arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P. K. Townsend.
A static minimal energy configuration of a super p-brane in a supersymmetric (n+1)-dimensional spacetime is shown to be a `generalized calibrated' submanifold. Calibrations in $\bE^{(1,n)}$ and $AdS_{n+1}$ are special cases. We present several M-brane examples.
Energy bounds are derived for planar and compactified M2-branes in a hyper-Kähler background. These bounds are saturated, respectively, by lump and Q-kink solitons, which are shown to preserve a half of the worldvolume supersymmetry. The Q-kinks have a dual IIB interpretation as strings that migrate between fivebranes.
The M(atrix) model has a dual realization as IIA superstring theory in the near-horizon geometry of the supergravity D0-brane. The role of $adS_2$ in this correspondence is reviewed, and some aspects of holography that it suggests are discussed.
We argue that the large $n$ limit of the $n$-particle $SU(1,1|2)$ superconformal Calogero model provides a microscopic description of the extreme Reissner-Nordstr{ö}m black hole in the near-horizon limit.
I review a recently proposed method for determining the symmetry superalgebra of a supergravity configuration from its Killing spinors, and its application to the `near-horizon' limits of various rotating and intersecting branes.
We extend the correspondence between adS-supergravities and superconformal field theories on the adS boundary to a correspondence between gauged supergravities (typically with non-compact gauge groups) and quantum field theories on domain walls.
The OSp(2|2)-invariant planar dynamics of a D=4 superparticle near the horizon of a large mass extreme black hole is described by an N=2 superconformal mechanics, with the SO(2) charge being the superparticle's angular momentum. The {\it non-manifest} superconformal invariance of the superpotential term is shown to lead to a shift in the SO(2) charge by the value of its coefficient, which we identify as the orbital angular momentum. The full SU(1,1|2)-invariant dynamics is found from an extension to N=4 superconformal mechanics.
We discuss some general features of black holes of five-dimensional supergravity, such as the first law of black hole mechanics. We also discuss some special features of rotating supersymmetric black holes. In particular, we show that the horizon is a non-singular, and {\sl non-rotating}, null hypersurface whose intersection with a Cauchy surface is a squashed 3-sphere. We find the Killing spinors of the near-horizon geometry and thereby determine the near-horizon isometry supergroup.
The dynamics of a (super)particle near the horizon of an extreme Reissner-Nordstrom black hole is shown to be governed by an action that reduces to a (super)conformal mechanics model in the limit of large black hole mass.
The bosonic actions for M2, D3 and M5 branes in their own d-dimensional near-horizon background are given in a manifestly SO(p+1,2) x SO(d-p-1) invariant form (p=2,3,5). These symmetries result from a breakdown of ISO(d,2) (with d=10 for D3 and d=11 for M2 and M5) symmetry by the Wess-Zumino term and constraints. The new brane actions, reduce after gauge-fixing and solving constraints to (p+1) dimensional interacting field theories with a non-linearly realized SO(p+1,2) conformal invariance. We also present an interacting two-dimensional conformal field theory on a D-string in the near-horizon geometry of a D1+D5 configuration.
Domain wall and electrovac solutions of gauged N=4 D=4 supergravity, with gauge group SU(2) or SU(2)xSU(2), are interpreted as supersymmetric Kaluza-Klein vacua of N=1 D=10 supergravity. These vacua are shown to be the near-horizon geometries of certain intersecting brane solutions.
We obtain the Hamiltonian form of the worldvolume action for the M5-brane in a general D=11 supergravity background. We use this result to obtain a new version of the covariant M5-brane Lagrangian in which the tension appears as a dynamical variable, although this Lagrangian has some unsatisfactory features which we trace to peculiarities of the null limit. We also show that the M5-brane action is invariant under all (super)isometries of the background.
A version of the kappa-symmetric super D-p-brane action is presented in which the tension is a dynamical variable, equal to the flux of a p-form worldvolume gauge field. The Lagrangian is shown to be invariant under all (super)isometries of the background for appropriate transformations of the worldvolume gauge fields, which determine the central charges in the symmetry algebra. We also present the Hamiltonian form of the action in a general supergravity background.
These lectures explore what can be learnt about M-theory from its superalgebra. The first three lectures introduce the 'basic' branes of M-theory, and type II superstring theories, and show how the duality relations between them are encoded in the respective spacetime superalgebras. The fourth lecture introduces brane intersections and explains how they are encoded in the worldvolume superalgebras.
We present a manifestly Sl(2;Z)-covariant action for the type IIB superstring, and prove kappa-symmetry for on-shell IIB supergravity backgrounds.
Synopsis: (i) how superstring theories are unified by M-theory; (ii) how superstring and supermembrane properties follow from the D=10 and D=11 supersymmetry algebras; (iii) how D=10 and D=11 supergravity theories determine the strong coupling limit of superstring theories; (iv) how properties of Type II p-branes follow from those of M-branes.
Supersymmetric configurations of non-orthogonally intersecting M-5-branes can be obtained by rotation of one of a pair of parallel M-5-branes. Examples preserving 1/4, 3/16 and 1/8 supersymmetry are reviewed.
An `algebraic' approach to M-theory is briefly reviewed, and a proposal is made for a similar algebraic structure underlying the $T^9$ compactification of `M(embrane) theory', i.e. the M(atrix) model with area-preserving diffeomorphism gauge group.