English

Currents, charges and algebras in exceptional generalised geometry

High Energy Physics - Theory 2021-06-30 v2 Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

A classical Ed(d)E_{d(d)}-invariant Hamiltonian formulation of world-volume theories of half-BPS p-branes in type IIb and eleven-dimensional supergravity is proposed, extending known results to d6d \leq 6. It consists of a Hamiltonian, characterised by a generalised metric, and a current algebra constructed s.t. it reproduces the Ed(d)E_{d(d)} generalised Lie derivative. Ed(d)E_{d(d)}-covariance necessitates the introduction of so-called charges, specifying the type of p-brane and the choice of section. For p>2, currents of p-branes are generically non-geometric due to the imposition of U-duality, e.g. the M5-currents contain coordinates associated to the M2-momentum. A derivation of the Ed(d)E_{d(d)}-invariant current algebra from a canonical Poisson structure is in general not possible. At most, one can derive a current algebra associated to para-Hermitian exceptional geometry. The membrane in the SL(5)-theory is studied in detail. It is shown that in a generalised frame the current algebra is twisted by the generalised fluxes. As a consistency check, the double dimensional reduction from membranes in M-theory to strings in type IIa string theory is performed. Many features generalise to p-branes in SL(p+3) generalised geometries that form building blocks for the Ed(d)E_{d(d)}-invariant currents.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2103.03267,
  title  = {Currents, charges and algebras in exceptional generalised geometry},
  author = {David Osten},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.03267},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

24+9 pages, version 2: comparison to the M5-brane current of Hatsuda and Kamimura added, references added

R2 v1 2026-06-23T23:46:16.059Z