The Dual Formulation of M5-brane Action

TL;DR

This paper presents a new dual formulation of the M5-brane action in 11-dimensional supergravity, providing a different perspective from the PST formalism and confirming its consistency through constraint analysis and dimensional reduction.

Contribution

It introduces a novel dual formulation of the M5-brane action, distinct from the PST approach, and demonstrates its validity and relation to D4-brane actions.

Findings

The dual M5-brane action has the correct degrees of freedom.

Comparison shows consistency with existing M5-brane actions.

Double dimensional reduction yields the D4-brane action.

Abstract

We construct a dual formulation, with respect to the conventional PST formalism, of the M5-brane action propagating in a generic 11d supergravity background. Constraint analysis is performed to further justify that our theory has the correct number of degrees of freedom. Comparison of this action with the existing M5-brane actions is carried out. We also show that a conventional D4-brane action is obtained upon double dimensional reduction.