Orbifolds and Solitons

TL;DR

This paper develops a conformal field theory framework for describing solitonic heterotic strings in type IIA string theory compactified on K3, connecting various dualities and brane configurations.

Contribution

It generalizes previous models by providing a conformal field theory description of solitonic heterotic strings in a specific compactification setting.

Findings

Constructs a conformal field theory model for solitonic heterotic strings.

Links fivebrane configurations to fundamental strings via dualities.

Explores the relation between different fivebrane types in string theories.

Abstract

We propose a conformal field theory description of a solitonic heterotic string in type $IIA$ superstring theory compactified on $K3$, generalizing previous work by J. Harvey, A. Strominger and A. Sen. In ten dimensions the construction gives a fivebrane which is related to the fundamental type $II$ string by electric -- magnetic duality, and to the Dirichlet fivebrane of type $IIB$ string theory by $SL(2, Z)$.