Intersecting M-branes and bound states

TL;DR

This paper constructs multi-scalar, multi-center p-brane solutions in M-theory, demonstrating that all supersymmetric p-branes can be understood as bound states or intersections of fundamental M-branes, clarifying their lower-dimensional interpretations.

Contribution

It introduces explicit multi-center solutions and shows that all supersymmetric p-branes are bound states or intersections of basic M-branes, providing a unified M-theory perspective.

Findings

All supersymmetric p-branes can be viewed as bound states of 1/2 supersymmetry-preserving p-branes.

Supersymmetric p-branes in lower dimensions are intersections or boosted M-branes in D=11.

Explicit multi-scalar, multi-center solutions in toroidally compactified M-theory are constructed.

Abstract

In this paper, we construct multi-scalar, multi-center $p$-brane solutions in toroidally compactified M-theory. We use these solutions to show that all supersymmetric $p$-branes can be viewed as bound states of certain basic building blocks, namely $p$-branes that preserve $1/2$ of the supersymmetry. We also explore the M-theory interpretation of $p$-branes in lower dimensions. We show that all the supersymmetric $p$-branes can be viewed as intersections of M-branes or boosted M-branes in $D=11$.