Supergravity and Light-Like Non-commutativity

We construct dual supergravity descriptions of field theories and little string theories with light-like non-commutativity. The field theories are realized on the world-volume of Dp branes with light-like NS $B$ field and M5 branes with light-like $C$ field. The little string theories are realized on the world-volume of NS5 branes with light-like RR $A$ fields. The supergravity backgrounds are closely related to the $A=0,B=0,C=0$ backgrounds. We discuss the implications of these results. We also construct dual supergravity descriptions of ODp theories realized on the worldvolume of NS5 branes with RR backgrounds.Comment: Latex, 15 pages; ref. adde

On Supergravity Solutions of Branes in Melvin Universes

We study supergravity solutions of type II branes wrapping a Melvin universe. These solutions provide the gravity description of non-commutative field theories with non-constant non-commutative parameter. Typically these theories are non-supersymmetric, though they exhibit some feature of their corresponding supersymmetric theories. An interesting feature of these non-commutative theories is that there is a critical length in the theory in which for distances larger than this length the effects of non-commutativity become important and for smaller distances these effects are negligible. Therefore we would expect to see this kind of non-commutativity in large distances which might be relevant in cosmology. We also study M5-brane wrapping on 11-dimensional Melvin universe and its descendant theories upon compactifying on a circle.Comment: 25 pages, latex file; v2: typos corrected, Refs. adde

Open String/Open D-Brane Dualities: Old and New

We examine magnetic and electric near horizon regions of maximally supersymmetric D-brane and NS5-brane bound states and find transformations between near horizon regions with worldvolume dual magnetic and electric fluxes. These point to dual formulations of NCYM, NCOS and OD$p$ theories in the limit of weak coupling and large spatial or temporal non-commutativity length scale in terms of weakly coupled theories with fixed worldvolume dual non-commutativity based on open D-branes. We also examine the strong coupling behavior of the open D-brane theories and propose a unified web of dualities involving strong/weak coupling as well as large/small non-commutativity scale.Comment: 33 pages, Latex, 8 diagrams, added references and a remar

Dualities, Twists, and Gauge Theories with Non-Constant Non-Commutativity

We study the world volume theory of D3-branes wrapping the Melvin universe supported by background NSNS B-field. In the appropriate decoupling limit, the open string dynamics is that of non-commutative guage field theory with non-constant non-commutativity. We identify this model as a simple Melvin twist of flat D3 branes. Along similar lines, one recognizes the model of Hashimoto and Sethi as being the Melvin null twist, and the model of Dolan and Nappi as being the null Melvin twist, of the flat D3-brane. This construction therefore offers a unified perspective on most of the known explicit constructions of non-commutative gauge theories as a decoupled theory of D-branes in a B-field background. We also describe the world volume theory on the D3-brane in Melvin universe which is decaying via the nucleation of monopole anti-monopole pair.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure, References added, typo correcte

Non-Commutative Yang-Mills and the AdS/CFT Correspondence

We study the non-commutative supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at strong coupling using the AdS/CFT correspondence. The supergravity description and the UV/IR relation confirms the expectation that the non-commutativity affects the ultra-violet but not the infra-red of the Yang-Mills dynamics. We show that the supergravity solution dual to the non-commutative N=4 SYM in four dimensions has no boundary and defines a minimal scale. We also show that the relation between the B field and the scale of non-commutativity is corrected at large coupling and determine its dependence on the 't Hooft coupling \lambda.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, References and comments added, typos correcte

Deformation independent open brane metrics and generalized theta parameters

We investigate the consequences of generalizing certain well established properties of the open string metric to the conjectured open membrane and open Dp-brane metrics. By imposing deformation independence on these metrics their functional dependence on the background fields can be determined including the notorious conformal factor. In analogy with the non-commutativity parameter $\Theta^{\mu\nu}$ in the string case, we also obtain `generalized' theta parameters which are rank q+1 antisymmetric tensors (polyvectors) for open Dq-branes and rank 3 for the open membrane case. The expressions we obtain for the open membrane quantities are expected to be valid for general background field configurations, while the open D-brane quantities are only valid for one parameter deformations. By reducing the open membrane data to five dimensions, we show that they, modulo a subtlety with implications for the relation between OM-theory and NCYM, correctly generate the open string and open D2-data.Comment: 24 pages, LaTe

Non-commutative gauge theory on D-branes in Melvin Universes

Non-commutative gauge theory with a non-constant non-commutativity parameter can be formulated as a decoupling limit of open strings ending on D3-branes wrapping a Melvin universe. We construct the action explicitly and discuss various physical features of this theory. The decoupled field theory is not supersymmetric. Nonetheless, the Coulomb branch appears to remain flat at least in the large N and large 't Hooft coupling limit. We also find the analogue of Prasad-Sommerfield monopoles whose size scales with the non-commutativity parameter and is therefore position dependent.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, reference adde

Mass-spin relation for quark anti-quark bound states in non-commutative Yang-Mills theory

We investigate the relationship between mass and spin of quark anti-quark bound state in non-commutative gauge theory with N=4 supersymmetry. In the large N and large 't Hooft coupling limit, these bound states correspond to rotating open strings ending on a D-brane embedded into the supergravity background dual of the non-commutative field theory. Although the physical configuration of the open strings are drastically deformed by the non-commutativity, we find that the relation between the energy and the angular momentum of the bound state is unaffected by the non-commutativity parameter. We also clarify the holographic interpretation of quark anti-quark potential in non-commutative gauge theories.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, v2: references added, note added. v3: Major revision. New material (section 4) added. Title and abstract edite

Thoughts on Membranes, Matrices and Non-Commutativity

We review the passage from the supermembrane to matrix theory via a consistent truncation following a non-commutative deformation in light-cone gauge. Some indications are given that there should exist a generalisation of non-commutativity involving a three-index theta on the membrane, and we discuss some possible ways of investigating the corresponding algebraic structure.Comment: 11 pp, plain tex. Invited talk presented at the conference ``Non-Commutative Geometry and Representation Theory in Mathematical Physics'', Karlstad, Sweden, July 5-10, 200

On the Hierarchy Between Non-Commutative and Ordinary Supersymmetric Yang-Mills

Non-commutative supersymmetric Yang-Mills with rational Theta is dual to an ordinary supersymmetric Yang-Mills with a 't Hooft flux. It is believed that the simplest description is via the ordinary supersymmetric Yang-Mills. We claim, however, that the two descriptions form a hierarchy. The SYM description is the proper description in the ultra violet while the non-commutative description takes over in the infra red.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, references adde