On the relationship of gravitational constants in KK reduction

In this short note, we try to clarify a seemly trivial but often confusing question in relating a higher-dimensional physical gravitational constant to its lower-dimensional correspondence in Kaluza-Klein reduction. In particular, we re-derive the low-energy M-theory gravitational constant in terms of type IIA string coupling $g_s$ and constant $\alpha'$ through the metric relation between the two theories.Comment: Final version published in JHE

(1 + p)-Dimensional Open D(p - 2) Brane Theories

The dynamics of a Dp brane can be described either by an open string ending on this brane or by an open D(p - 2) brane ending on the same Dp brane. The ends of the open string couple to a Dp brane worldvolume gauge field while the boundary of the open D(p - 2) brane couples to a (p - 2)-form worldvolume potential whose field strength is Poincare dual to that of the gauge field on the Dp-brane worldvolume. With this in mind, we find that the Poincare dual of the fixed rank-2 magnetic field used in defining a (1 + p)-dimensional noncommutative Yang-Mills (NCYM) gives precisely a near-critical electric field for the open D(p - 2) brane. We therefore find (1 + p)-dimensional open D(p - 2) brane theories along the same line as for obtaining noncommutative open string theories (NCOS), OM theory and open Dp brane theories (ODp) from NS5 brane. Similarly, the Poincare dual of the near-critical electric field used in defining a (1 + p)-dimensional NCOS gives a fixed magnetic-like field. This field along with the same bulk field scalings defines a (1 + p)-dimensional noncommutative field theory. In the same spirit, we can have various (1 + 5)-dimensional noncommutative field theories resulting from the existence of ODp if the description of open D(4 - p) brane ending on the NS5 brane is insisted.Comment: 35 pages, references added and discussion on decoupled field theories refine

Some aspects of interaction amplitudes of D branes carrying worldvolume fluxes

We report a systematic study of the stringy interaction between two sets of Dp branes placed parallel at a separation in the presence of two worldvolume fluxes for each set. We focus in this paper on that the two fluxes on one set have the same structure as those on the other set but they in general differ in values, which can be both electric or both magnetic or one electric and one magnetic. We compute the respective stringy interaction amplitude and find that the presence of electric fluxes gives rise to the open string pair production while that of magnetic ones to the open string tachyon mode. The interplay of these two leads to the open string pair production enhancement in certain cases when one flux is electric and the other is magnetic. In particular, we find that this enhancement occurs even when the electric flux and the magnetic one share one common field strength index which is impossible in the one-flux case studied previously by the present author and his collaborator in [17]. This type of enhancement may have realistic physical applications, say, as a means to explore the existence of extra dimensions.Comment: 49 pages, improved discussion on the matrix element evaluations in section 2, a few footnotes added, typos correcte

GRB 060206: hints of precession of the central engine?

Aims. The high-redshift (z=4.048) gamma-ray burst GRB 060206 showed unusual behavior, with a significant rebrightening by a factor of ~4 at about 3000 s after the burst. We argue that this rebrightening implies that the central engine became active again after the main burst produced by the first ejecta, then drove another more collimated jet-like ejecta with a larger viewing angle. The two ejecta both interacted with the ambient medium, giving rise to forward shocks that propagated into the ambient medium and reverse shocks that penetrated into the ejecta. The total emission was a combination of the emissions from the reverse- and forward- shocked regions. We discuss how this combined emission accounts for the observed rebrightening. Methods. We apply numerical models to calculate the light curves from the shocked regions, which include a forward shock originating in the first ejecta and a forward-reverse shock for the second ejecta. Results. We find evidence that the central engine became active again 2000 s after the main burst. The combined emission produced by interactions of these two ejecta with the ambient medium can describe the properties of the afterglow of this burst. We argue that the rapid rise in brightness at ~3000 s in the afterglow is due to the off-axis emission from the second ejecta. The precession of the torus or accretion disk of the central engine is a natural explanation for the departure of the second ejecta from the line of sight

(m,n)-String-Like Dp-Brane Bound States

An (m, n)-string bound state (with m, n relatively prime integers) in type IIB string theory can be interpreted from the D-string worldsheet point of view as n D-strings carrying m units of quantized electric flux or quantized electric field. We argue, from the D-brane worldvolume point of view, that similar Dp-brane bound states should also exist for $2 \le p \le 8$ in both type IIA (when $p$ is even) and type IIB (when $p$ is odd) string theories. As in $p = 1$ case, these bound states can each be interpreted as $n$ Dp-branes carrying m units of quantized constant electric field. In particular, they all preserve one half of the spacetime supersymmetries.Comment: 16 pages, Revtex, typos corrected and references adde

GRB 060206: Evidence of Precession of Central Engine

The high-redshift (z = 4.048) gamma-ray burst GRB 060206 showed unusual behavior, with a significant re-brightening about 3000 s after the burst. We assume that the central engine became active again 2000 s after the main burst and drove another more collimated off-axis jet. The two jets both interacted with the ambient medium and contributed to the whole emission. We numerically fit this optical afterglow from the two jets using the forward-shock model and the forward-reverse shock model. Combining with the zero time effect, we suggest that the fast rise at ~3000 s in the afterglow was due to the off-axis emission from the second jet. The precession of the torus or accretion disk of the gamma ray burst engine is the natural explanation for the symmetry axes of these two jets not to lie on the same line

((F, D1), D3) Bound State and Its T-dual Daughters

In the previous paper [hep-th/9904129], we constructed a general explicit BPS solution for (F, D3) non-threshold bound state. By using the SL(2,Z) symmetry of type IIB string theory, we here construct from (F, D3) a more general BPS configuration for a D3 brane with certain units of quantized 5-form flux and an infinite number of parallel (F, D1)-strings. We study its decoupling limit and find that given Maldacena's $AdS_5/CFT_4$ correspondence with respect to simple D3 branes and with the usual string coupling, we should have a similar correspondence with respect to this bound state but now with an effective string coupling. We discuss possible descendants of this bound state by T-dualities along its longitudinal or transverse directions. In particular, we present explicit configurations for ((F, Dp), D(p + 2)) bound states for $2 \le p \le 5$. All these configurations preserve one half of the spacetime supersymmetries.Comment: 27 pages; Improved discussion on AdS/CFT correspondence, discussion on extra bound states added, and more references adde