, in terms of an AGT-like correspondence. Remarkably, it also leads to a direct reinterpretation of constant-map contributions in topological string theory as manifestations of M-theory anomalies.