Monopole--Instantons in M2-brane Theories

TL;DR

This paper investigates monopole-instantons in M2-brane theories, specifically ABJM models, calculating their effects on the effective action and their role in resolving singularities, with comparisons to related theories and supergravity.

Contribution

It provides an explicit calculation of the 8-fermion term induced by monopole-instantons in ABJM theories and discusses their significance in moduli space singularity resolution.

Findings

Explicit 8-fermion term calculation in ABJM monopole-instantons

Monopole-instantons help resolve classical singularities in moduli space

Comparison with monopole-instantons in related theories and supergravity

Abstract

We study monopole-instantons in M2-brane theories, focussing on the ABJM class of Chern-Simons gauge theories coupled to matter. We calculate calculate explicitly the 8-fermion term in the effective action induced by these monopole-instantons, and discuss their role in resolving a classical singularity in the moduli space. The results are compared with monopole-instantons in N=8 3d SYM and D-brane theories, as well the dual supergravity description as a membrane scattering process.