Strings from Membranes and Fivebranes

TL;DR

This paper explores the duality between heterotic and type IIA string theories, revealing how membranes transform and highlighting the significance of D-branes and higher-dimensional objects in string theory.

Contribution

It identifies the transformation of heterotic membranes into fundamental membranes in type IIA theory, addressing a gap in understanding the role of membranes and fivebranes.

Findings

Heterotic membranes map to fundamental membranes in type IIA.

D-branes are essential carriers of Ramond-Ramond charge.

Discussion of membranes and fivebranes in lower-dimensional string theories.

Abstract

Under the six-dimensional heterotic/type $IIA$ duality map, a solitonic membrane solution of heterotic string theory transforms into a singular solution of type $IIA$ theory, and should therefore be interpreted as a fundamental membrane in the latter theory. This finding pointed to a gap in the formulation of string theory that was subsequently filled by the discovery of the role of $D$-branes as the carriers of Ramond-Ramond charge in type $II$ string theory. The roles of compactified eleven-dimensional membranes and fivebranes in five-dimensional string theory are also discussed.