Branes

TL;DR

This review explores string theory branes from multiple perspectives, discussing their roles as string endpoints, supergravity backgrounds, and dynamical objects, along with their interactions and effects.

Contribution

It synthesizes different descriptions of branes and reviews various interaction effects, providing a comprehensive overview from a lecture course.

Findings

Descriptions of branes as string endpoints, backgrounds, and dynamical objects.

Analysis of brane interactions such as bound states and Hanany–Witten effects.

Discussion of phenomena like supertubes and Myers effects.

Abstract

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 descriptions various effects of brane interactions are reviewed: brane bound states, Hanany--Witten and Myers effects, supertubes. The review is based on the lecture course given at MIPT.