\(D\)-brane bound state redux. (English) Zbl 0911.53052

Sethi, Savdeep; Stern, Mark

Commun. Math. Phys. 194, No. 3, 675-705 (1998).

Summary: We study the existence of \(D\)-brane bound states at threshold in type II string theories. In a number of situations, we can reduce the question of existence to quadrature, and the study of a particular limit of the propagator for the system of \(D\)-branes. This involves a derivation of an index theorem for a family of non-Fredholm operators. In support of the conjectured relation between compactified eleven-dimensional supergravity and type IIA string theory, we show that a bound state exists for two coincident zero-branes. This result also provides support for the conjectured description of \(M\)-theory as a matrix model. In addition, we provide further evidence that there are no BPS bound states for two and three-branes twice wrapped on Calabi-Yau vanishing cycles.

MSC:

53Z05	Applications of differential geometry to physics
81T30	String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory
58J20	Index theory and related fixed-point theorems on manifolds

Keywords:

existence of \(D\)-brane bound states; \(M\)-theory as matrix model; type II string theories; index theorem