Related papers: A superspace approach to branes and supergravity
After reviewing how M-theory subsumes string theory, I report on some new and interesting developments, focusing on the ``brane-world'': circumventing no-go theorems for supersymmetric brane-worlds, complementarity of the Maldacena and…
We develop the effective worldvolume theory for the dynamics of black branes with charges of the kind that arise in many supergravities and low-energy limits of string theory. Using this theory, we construct numerous new rotating black…
We consider a series of duality transformations that leads to a constant shift in the harmonic functions appearing in the description of a configuration of branes. This way, for several intersections of branes, we can relate the original…
Maximal supergravity solutions are revisited and classified, with particular emphasis on objects of co-dimension at most two. This class of solutions includes branes whose tension scales with g_s^{-\sigma} for \sigma>2. We present a group…
Type-IIB supergravity in ten dimensions admits two consistent $Z_2$ truncations. After the insertion of D9-branes, one of them leads to the low-energy action of type-I string theory, and it can be performed in two different ways, in…
These lectures on supersymmetry and extra dimensions are aimed at finishing undergraduate and beginning postgraduate students with a background in quantum field theory and group theory. Basic knowledge in general relativity might be…
We review recent developments in understanding quantum/string corrections to BPS black holes and strings in five-dimensional supergravity. These objects are solutions to the effective action obtained from M-theory compactified on a…
The connection between Supergravity and the low-energy world is analyzed. In particular, the soft Supersymmetry-breaking terms arising in Supergravity, the $\mu$ problem and various solutions proposed to solve it are reviewed. The soft…
This is a brief summary of lectures given at the Fourth Mexican School on Gravitation and Mathematical Physics. The lectures gave an introduction to branes in eleven-dimensional supergravity and in type IIA supergravities in ten-dimensions.…
In this review branes of string theory are described from three different perspectives: as endpoints of open string, as supergravity backgrounds with BPS properties, as dynamical objects with gauge invariant actions. Based on these…
It has recently been argued that non--BPS brane world scenarios can reproduce the small value of the cosmological constant that seems to have been measured. Objections against this proposal are discussed and necessary (but not sufficient)…
Recent criticism of higher-dimensional extensions of Einstein's theory is considered. This may have some justification as regards string theory, but is misguided as applied to five-dimensional theories with a large extra dimension. Such…
We present an explicit formulation of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories from $\D=$ 5 to 10 dimensions in the familiar $\N=1,\D=4$ superspace. This provides the rules for globally supersymmetric model building with extra dimensions and in…
The physical motivations and the basic construction rules for Type I strings and M-theory compactifications are reviewed in light of the recent developments. The first part contains the basic theoretical ingredients needed for building…
We give an introduction to rigid supersymmetry, supergravity and superspace by considering a quantum mechanical model. We analyze the constraints in superspace in this simplified model, and compare the Hamiltonian and Lagrangian BRST…
Using the reduced formulation of large-N Quantum Field Theories we study strings in space-time dimensions higher than one. Some preliminary results concerning the possible string susceptibilities and general properties of the model are…
An introductory survey of some of the developments that have taken place in superstring theory in the past few years is presented. The main focus is on three particular dualities. The first one is the appearance of an 11th dimension in the…
We consider superconformal field theories in three and six dimensions with eight supercharges which can be realized on the world-volume of M-theory branes sitting at orbifold singularities. We find that they should admit a N=4 and N=2…
We give a basic review of some recent developments in local supersymmetry breaking in 4-dimensional effective theories coming from compactifications of string and M-theory in the presence of non-trivial form and geometrical fluxes.
The construction of effective field theories describing M-theory compactified on $S^1/{\bf Z}_2$ is revisited, and new insights into the parameters of the theory are explained. Particularly, the web of constraints which follow from…