World-volume fields and background coupling of branes

TL;DR

This paper discusses the dynamics of branes, focusing on their coupling to background fields in supergravity theories and emphasizing symmetry preservation, aimed at physicists new to string theory.

Contribution

It introduces a method for formulating brane dynamics with non-scalar moduli and their background couplings, highlighting symmetry considerations.

Findings

Method for brane dynamics with non-scalar moduli

Coupling of branes to supergravity background fields

Preservation of maximal symmetry in formulations

Abstract

This is the written version of an invited talk delivered at the workshop ``Quantum gravity in the Southern Cone'' held in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, January 7-10, 1998. After giving a brief introduction to the concept of branes and their role in string theory, this talk describes a method for formulating the dynamics of branes, especially those containing non-scalar moduli. Emphasis is put on the coupling of branes to fields in the low-energy background supergravity theories, and on preservation of maximal amount of manifest symmetry. Due to the nature of the workshop, the presentation is aimed at physicists who are not experts in string theory.