$M$-theory Compactification and Two-brane/Five-brane Duality

TL;DR

This paper explores dual pairs of M-theory compactifications involving two-branes and five-branes, demonstrating how duality transformations interchange these pairs and revealing deep connections between different compactification scenarios.

Contribution

It identifies and analyzes dual pairs of M-theory compactifications involving two-branes and five-branes, showing their interchange under duality transformations.

Findings

Dual pairs of M-theory compactifications are interconnected by duality.

Two-brane and five-brane roles are exchanged under the same duality.

Many examples of these dual pairs are explicitly demonstrated.

Abstract

We discuss various dual {\it pairs} of $M$-theory compactifications. Each pair consists of a compactification in which the two-brane plays the crucial role in relation to a string theory and a compactification in which the five-brane takes center stage. We show that in many examples such dual pairs are interchanged by the {\it same} duality transformation in each case.