M5-brane WikiZero

String theory

Fundamental objects
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Geometric Langlands correspondence Mirror symmetry Monstrous moonshine Vertex algebra K-theory
Related concepts Theory of everything Conformal field theory Quantum gravity Supersymmetry Supergravity Twistor string theory N = 4 supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory Kaluza–Klein theory Multiverse Holographic principle
Theorists Aganagić Arkani-Hamed Atiyah Banks Berenstein Bousso Curtright Dijkgraaf Distler Douglas Duff Dvali Ferrara Fischler Friedan Gates Gliozzi Gopakumar Green Greene Gross Gubser Gukov Guth Hanson Harvey Hořava Horowitz Gibbons Kachru Kaku Kallosh Kaluza Kapustin Klebanov Knizhnik Kontsevich Klein Linde Maldacena Mandelstam Marolf Martinec Minwalla Moore Motl Mukhi Myers Nanopoulos Năstase Nekrasov Neveu Nielsen van Nieuwenhuizen Novikov Olive Ooguri Ovrut Polchinski Polyakov Rajaraman Ramond Randall Randjbar-Daemi Roček Rohm Sagnotti Scherk Schwarz Seiberg Sen Shenker Siegel Silverstein Sơn Staudacher Steinhardt Strominger Sundrum Susskind 't Hooft Townsend Trivedi Turok Vafa Veneziano Verlinde Verlinde Wess Witten Yau Yoneya Zamolodchikov Zamolodchikov Zaslow Zumino Zwiebach
History Glossary
v t e

In theoretical physics, an M5-brane is a fundamental brane of M-theory. As such, it can be described explicitly as a black brane solution^[1] to eleven-dimensional supergravity, the low-energy limit of M-theory. In particular, it carries a magnetic charge under the 3-form gauge field of the 11-dimensional supergravity multiplet. The M5-brane is the electric-magnetic dual of the M2-brane.

Upon compactification, the M5-brane becomes either the D4-brane or the NS5-brane of type IIA supergravity, depending on whether the 11-dimensional theory is reduced along a direction parallel or orthogonal to the M5-brane, respectively.

The worldvolume theory on a stack of M5-branes at low energies is the six-dimensional N=(2,0) superconformal field theory (SCFT) with gauge algebra of the A-type.^[2] Other gauge algebras can be realised by placing the stack of branes on a singularity.^[3]

The PST model provides a Green-Schwarz description of the worldvolume physics of a single M5-brane.^[4] On the other hand, direct knowledge of the non-Abelian case, for instance via a Lagrangian description, is not presently available, due to various technical difficulties. Since superconformal symmetry is only available in 6 or lower spacetime dimensions, this maximally supersymmetric theory may be used to derive an infinite number of other theories. Furthermore, via the AdS/CFT correspondence, the M5-brane worldvolume theory can be used to study M-theory on asymptotically Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes.

Despite the lack of a Lagrangian formulation, brane constructions provide evidence that the M5-brane worldvolume theory can support four- and two-codimensional solitonic excitations, namely self-dual strings and three-branes.

v t e String theory
Background	Strings Cosmic strings History of string theory First superstring revolution Second superstring revolution String theory landscape
Theory	Nambu–Goto action Polyakov action Bosonic string theory Superstring theory Type I string Type II string Type IIA string Type IIB string Heterotic string N=2 superstring F-theory String field theory Matrix string theory Non-critical string theory Non-linear sigma model Tachyon condensation RNS formalism GS formalism
String duality	T-duality S-duality U-duality Montonen–Olive duality
Particles and fields	Graviton Dilaton Tachyon Ramond–Ramond field Kalb–Ramond field Magnetic monopole Dual graviton Dual photon
Branes	D-brane NS5-brane M2-brane M5-brane S-brane Black brane Black holes Black string Brane cosmology Quiver diagram Hanany–Witten transition
Conformal field theory	Virasoro algebra Mirror symmetry Conformal anomaly Conformal algebra Superconformal algebra Vertex operator algebra Loop algebra Kac–Moody algebra Wess–Zumino–Witten model
Gauge theory	Anomalies Instantons Chern–Simons form Bogomol'nyi–Prasad–Sommerfield bound Exceptional Lie groups (G₂, F₄, E₆, E₇, E₈) ADE classification Dirac string p-form electrodynamics
Geometry	Worldsheet Kaluza–Klein theory Compactification Why 10 dimensions? Kähler manifold Ricci-flat manifold Calabi–Yau manifold Hyperkähler manifold K3 surface G₂ manifold Spin(7)-manifold Generalized complex manifold Orbifold Conifold Orientifold Moduli space Hořava–Witten theory K-theory (physics) Twisted K-theory
Supersymmetry	Supergravity Eleven-dimensional supergravity Type I supergravity Type IIA supergravity Type IIB supergravity Superspace Lie superalgebra Lie supergroup
Holography	Holographic principle AdS/CFT correspondence
M-theory	Matrix theory Introduction to M-theory
String theorists	Aganagić Arkani-Hamed Atiyah Banks Berenstein Bousso Curtright Dijkgraaf Distler Douglas Duff Dvali Ferrara Fischler Friedan Gates Gliozzi Gopakumar Green Greene Gross Gubser Gukov Guth Hanson Harvey 't Hooft Hořava Gibbons Kachru Kaku Kallosh Kaluza Kapustin Klebanov Knizhnik Kontsevich Klein Linde Maldacena Mandelstam Marolf Martinec Minwalla Moore Motl Mukhi Myers Nanopoulos Năstase Nekrasov Neveu Nielsen van Nieuwenhuizen Novikov Olive Ooguri Ovrut Polchinski Polyakov Rajaraman Ramond Randall Randjbar-Daemi Roček Rohm Sagnotti Scherk Schwarz Seiberg Sen Shenker Siegel Silverstein Sơn Staudacher Steinhardt Strominger Sundrum Susskind Townsend Trivedi Turok Vafa Veneziano Verlinde Verlinde Wess Witten Yau Yoneya Zamolodchikov Zamolodchikov Zaslow Zumino Zwiebach

References

[edit]

^ Gueven, Rahmi (1992). "Black p-brane solutions of D = 11 supergravity theory". Physics Letters B. 276 (49). doi:10.1016/0370-2693(92)90540-K.
^ Witten, Edward (1997). "Five-brane effective action in M-theory". Journal of Geometry and Physics. 22 (2): 103–133. arXiv:hep-th/9610234. doi:10.1016/S0393-0440(97)80160-X.
^ Ferrara, Sergio; Kehagias, Alexandros; Partouche, Hervé; Zaffaroni, Alberto (1998). "Membranes and Fivebranes with Lower Supersymmetry and their AdS Supergravity Duals". Physics Letters B. 431: 42–48. arXiv:hep-th/9803109. doi:10.1016/S0370-2693%2898%2900558-9.
^ Pasti, Paolo; Sorokin, Dmitri; Tonin, Mario (1997). "Covariant Action for a D = 11 Five-Brane with the Chiral Field". Physics Letters B. 398: 41. arXiv:hep-th/9701037. doi:10.1016/S0370-2693(97)00188-3.

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