Topological Defects in Gauge Theories of Open p-branes

TL;DR

This paper investigates phase transitions caused by topological defects in gauge theories of open p-branes, revealing how defect condensation leads to distinct massless and massive tensor phases, with implications for string theory boundary conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for understanding phase transitions in open p-brane gauge theories via topological defect condensation, including boundary constraints relevant to string theory.

Findings

Condensation of topological defects results in a decoupled phase with massless and massive tensors.

The study connects defect dynamics to boundary conditions on Dirichlet n-branes.

Provides a theoretical model for phase transitions in open p-brane gauge theories.

Abstract

We study phase transitions induced by topological defects in Abelian gauge theories of open p-branes in (d+1) space-time dimensions. Starting from a massive antisymmetric tensor theory for open p-branes we show how the condensation of topological defects can lead to a decoupled phase with a massless tensor coupled to closed (p-1)-branes and a massive tensor coupled to open (p+1)-branes. We also consider the case, relevant in string theory, in which the boundaries of the p-branes are constrained to live on a Dirichlet n-branes.