Related papers: Twisted Cohomotopy implies M5-brane anomaly cancel…
We consider the 6d (1,0) SCFT on a stack of $N$ M5-branes probing a $\mathbb C^2/\mathbb Z_2$ singularity. In particular, we study its compactifications to four dimensions on a smooth genus-$g$ Riemann surface with non-trivial flavor flux,…
We compute gravitational and axial anomaly for D-type (2,0) theories realized on N pairs of coincident M5-branes at R^5/Z_2 orbifold fixed point. We first summarize work by Harvey, Minasian, and Moore on A-type (2,0) theories, and then…
In the quest for the mathematical formulation of M-theory, we consider three major open problems: a first-principles construction of the single (abelian) M5-brane Lagrangian density, the origin of the gauge field in heterotic M-theory, and…
We cast M-brane interactions including intersecting membranes and five-branes in manifestly gauge invariant form using an arrangement of higher dimensional Dirac surfaces. We show that the noncommutative gauge symmetry present in the…
Studying the M-branes leads us naturally to new structures that we call Membrane-, Membrane^c-, String^K(Z,3)- and Fivebrane^K(Z,4)-structures, which we show can also have twisted counterparts. We study some of their basic properties,…
We consider the global aspects of the 6-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(1, 0)$ theory arising from the coupling of the vector multiplet to the tensor multiplet. We show that the Yang-Mills field and its dual, when both are abelianized, combine to…
The quantum consistency of sigma-models describing the dynamics of extended objects in a curved background requires the cancellation of their world-volume anomalies, which are conformal anomalies for the heterotic string and $SO(1,5)$…
We derive the simplest commutation relations of operator algebras associated to M2 branes and an M5 brane in the $\Omega$-deformed M-theory, which is a natural set-up for Twisted holography. Feynman diagram 1-loop computations in the…
We construct families of supersymmetric AdS$_3\times Y_7$ and AdS$_3\times Y_8$ solutions to type IIB string theory and M-theory, respectively. Here $Y_7$ is an $S^5$ fibration over $\Sigma$, while $Y_8$ is an $S^4$ fibration over…
In the presence of a background supergravity flux, N M2-branes will expand via the Myers effect into M5-branes wrapped on a fuzzy three-sphere. In previous work the fluctuations of the M2-branes were shown to be described by the…
We propose a six-dimensional framework to calculate the supersymmetric index of M-theory 5-branes wrapped on a six-manifold with product topology $M_4\times T^2$, where $M_4$ is a holomorphic 4-cycle in a Calabi-Yau three-fold. This is…
In this note we generalize a result by Alekseev and Strobl for the case of $p$-branes. We show that there is a relation between anomalous free current algebras and "isotropic" involutive subbundles of $T\oplus \wedge^p T^*$ with the…
We review some recent developments in the study of M-theory compactifications via Matrix theory. In particular we highlight the appearance of IIA strings and their interactions, and explain the unifying role of the M-theory five-brane for…
We study M5 branes on $\mathbb{R}^{1,1} \times$Taub-NUT that we view as a singular fibration. Reducing the M5 branes along the fiber gives 5d SYM. Due to the singularity, this 5d theory has a gauge anomaly and it is not supersymmetric. To…
We show how the topological string partition function, which is known to capture the degeneracies of a gas of BPS spinning M2-branes in M-theory compactified to 5 dimensions, is related to a 4-dimensional D-brane system that consists of…
An attractive mechanism to break supersymmetry in vacua with zero vacuum energy arose in E_8 x E_8 heterotic models with hidden sector gaugino condensate. An H-flux balances the exponentially small condensate on shell and fixes the complex…
We present an M-theory proof of the anomaly of Freed and Witten which in general shifts the quantisation law for the U(1) gauge field on a D6-brane. The derivation requires an understanding of how fields on the D6-brane lift to M-theory,…
We examine heterotic M-theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold with an additional parallel M5 brane. The dominant non-perturbative effect stems from open membrane instantons connecting the M5 with the boundaries. We derive the…
We analyse in detail the language of partially non-abelian Deligne cohomology and of twisted differential K-theory, in order to describe the geometry of type II superstring backgrounds with D-branes. This description will also provide the…
We prove that in closed almost complex manifolds of any dimension, generic perturbations of the almost complex structure suffice to achieve transversality for all unbranched multiple covers of simple pseudoholomorphic curves with…