Dual D-Brane Actions

TL;DR

This paper constructs dual super Dp-brane actions via a world-volume gauge field duality transformation, revealing their properties and consistency with string theory dualities, including SL(2,Z) and M-theory relations.

Contribution

It introduces a method to derive dual D-brane actions with (p-2)-form gauge fields, demonstrating their expected duality transformations and connections to M-theory.

Findings

D1 and D3-brane transformations align with SL(2,Z) duality.

D2 and D4-brane transformations match type IIA and M-theory expectations.

Dual D4-brane action matches the reduction of M5-brane action.

Abstract

Dual super Dp-brane actions are constructed by carrying out a duality transformation of the world-volume U(1) gauge field. The resulting world-volume actions, which contain a (p - 2)-form gauge field, are shown to have the expected properties. Specifically, the D1-brane and D3-brane transform in ways that can be understood on the basis of the SL(2, Z) duality of type IIB superstring theory. Also, the D2-brane and the D4-brane transform in ways that are expected on the basis of the relationship between type IIA superstring theory and 11d M theory. For example, the dual D4-brane action is shown to coincide with the double-dimensional reduction of the recently constructed M5-brane action. The implications for gauge-fixed D-brane actions are discussed briefly.