A short representation of the six-dimensional (2, 0) algebra

TL;DR

This paper constructs a BPS-saturated representation of the six-dimensional (2, 0) algebra involving string-like objects, and explores its implications for understanding string degrees of freedom in (2, 0) theories.

Contribution

It introduces a novel string-based representation of the (2, 0) algebra and connects it to five-dimensional theories and tensor multiplets.

Findings

Constructed a BPS-saturated string representation of the (2, 0) algebra.

Reduced the representation to a massive vector multiplet in five dimensions.

Developed quantum fields from the representation's states and identified a conserved two-form current.

Abstract

We construct a BPS-saturated representation of the six-dimensional (2, 0) algebra with a certain non-zero value of the `central' charge. This representation is naturally carried by strings with internal degrees of freedom rather than by point particles. Upon compactification on a circle, it reduces to a massive vector multiplet in five dimensions. We also construct quantum fields out of the creation and annihilation operators of the states of this representation, and show how they give rise to a conserved two-form current that can be coupled to a tensor multiplet. We hope that these results may be relevant for understanding the degrees of freedom associated with strings in interacting (2, 0) theories.