11d Electric-Magnetic Duality and the Dbrane Spectrum

TL;DR

This paper explores the electric-magnetic duality in type II string theories by analyzing pair correlation functions of macroscopic strings in M theory and their relation to D-brane spectra, revealing eleven-dimensional duality evidence.

Contribution

It provides a detailed worldsheet analysis of string correlation functions that supports the eleven-dimensional nature of electric-magnetic duality in D-brane spectra.

Findings

Correlation functions match supergravity predictions for separated strings

Evidence supports eleven-dimensional duality in D-brane spectrum

Clarifies the role of pointlike sources in duality

Abstract

We consider the gedanken calculation of the pair correlation function of spatially-separated macroscopic string solitons in strongly coupled type IIA string/M theory, with the macroscopic strings wrapping the eleventh dimension. The supergravity limit of this correlation function with well-separated, pointlike macroscopic strings corresponds to having also taken the IIA string coupling constant to zero. Thus, the pointlike limit of the gedanken correlation function can be given a precise worldsheet description in the 10D weakly-coupled type IIA string theory, analysed by us in hep-th/0007056 [Nucl. Phys. B591 (2000) 243]. The requisite type IIA string amplitude is the supersymmetric extension of the worldsheet formulation of an off-shell closed string tree propagator in bosonic string theory, a 1986 analysis due to Cohen, Moore, Nelson, and Polchinski. We point out that the evidence for pointlike sources of the zero-form field strength provided by our worldsheet results clarifies that the electric-magnetic duality in the Dirichlet-brane spectrum of type II string theories is eleven-dimensional.