TASI Lectures on D-Branes

TL;DR

This paper introduces D-branes in string theory, explaining their properties, role in nonperturbative phenomena, and applications to string duality, black hole quantum mechanics, and spacetime structure.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of D-branes, including their properties and applications, with new insights into string duality and nonperturbative effects.

Findings

D-branes serve as fundamental nonperturbative objects in string theory.

They offer insights into black hole quantum mechanics.

Applications to string duality deepen understanding of spacetime.

Abstract

This is an introduction to the properties of D-branes, topological defects in string theory on which string endpoints can live. D-branes provide a simple description of various nonperturbative objects required by string duality, and give new insight into the quantum mechanics of black holes and the nature of spacetime at the shortest distances. The first two thirds of these lectures closely follow the earlier ITP lectures hep-th/9602052, written with S. Chaudhuri and C. Johnson. The final third includes more extensive applications to string duality.