Flux Quantization on M5-branes
Abstract
We highlight the need for global completion of the field content in the M5-brane sigma-model analogous to Dirac's charge/flux quantization, and we point out that the superspace Bianchi identities on the worldvolume and on its ambient supergravity background constrain the M5's flux-quantization law to be in a non-abelian cohomology theory rationally equivalent to a twisted form of co-Homotopy. In order to clearly bring out this subtle point we give a streamlined re-derivation of the worldvolume 3-flux via M5 "super-embeddings". Finally, assuming the flux-quantization law to actually be in co-Homotopy ("Hypothesis H") we show how this implies Skyrmion-like solitons on general M5-worldvolumes and (abelian) anyonic solitons on the boundaries of "open M5-branes" in heterotic M-theory.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2406.11304,
title = {Flux Quantization on M5-branes},
author = {Grigorios Giotopoulos and Hisham Sati and Urs Schreiber},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.11304},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
44 pages; v4: sign convention on covariant derivative changed, following ftn. 11 of arXiv:2403.16456; v3: published version, abstract shortened and typos fixed; v2: minor additions