arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Matthias R. Gaberdiel.
The charges of the twisted D-branes for the two exceptional cases (SO(8) with the triality automorphism and E_6 with charge conjugation) are determined. To this end the corresponding NIM-reps are expressed in terms of the fusion rules of the invariant subalgebras. As expected the charge groups are found to agree with those characterising the untwisted branes.
It is shown how the boundary correlators of the Euclidean theory corresponding to the rolling tachyon solution can be calculated directly from Sen's boundary state. The resulting formulae reproduce precisely the expected perturbative open string answer. We also determine the open string spectrum and comment on the implications of our results for the timelike theory.
A generalisation of discrete torsion is introduced in which different discrete torsion phases are considered for the different fixed points or twist fields of a twisted sector. The constraints that arise from modular invariance are analysed carefully. As an application we show how all the different resolutions of the T^7/Z_2^3 orbifold of Joyce have an interpretation in terms of such generalised discrete torsion orbifolds. Furthermore, we show that these manifolds are pairwise identified under G_2 mirror symmetry. From a conformal field theory point of view, this mirror symmetry arises from an automorphism of the extended chiral algebra of the G_2 compactification.
The most general N=2 superconformal boundary states for the c=3 theory consisting of two (uncompactified) free bosons and fermions are constructed. It is shown that the only N=2 boundary states are the familiar Dirichlet boundary states, as well as the Neumann boundary states with an arbitrary electric field.
The maximally symmetric D-branes of string theory on the non-simply connected Lie group SU(n)/Z_d are analysed using conformal field theory methods, and their charges are determined. Unlike the well understood case for simply connected groups, the charge equations do not determine the charges uniquely, and the charge group associated to these D-branes is therefore in general not cyclic. The precise structure of the charge group depends on some number theoretic properties of n, d, and the level of the underlying affine algebra k. The examples of SO(3)=SU(2)/Z_2 and SU(3)/Z_3 are worked out in detail, and the charge groups for SU(n)/Z_d at most levels k are determined explicitly.
We study D-branes with plane waves of arbitrary profiles as examples of time-dependent backgrounds in string theory. We show how to reproduce the quantum mechanical (one-to-one) open-string S-matrix starting from the closed-string boundary state for the D-branes, thereby establishing the channel duality of this calculation. The required Wick rotation to a Lorentzian worldsheet singles out as 'prefered' time coordinate the open-string light-cone time.
Oblique Dp-branes in the maximally supersymmetric type IIB plane-wave background are constructed in terms of boundary states, as well as from the open string point of view. These Dp-branes, whose existence was anticipated by Hikida and Yamaguchi from general supersymmetry arguments, have an isometry that is a subgroup of the diagonal SO(4) symmetry of the background. The oblique D3-brane is found to preserve four dynamical and four kinematical supersymmetries while the oblique D5-brane preserves one half of both the dynamical and kinematical supersymmetries. We also discuss the open-string boundary conditions for curved D7- and D5-branes, and analyze their supersymmetry.
A class of D-branes for the type IIB plane-wave background is considered that preserve half the dynamical supersymmetries of the light-cone gauge. The D-branes of this type are the euclidean (or instantonic) (0,0), (0,4) and (4,0) branes (where (r,s) denotes a brane oriented with r axes in the first four directions transverse to the +,- light-cone and s axes in the second four directions). Corresponding lorentzian D-branes are (+,-;0,0), (+,-;0,4) and (+,-;4,0). These are constructed in two ways. The first uses a boundary state formalism which implements appropriate fermionic gluing conditions and the second is based on a direct quantisation of the open strings ending on the branes. In distinction to the D-branes considered earlier these have massless world-volume fermions but do not possess kinematical supersymmetries. Cylinder diagrams describing the overlap between a pair of boundary states displaced by some distance are evaluated. The open-string description of this system involves mode frequencies that are, in general, given by irrational solutions to transcendental equations. The closed-string and open-string descriptions are shown to be equivalent by a nontrivial implementation of the S modular transformation. A classical description of the D-instanton (the (0,0) case) in light-cone gauge is also given.
The cylinder diagrams that determine the static interactions between pairs of Dp-branes in the type IIB plane wave background are evaluated. The resulting expressions are elegant generalizations of the flat-space formulae that depend on the value of the Ramond-Ramond flux of the background in a non-trivial manner. The closed-string and open-string descriptions consistently transform into each other under a modular transformation only when each of the interacting D-branes separately preserves half the supersymmetries. These results are derived for configurations of euclidean signature D(p+1)-instantons but also generalize to lorentzian signature Dp-branes.
We study D-branes in the bosonic closed string theory whose automorphism group is the Bimonster group (the wreath product of the Monster simple group with Z_2). We give a complete classification of D-branes preserving the chiral subalgebra of Monster invariants and show that they transform in a representation of the Bimonster. Our results apply more generally to self-dual conformal field theories which admit the action of a compact Lie group on both the left- and right-moving sectors.
A dual pair of supersymmetric string theories that involves an asymmetric orbifold and an orientifold of Type II is considered. The D-branes of the orbifold theory (that were recently determined by Gutperle) are all non-BPS and do not carry any conserved gauge charges. It is shown that they carry non-trivial K-theory charges, and that they can be understood in terms of branes wrapping certain homology classes of the M-theory compactification. Using the adiabatic argument, dual partners of some of these non-BPS D-branes are proposed. The relations between these dual states are found to be in agreement with the M-theory description of the D-branes.
The consistency of the orbifold action on open strings between D-branes in orbifold theories with and without discrete torsion is analysed carefully. For the example of the C^3/Z_2 x Z_2 theory, it is found that the consistency of the orbifold action requires that the D-brane spectrum contains branes that give rise to a conventional representation of the orbifold group as well as branes for which the representation is projective. It is also shown how the results generalise to the orbifolds C^3/Z_N x Z_N for which a number of novel features arise. In particular, the N>2 theories with minimal discrete torsion have non-BPS branes charged under twisted R-R potentials that couple to none of the (known) BPS branes.
D-branes on orbifolds with and without discrete torsion are analysed in a unified way using the boundary state formalism. For the example of the Z2 x Z2 orbifold it is found that both the theory with and without discrete torsion possess D-branes whose world-volume carries conventional and projective representations of the orbifold group. The resulting D-brane spectrum is shown to be consistent with T-duality.
Some of the consequences that follow from the C_2 condition of Zhu are analysed. In particular it is shown that every conformal field theory satisfying the C_2 condition has only finitely many n-point functions, and this result is used to prove a version of a conjecture of Nahm, namely that every representation of such a conformal field theory is quasirational. We also show that every such vertex operator algebra is a finite W-algebra, and we give a direct proof of the convergence of its characters as well as the finiteness of the fusion rules.
A new class of six-dimensional asymmetric orientifolds is considered where the orientifold operation is combined with T-duality. The models are supersymmetric in the bulk, but the cancellation of the tadpoles requires the introduction of brane configurations that break supersymmetry. These can be described by D7-brane anti-brane pairs, non-BPS D8-branes or D9-brane anti-brane pairs. The transition between these different configurations and their stability is analysed in detail.
The tree-level amplitude for the scattering of two gauge particles constrained to move on the two distinct boundaries of eleven-dimensional space-time in the Horava-Witten formulation of M-theory is constructed. At low momenta this reproduces the corresponding tree-level scattering amplitude of the E_8xE_8 heterotic string theory. After compactification to nine dimensions on a large circle with a suitable Wilson line to break the symmetry to SO(16)xSO(16) this amplitude is used to describe the scattering of two massive SO(16) spinor states - one from each factor of the unbroken symmetry group. The amplitude contains a component that is associated with the exchange of a Kaluza-Klein charge between the boundaries, which is interpreted as the exchange of a D-particle between orientifold planes in the Type IA theory. This is related by T-duality to the effect of a non-BPS D-instanton in the Type I theory which is only invariant under those elements of O(16)xSO(16) that are in SO(16)xSO(16).
The SL(2,Z) duality transformations of type IIB supergravity are shown to be anomalous in generic F-theory backgrounds due to the anomalous transformation of the phase of the chiral fermion determinant. The anomaly is partially cancelled provided the ten-dimensional type IIB theory lagrangian contains a term that is a ten-form made out of the composite U(1) field strength and four powers of the curvature. A residual anomaly remains uncancelled, and this implies a certain topological restriction on consistent backgrounds of the euclidean theory. A similar, but slightly stronger, restriction is also derived from an explicit F-theory compactification on K3 x M8 (where M8 is an eight-manifold with a nowhere vanishing chiral spinor) where the cancellation of tadpoles for Ramond--Ramond fields is only possible if M8 has an Euler character that is a positive multiple of 24. The interpretation of this restriction in the dual heterotic theory on T2 x M8 is also given.
The local logarithmic conformal field theory corresponding to the triplet algebra at c=-2 is constructed. The constraints of locality and crossing symmetry are explored in detail, and a consistent set of amplitudes is found. The spectrum of the corresponding theory is determined, and it is found to be modular invariant. This provides the first construction of a non-chiral rational logarithmic conformal field theory, establishing that such models can indeed define bona fide conformal field theories.