arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Christian Saemann.
We present and discuss explicit solutions to the non-abelian self-dual string equation as well as to the non-abelian self-duality equation in six dimensions. These solutions are generalizations of the 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole and the BPST instanton to higher gauge theory. We expect that these solutions are relevant to the effective description of M2- and M5-branes.
We analyze the gauge structure of a recently proposed superconformal field theory in six dimensions. We find that this structure amounts to a weak Courant-Dorfman algebra, which, in turn, can be interpreted as a strong homotopy Lie algebra. This suggests that the superconformal field theory is closely related to higher gauge theory, describing the parallel transport of extended objects. Indeed we find that, under certain restrictions, the field content and gauge transformations reduce to those of higher gauge theory. We also present a number of interesting examples of admissible gauge structures such as the structure Lie 2-algebra of an abelian gerbe, differential crossed modules, the 3-algebras of M2-brane models and string Lie 2-algebras.
We describe the quantization of 2-plectic manifolds as they arise in the context of the quantum geometry of M-branes and non-geometric flux compactifications of closed string theory. We review the groupoid approach to quantizing Poisson manifolds in detail, and then extend it to the loop spaces of 2-plectic manifolds, which are naturally symplectic manifolds. In particular, we discuss the groupoid quantization of the loop spaces of R^3, T^3 and S^3, and derive some interesting implications which match physical expectations from string theory and M-theory.
Recently a Nahm transform has been discovered for magnetic bags, which are conjectured to arise in the large n limit of magnetic monopoles with charge n. We interpret these ideas using string theory and present some partial proofs of this conjecture. We then extend the notion of bags and their Nahm transform to higher gauge theories and arbitrary domains. Bags in four dimensions conjecturally describe the large n limit of n self-dual strings. We show that the corresponding Basu-Harvey equation is the large n limit of an equation describing n M2-branes, and that it has a natural interpretation in loop space. We also formulate our Nahm equations using strong homotopy Lie algebras.
We make the observation that M-brane models defined in terms of 3-algebras can be interpreted as higher gauge theories involving Lie 2-groups. Such gauge theories arise in particular in the description of non-abelian gerbes. This observation allows us to put M2- and M5-brane models on equal footing, at least as far as the gauge structure is concerned. Furthermore, it provides a useful framework for various generalizations; in particular, it leads to a fully supersymmetric generalization of a previously proposed set of tensor multiplet equations.
I review an extension of the ADHMN construction of monopoles to M-brane models. This extended construction gives a map from solutions to the Basu-Harvey equation to solutions to the self-dual string equation transgressed to loop space. Loop spaces appear in fact quite naturally in M-brane models. This is demonstrated by translating a recently proposed M5-brane model to loop space. Finally, I comment on some recent developments related to the loop space approach to M-brane models.
We present a twistor space that describes super null-lines on six-dimensional N=(1,1) superspace. We then show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between holomorphic vector bundles over this twistor space and solutions to the field equations of N=(1,1) super Yang-Mills theory. Our constructions naturally reduce to those of the twistorial description of maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions.
We review the various contexts in which quantized 2-plectic manifolds are expected to appear within closed string theory and M-theory. We then discuss how the quantization of a 2-plectic manifold can be reduced to ordinary quantization of its loop space, which is a symplectic manifold. We demonstrate how the latter can be quantized using groupoids. After reviewing the necessary background, we present the groupoid quantization of the loop space of R^3 in some detail.
We generalize a recently developed ADHMN-like construction of self-dual string solitons using loop space. In particular, we present two extensions: The first one starts from solutions to the Basu-Harvey equation for the ABJM model, the second one starts from solutions to a corresponding BPS equation in an N=2 supersymmetric deformation of the BLG model. Both constructions yield solutions to the abelian and the nonabelian self-dual string equation transgressed to loop space. These equations might provide an effective description of M2-branes suspended between M5-branes.
We explore maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with walls of impurities respecting half of the supersymmetries. The walls carry fundamental or bifundamental matter multiplets. We employ three-dimensional N=2 superspace language to identify the Higgs branch of this theory. We find that the vacuum conditions determining the Higgs branch are exactly the bow equations yielding Yang-Mills instantons on a multi-Taub-NUT space. Under electric-magnetic duality, the super Yang-Mills theory describing the bulk is mapped to itself, while the fundamental- and bifundamental-carrying impurity walls are interchanged. We perform a one-loop computation on the Coulomb branch of the dual theory to find the asymptotic metric on the original Higgs branch.
We describe an extension of the axioms of quantization to the case of 2-plectic manifolds. We show how such quantum spaces can be obtained as stable classical solutions in a zero-dimensional 3-algebra reduced model obtained by dimensional reduction of the Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson theory. We demonstrate that the groupoid approach to geometric quantization proposed by Hawkins and others can be useful for quantizing 2-plectic manifolds. We discuss our results in the context of recent developments in the quantum geometry of M-branes, and in the nonassociative deformation of spacetime induced by closed strings in the presence of a 2-plectic form.
We present an ADHMN-like construction which generates self-dual string solutions to the effective M5-brane worldvolume theory from solutions to the Basu-Harvey equation. Our construction finds a natural interpretation in terms of gerbes, which we develop in some detail. We also comment on a possible extension to stacks of multiple M5-branes.
We show that a recently found set of supersymmetric equations of motion for a 3-Lie algebra-valued (2,0) tensor multiplet finds a natural interpretation as supersymmetric gauge field equations on loop space. We find that BPS solutions to these equations yield a previously proposed nonabelian extension of the selfdual string. We describe an ADHMN-like construction that allows for the explicit construction of such BPS solutions.
We study the phase diagram of scalar field theory on a three dimensional Euclidean spacetime whose spatial component is a fuzzy sphere. The corresponding model is an ordinary one-dimensional matrix model deformed by terms involving fixed external matrices. These terms can be approximated by multitrace expressions using a group theoretical method developed recently. The resulting matrix model is accessible to the standard techniques of matrix quantum mechanics.
We propose generalized quantization axioms for Nambu-Poisson manifolds, which allow for a geometric interpretation of n-Lie algebras and their enveloping algebras. We illustrate these axioms by describing extensions of Berezin-Toeplitz quantization to produce various examples of quantum spaces of relevance to the dynamics of M-branes, such as fuzzy spheres in diverse dimensions. We briefly describe preliminary steps towards making the notion of quantized 2-plectic manifolds rigorous by extending the groupoid approach to quantization of symplectic manifolds.
We consider dimensional reduction of the Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson theory to a zero-dimensional 3-Lie algebra model and construct various stable solutions corresponding to quantized Nambu-Poisson manifolds. A recently proposed Higgs mechanism reduces this model to the IKKT matrix model. We find that in the strong coupling limit, our solutions correspond to ordinary noncommutative spaces arising as stable solutions in the IKKT model with D-brane backgrounds. In particular, this happens for S^3, R^3 and five-dimensional Neveu-Schwarz Hpp-waves. We expand our model around these backgrounds and find effective noncommutative field theories with complicated interactions involving higher-derivative terms. We also describe the relation of our reduced model to a cubic supermatrix model based on an osp(1|32) supersymmetry algebra.
We perform a high-temperature expansion of scalar quantum field theory on fuzzy CP^n to third order in the inverse temperature. Using group theoretical methods, we rewrite the result as a multitrace matrix model. The partition function of this matrix model is evaluated via the saddle point method and the phase diagram is analyzed for various n. Our results confirm the findings of a previous numerical study of this phase diagram for CP^1.
We investigate the geometric interpretation of quantized Nambu-Poisson structures in terms of noncommutative geometries. We describe an extension of the usual axioms of quantization in which classical Nambu-Poisson structures are translated to n-Lie algebras at quantum level. We demonstrate that this generalized procedure matches an extension of Berezin-Toeplitz quantization yielding quantized spheres, hyperboloids, and superspheres. The extended Berezin quantization of spheres is closely related to a deformation quantization of n-Lie algebras, as well as the approach based on harmonic analysis. We find an interpretation of Nambu-Heisenberg n-Lie algebras in terms of foliations of R^n by fuzzy spheres, fuzzy hyperboloids, and noncommutative hyperplanes. Some applications to the quantum geometry of branes in M-theory are also briefly discussed.