arXiv research

We study supersymmetric probe M5-branes in the AdS_4 solution that arises from M5-branes wrapped on a hyperbolic 3-manifold M_3. This amounts to introducing internal defects within the framework of the 3d-3d correspondence. The BPS condition for a probe M5-brane extending along all of AdS_4 requires it to wrap a surfac…

M5-branes' flux quantization linked to non-abelian cohomology.

The abstract discusses constructing 3d N=2 gauge theories using surgeries and M5-branes.

Abelian gerbes and twisted bundles describe the topology of the NS-NS 3-form gauge field strength H. We review how they have been usefully applied to study and resolve global anomalies in open string theory. Abelian 2-gerbes and twisted nonabelian gerbes describe the topology of the 4-form field strength G of M-theory.…

Study gauged supergravity, M5-branes, and class R theories, constraining supergravity coefficients and calculating partition functions.

We show that charge-quantization of the M-theory C-field in J-twisted Cohomotopy implies emergence of a higher Sp(1)-gauge field on single heterotic M5-branes, which exhibits worldvolume twisted String structure.

New construction reveals SU(2)-flavor fields in heterotic M5-brane model.

We highlight what seems to be a remaining subtlety in the argument for the cancellation of the total anomaly associated with the M5-brane in M-theory. Then we prove that this subtlety is resolved under the hypothesis that the C-field flux is charge-quantized in the generalized cohomology theory called J-twisted Cohomot…

We introduce a vanishing property of adjoint Reidemeister torsions of a cusped hyperbolic 3-manifold derived from the physics of wrapped M5-branes on the manifold. To support our physical observation, we present a rigorous proof for the figure-eight knot complement with respect to all slopes. We also present numerical …

In the quest for the mathematical formulation of M-theory, we consider three major open problems: a first-principles construction of the single (abelian) M5-brane Lagrangian density, the origin of the gauge field in heterotic M-theory, and the supersymmetric enhancement of exceptional M-geometry. By combining technique…

In a recent paper, Ohta and Townsend studied the conditions which must be satisfied for a configuration of two intersecting M5-branes at angles to be supersymmetric. In this paper we extend this result to any number of M5-branes or any number of M2-branes. This is accomplished by interpreting their results in terms of …

Researchers create holographic super-embeddings for M5 and M2 branes.

We enhance the action of higher abelian gauge theory associated to a gerbe on an M5-brane with an action of a torus ${\mathbb T}^n (n\ge 2)$, by a noncommutative ${\mathbb T}^n$-deformation of the M5-brane. The ingredients of the noncommutative action and equations of motion include the deformed Hodge duality, deformed…

We complete the classification of supersymmetric configurations of two M5-branes, started by Ohta and Townsend. The novel configurations not considered before are those in which the two branes are moving relative to one another. These configurations are obtained by starting with two coincident branes and Lorentz-transf…

The full 6d Hopf-Wess-Zumino term in the action functional for the M5-brane is anomalous as traditionally defined. What has been missing is a condition implying the higher analogue of level quantization familiar from the 2d Wess-Zumino term. We prove that the anomaly cancellation condition is implied by the hypothesis …

We uncover and highlight relations between the M-branes in M-theory and various topological invariants: the Hopf invariant over $\mathbb{Q}$, $\mathbb{Z}$ and $\mathbb{Z}_2$, the Kervaire invariant, the $f$-invariant, and the $ν$-invariant. This requires either a framing or a corner structure. The canonical framing pro…

The paper supports a conjecture about a vanishing identity for certain 3-manifolds.

Abstract M5 branes on ADE singularities yields BPS spectrum and partition functions.

In this paper, we initiate the study of holographic renormalization group flows acting on the metric of four-manifolds. In particular, we derive a set of equations which govern the evolution of a generic Kähler four-manifold along the renormalization group flow in seven-dimensional gauged supergravity. The physical ele…

We establish a higher generalization of super L-infinity-algebraic T-duality of super WZW-terms for super p-branes. In particular, we demonstrate spherical T-duality of super M5-branes propagating on exceptional-geometric 11d super spacetime.

We study the most general supersymmetric warped M-theory backgrounds with non-trivial G-flux of the type R^{1,2} x M_8 and AdS_3 x M_8. We give a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for preservation of supersymmetry which are phrased in terms of G-structures and their intrinsic torsion. These equations may be in…

Three-dimensional N=2 superconformal field theories are constructed by compactifying M5-branes on three-manifolds. In the infrared the branes recombine, and the physics is captured by a single M5-brane on a branched cover of the original ultraviolet geometry. The branch locus is a tangle, a one-dimensional knotted subm…

We classify and construct all the smooth Kaluza-Klein reductions to ten dimensions of the M2- and M5-brane configurations which preserve some of the supersymmetry. In this way we obtain a wealth of new supersymmetric IIA backgrounds describing composite configurations of D-branes, NS-branes and flux/nullbranes; bound s…

The worldvolume theory of coincident M5-branes is expected to contain a nonabelian 2-form/nonabelian gerbe gauge theory that is a higher analog of self-dual Yang-Mills theory. But the precise details -- in particular the global moduli / instanton / magnetic charge structure -- have remained elusive. Here we deduce from…

We develop a Chern character map for twisted equivariant non-abelian cohomology.

The actions, anomalies, and quantization conditions allow the M2-brane and the M5-brane to support, in a natural way, structures beyond Spin on their worldvolumes. The main examples are twisted String structures. This also extends to twisted String^c structures, which we introduce and relate to twisted String structure…

Fundamental weight systems identified as quantum states.

Higher gauge theory via differential nonabelian cohomology

We study the boundary conditions in the topologically twisted Chern-Simons matter theories with the Lie 3-algebraic structure. We find that the supersymmetric boundary conditions and the gauge invariant boundary conditions can be unified as the complexified gauge invariant boundary conditions which lead to the supergro…

We consider the topological and geometric structures associated with cohomological and homological objects in M-theory. For the latter, we have M2-branes and M5-branes, the analysis of which requires the underlying spacetime to admit a String structure and a Fivebrane structure, respectively. For the former, we study h…

We argue that G_2 manifolds for M-theory admitting string theory Calabi-Yau duals are fibered by coassociative submanifolds. Dual theories are constructed using the moduli space of M5-brane fibers as target space. Mirror symmetry and various string and M-theory dualities involving G_2 manifolds may be incorporated into…

These are notes for four lectures on higher structures in M-theory as presented at workshops at the Erwin Schroedinger Institute and Tohoku University. The first lecture gives an overview of systems of multiple M5-branes and introduces the relevant mathematical structures underlying a local description of higher gauge …

We reinterpret the generalised Lie derivative of M-theory $E_6$ generalised geometry as hamiltonian flow on a graded symplectic supermanifold. The hamiltonian acts as the nilpotent derivative of the tensor hierarchy of exceptional field theory. This construction is an M-theory analogue of the Courant algebroid and reve…

String structures in degree four are associated with cancellation of anomalies of string theory in ten dimensions. Fivebrane structures in degree eight have recently been shown to be associated with cancellation of anomalies associated to the NS5-brane in string theory as well as the M5-brane in M-theory. We introduce …

Constructs brane current algebras from QP-manifolds, generalizing string currents.

We identify a large class R of three-dimensional N=2 superconformal field theories. This class includes the effective theories T_M of M5-branes wrapped on 3-manifolds M, discussed in previous work by the authors, and more generally comprises theories that admit a UV description as abelian Chern-Simons-matter theories w…

Novel M-theory approach classifies topological phases of matter.

New method uses equivariant volume for gravitational extremization in holography.

M-theory can be defined on closed manifolds as well as on manifolds with boundary. As an extension, we show that manifolds with corners appear naturally in M-theory. We illustrate this with four situations: The lift to bounding twelve dimensions of M-theory on Anti de Sitter spaces, ten-dimensional heterotic string the…

Study large N oscillations in 3D theories related to black hole physics.

We analyse the most general N=2 supersymmetric solutions of D=11 supergravity consisting of a warped product of four-dimensional anti-de-Sitter space with a seven-dimensional Riemannian manifold Y_7. We show that the necessary and sufficient conditions for supersymmetry can be phrased in terms of a local SU(2)-structur…

New solutions of gravity from branes wrapped on orbifolds.

Cyclification of orbifolds explained in cohesive higher topos theory.

The recently conjectured knots-quivers correspondence relates gauge theoretic invariants of a knot $K$ in the 3-sphere to representation theory of a quiver $Q_{K}$ associated to the knot. In this paper we provide geometric and physical contexts for this conjecture within the framework of the large $N$ duality of Ooguri…

We consider geometric and analytical aspects of M-theory on a manifold with boundary Y. The partition function of the C-field requires summing over harmonic forms. When Y is closed Hodge theory gives a unique harmonic form in each de Rham cohomology class, while in the presence of a boundary the Hodge-Morrey-Friedrichs…

We formalize higher dimensional and higher gauge WZW-type sigma-model local prequantum field theory, and discuss its rationalized/perturbative description in (super-)Lie n-algebra homotopy theory (the true home of the "FDA"-language used in the supergravity literature). We show generally how the intersection laws for s…

We formulate a refinement of SU(N) Chern-Simons theory on a three-manifold via the refined topological string and the (2,0) theory on N M5 branes. The refined Chern-Simons theory is defined on any three-manifold with a semi-free circle action. We give an explicit solution of the theory, in terms of a one-parameter refi…

New K-theory framework reveals exotic brane charges and conformal blocks.