On the Gauge Invariance of the Chern-Simons Action for N D-Branes

In this short note we provide a proof that the Chern-Simons part of the action for N D-branes is invariant under gauge transformations of the RR fields of the type C_p ->C_p + d\Lambda_{p-1}, and rewrite the action in a form that makes this symmetry manifest.Comment: 15 page

A Note on Noncommutative D-Brane Actions

We use the nonabelian action of N coincident D(-1) branes in constant background fields, in the N $\to \infty$ limit, to construct noncommutative D-brane actions in an arbitrary noncommutative description and comment on tachyon condensation from this perspective.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX (v2: references added, typos fixed

Exact N=2 Supergravity Solutions With Polarized Branes

We construct several classes of exact supersymmetric supergravity solutions describing D4 branes polarized into NS5 branes and F-strings polarized into D2 branes. These setups belong to the same universality class as the perturbative solutions used by Polchinski and Strassler to describe the string dual of N=1* theories. The D4-NS5 setup can be interpreted as a string dual to a confining 4+1 dimensional theory with 8 supercharges, whose properties we discuss. By T-duality, our solutions give Type IIB supersymmetric backgrounds with polarized branes.Comment: 22 pages. v2 - references added, details clarifie

Exact [script N] = 2 supergravity solutions with polarized branes

We construct several classes of exact supersymmetric supergravity solutions describing D4 branes polarized into NS5 branes and F-strings polarized into D2 branes. These setups belong to the same universality class as the perturbative solutions used by Polchinski and Strassler to describe the string dual of [script N] = 1* theories. The D4-NS5 setup can be interpreted as a string dual to a confining 4 + 1 dimensional theory with 8 supercharges, whose properties we discuss. By T-duality, our solutions give Type IIB supersymmetric backgrounds with polarized branes

A Path Integral Approach To Noncommutative Superspace

A path integral formula for the associative star-product of two superfields is proposed. It is a generalization of the Kontsevich-Cattaneo-Felder's formula for the star-product of functions of bosonic coordinates. The associativity of the star-product imposes certain conditions on the background of our sigma model. For generic background the action is not supersymmetric. The supersymmetry invariance of the action constrains the background and leads to a simple formula for the star-product.Comment: Latex 13 pages. v2: references and footnotes adde

D-Brane Actions and N=2 Supergravity Solutions

Among the most remarkable recent developments in string theory are the AdS/CFT duality, as proposed by Maldacena, and the emergence of noncommutative geometry. It has been known for some time that for a system of almost coincident D-branes the transverse displacements that represent the collective coordinates of the system become matrix-valued transforming in the adjoint representation of U(N). From a geometrical point of view this is rather surprising but, as we will see in Chapter 2, it is closely related to the noncommutative descriptions of D-branes. A consequence of the collective coordinates becoming matrix-valued is the appearance of a dielectric effect in which D-branes can become polarized into higher-dimensional fuzzy D-branes. This last aspect has inspired Polchinski and Strassler to find a nonsingular string dual of a confining four-dimensional gauge theory. The nonsingular geometry is sourced by an extended brane arising from Myers' dielectric effect. Following the spirit of the Polchinski-Strassler paper, we find N = 2 supergravity solutions with polarized branes and a field-theory dual. In our case we are able to present exact supergravity solutions by using M-theory reductions to type IIA supergravity.</p