Non-SUSY pp-branes delocalized in two directions, tachyon condensation and T-duality

We here generalize our previous construction [hep-th/0409019] of non-supersymmetric $p$-branes delocalized in one transverse spatial direction to two transverse spatial directions in supergravities in arbitrary dimensions ($d$). These solutions are characterized by five parameters. We show how these solutions in $d=10$ interpolate between D($p+2$)-anti-D($p+2$) brane system, non-BPS D$(p+1)$-branes (delocalized in one direction) and BPS D$p$-branes by adjusting and scaling the parameters in suitable ways. This picture is very similar to the descent relations obtained by Sen in the open string effective description of non-BPS D$(p+1)$ brane and BPS D$p$-brane as the respective tachyonic kink and vortex solutions on the D$(p+2)$-anti-D$(p+2)$ brane system (with some differences). We compare this process with the T-duality transformation which also has the effect of increasing (or decreasing) the dimensionality of the branes by one.Comment: 19 pages, late

Intersecting non-SUSY pp-brane with chargeless 0-brane as black pp-brane

Unlike BPS $p$-brane, non-supersymmetric (non-susy) $p$-brane could be either charged or chargeless. As envisaged in [hep-th/0503007], we construct an intersecting non-susy $p$-brane with chargeless non-susy $q$-brane by taking T-dualities along the delocalized directions of the non-susy $q$-brane solution delocalized in $(p-q)$ transverse directions (where $p\geq q$). In general these solutions are characterized by four independent parameters. We show that when $q=0$ the intersecting charged as well as chargeless non-susy $p$-brane with chargeless 0-brane can be mapped by a coordinate transformation to black $p$-brane when two of the four parameters characterizing the solution take some special values. For definiteness we restrict our discussion to space-time dimensions $d=10$. We observe that parameters characterizing the black brane and the related dynamics are in general in a different branch of the parameter space from those describing the brane-antibrane annihilation process. We demonstrate this in the two examples, namely, the non-susy D0-brane and the intersecting non-susy D4 and D0-branes, where the solutions with the explicit microscopic descriptions are known.Comment: 25 page

ADM masses for black strings and p-branes

An ADM mass formula is derived for a wide class of black solutions with certain spherical symmetry. By applying this formula, we calculate the ADM masses for recently discovered black strings and $p$-branes in diverse dimensions. By this, the Bogolmol'nyi equation can be shown to hold explicitly. A useful observation is made for non-extremal black $p$-branes that only for $p = 0$, i.e. for a black hole, can its ADM mass be read directly from the asymptotic behaviour of the metric component $g_{00}$.Comment: 9 pages, harvmac, CERN-TH.6877/93.(a typing error in eq. (3.2) corrected

The open string pair-production rate enhancement by a magnetic flux

We extend the amplitude calculations of \cite{Lu:2009yx} to exhaust the remaining cases for which one set of D$_p$ branes carrying a flux (electric or magnetic) is placed parallel at separation to the other set carrying also a flux but with the two fluxes sharing at most one common field-strength index. We then find that the basic structure of amplitudes remains the same when the two fluxes share at least one common index but it is more general when the two fluxes share no common index. We discuss various properties of the amplitudes such as the large separation limit, the onset of various instabilities and the open string pair production. In particular, when one flux is electric and weak and the other is magnetic and fixed, we find that the open string pair production rate is greatly enhanced by the presence of this magnetic flux when the two fluxes share no common field-strength index and this rate becomes significant when the separation is on the order of string scale.Comment: 33 pages, no figures, a few points refined to the published version JHEP09(2009)09

On the low energy brane/anti-brane dynamics

We study the dynamical behavior of a pair of Dp-brane and anti Dp-brane ($0 \leq p \leq 6$) moving parallel to each other in the region where the brane and anti-brane annihilation will not occur and the low energy description is valid. Given this, we perform a general analysis, in the center of mass frame, of the behavior of the effective potential with respect to the relative brane separation and find that the classical orbits of this system are in general unbound except for $p = 6$ case for which classical bound orbits exist. The non-linearity of the low energy DBI action for D-brane is important for the underlying dynamics. We solve also the explicit orbits for $p = 6$ case.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures; shorten version published in Phys. Lett

An SL(2, Z) Multiplet of Type IIB Super Five-Branes

It is well-known that the low energy string theory admits a non-singular solitonic super five-brane solution which is the magnetic dual to the fundamental string solution. By using the symmetry of the type IIB string theory, we construct an SL(2, Z) multiplet of magnetically charged super five-branes starting from this solitonic solution. These solutions are characterized by two integral three-form charges $(q_1, q_2)$ and are stable when the integers are coprime. We obtain an expression for the tension of these $(q_1, q_2)$ five-branes as envisaged by Witten. The SL(2, Z) multiplets of black strings and black fivebranes and the existence of similar magnetic dual solutions of strings in type II string theory in $D < 10$ have also been discussed.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX, no figures, Eqs.(18)-(26) have been corrected, some important changes have been made, replaces the withdrawn versio

On the determination of the dilaton-antisymmetric tensor couplings in supergravity theories

A new approach is provided to determine the dilaton--antisymmetric tensor coupling in a supergravity theory by considering the static supersymmetric field configuration around a super extended object, which is consistently formulated in a curved superspace. By this, the corresponding SUSY transformation rules can also be determined for vanishing fermionic fields as well as bosonic fields other than those in the determined coupling. Therefore, we can, in turn, use this determined part of the supergravity theory to study all the related vacuum-like solutions. We have determined the dilaton--antisymmetric tensor couplings, in which each of the antisymmetric tensors is a singlet of the automorphism group of the corresponding superalgebra, for every supergravity multiplet. This actually happens only for $N \leq 2$ supergravity theories, which agrees completely with the spin-content analysis and the classified $N \leq 2$ super $p$-branes, therefore giving more support to the existence of the fundamental Type II $p$-branes. A prediction is made of the $D = 9, N = 2$ supergravity which has not yet been written down so far.Comment: 23 pages, harvmac, CERN-TH.6691/9

Fundamental strings and NS5-branes from unstable D-branes in supergravity

By using the non-supersymmetric $p$-brane solutions delocalized in arbitrary number of transverse directions in type II supergravities, we show how they can be regarded as interpolating solutions between unstable D$p$-branes (a non-BPS D-brane or a pair of coincident D-brane-antiD-brane) and fundamental strings and also between unstable D$p$-branes and NS5-branes. We also show that some of these solutions can be regarded as interpolating solutions between NS5/$\bar{\rm NS}$5 and D$p$-branes (for $p \leq 5$). This gives a closed string description of the tachyon condensation and lends support to the conjecture that the open string theory on unstable D-branes at the tachyonic vacuum has soliton solutions describing not only the lower dimensional BPS D-branes, but also the fundamental strings as well as the NS5-branes.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, one statement corrected and one reference added, v3: more details of the solution used is given, version to appear in Phys. Lett.

Non-SUSY pp-branes, bubbles and tubular branes

We consider non-supersymmetric $p$-brane solutions of type II string theories characterized by three parameters. When the charge parameter vanishes and one of the other two takes a specific value, the corresponding chargeless solutions can be regular and describe ``bubbles'' in static (unstable) equilibrium when lifted to $d = 11$. In appropriate coordinates, they represent D6 branes with a tubular topology R$^{1,p}$ $\times$ S$^{6-p}$ when reduced to $d=10$, called the tubular D6 branes, held in static equilibrium by a fixed magnetic flux (fluxbrane). Moreover, a `rotation parameter' can be introduced to either of the above two eleven dimensional configurations, giving rise to a generalized configuration labelling by the parameter. As such, it brings out the relations among non-supersymmetric $p$-branes, bubbles and tubular D6 branes. Given our understanding on tubular D6 branes, we are able to reinforce the interpretation of the chargeless non-supersymmetric $p$-branes as representing $p$-brane-anti$p$-brane (or non-BPS $p$-brane) systems, and understand the static nature and various singularities of these systems in a classical supergravity approximation.Comment: 18 pages, footnote 7 removed due to some erro

Remarks on the instability of black Dp-branes

We show that for black D$p$-branes having charge $Q$ and Hawking temperature $T$, the product $QT^{7-p}$ is bounded from above for $p\leq 5$ and is unbounded for $p=6$. While the maximum occurs at some finite value of a parameter for $p \leq 4$, it occurs at infinity of the parameter for $p=5$. As a consequence, for fixed charge, there are two black D$p$-branes (for $p\leq 4$) at any given temperature less than its maximum value, and when the temperature is maximum there is one black D$p$-brane. For $p=5$, there is only one black D5-brane at a given temperature less than its maximum value, whereas, for $p=6$, since there is no bound for the temperature, there is always a black D6-brane solution at a given temperature. Of the two black D$p$-branes (for $p\leq 4$), one is large which is shown to be thermodynamically unstable and the other is small which is stable. But for $p=5,6$, the black D$p$-branes are always thermodynamically unstable. The stable, small black D$p$-brane, however, under certain conditions, can become unstable quantum mechanically and decay either to a BPS D$p$-brane or to a Kaluza-Klein "bubble of nothing" through closed string tachyon condensation. The small D5, D6 branes, although classically unstable, have the same fate under similar conditions.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 1 figure, v2: minor clarifications added, v3: added free energy calculation, version to appear in Phys. Lett.