On the covariance of the Dirac-Born-Infeld-Myers action

A covariant version of the non-abelian Dirac-Born-Infeld-Myers action is presented. The non-abelian degrees of freedom are incorporated by adjoining to the (bosonic) worldvolume of the brane a number of anticommuting fermionic directions corresponding to boundary fermions in the string picture. The proposed action treats these variables as classical but can be given a matrix interpretation if a suitable quantisation prescription is adopted. After gauge-fixing and quantisation of the fermions, the action is shown to be in agreement with the Myers action derived from T-duality. It is also shown that the requirement of covariance in the above sense leads to a modified WZ term which also agrees with the one proposed by Myers.Comment: 18 pages. Minor alterations to the text; references adde

A pearl on SAT solving in Prolog

A succinct SAT solver is presented that exploits the control provided by delay declarations to implement watched literals and unit propagation. Despite its brevity the solver is surprisingly powerful and its elegant use of Prolog constructs is presented as a programming pearl

Kappa-symmetry for coincident D-branes

A kappa-symmetric action for coincident D-branes is presented. It is valid in the approximation that the additional fermionic variables, used to incorporate the non-abelian degrees of freedom, are treated classically. The action is written as a Bernstein-Leites integral on the supermanifold obtained from the bosonic worldvolume by adjoining the extra fermions. The integrand is a very simple extension of the usual Green-Schwarz action for a single brane; all symmetries, except for kappa, are manifest, and the proof of kappa-symmetry is very similar to the abelian case.Comment: 18 pages. References adde

The cohomology of superspace, pure spinors and invariant integrals

The superform construction of supersymmetric invariants, which consists of integrating the top component of a closed superform over spacetime, is reviewed. The cohomological methods necessary for the analysis of closed superforms are discussed and some further theoretical developments presented. The method is applied to higher-order corrections in heterotic string theory up to \a'^3. Some partial results on $N=2,d=10$ and $N=1,d=11$ are also given.Comment: 24 pages. Minor changes; added reference

Kappa-symmetric Derivative Corrections to D-brane Dynamics

We show how the superembedding formalism can be applied to construct manifestly kappa-symmetric higher derivative corrections for the D9-brane. We also show that all correction terms appear at even powers of the fundamental length scale $l$. We explicitly construct the first potential correction, which corresponds to the kappa-symmetric version of the $\partial^4 F^4$, which one finds from the four-point amplitude of the open superstring.Comment: 20 pages. Minor changes, added reference

On superembedding approach to type IIB 7-branes

In search for a dynamical description of Q7-branes, which were known as solutions of supergravity equations and then conjectured to be dynamical objects of type IIB string theory, we study the superembedding description of 7-branes in curved type IIB supergravity superspace. With quite minimal and natural assumptions we have found that there is no place for Q7-branes as dynamical branes in superembedding approach. Our study might give implications for the old-standing problem of the covariant and supersymmetric description of multiple Dp-brane systems.Comment: LaTeX, 40 pages, no figures. V2: 44 pages, misprints corrected, minor cosmetic changes, improvements and extensions of discussion, in particular in the parts devoted to derivation of D7-brane equations of motion (Sec. 3) and in Secs. 4.2; appendices E,F added, footnote on page 30 extended, conclusions remain the same. V3. More misprints correcte

Auxiliary Fields for Super Yang-Mills from Division Algebras

Division algebras are used to explain the existence and symmetries of various sets of auxiliary fields for super Yang-Mills in dimensions $d=3,4,6,10$. (Contribution to G\"ursey Memorial Conference I: Strings and Symmetries)Comment: 7 pages, plain TeX, CERN-TH.7470/9

Q7-branes and their coupling to IIB supergravity

We show how, by making use of a new basis of the IIB supergravity axion-dilaton coset, SL(2,R)/SO(2), 7-branes that belong to different conjugacy classes of the duality group SL(2,R) naturally couple to IIB supergravity with appropriate source terms characterized by an SL(2,R) charge matrix Q. The conjugacy classes are determined by the value of the determinant of Q. The (p,q) 7-branes are the branes in the conjugacy class detQ = 0. The 7-branes in the conjugacy class detQ > 0 are labelled by three numbers (p,q,r) which parameterize the matrix Q and will be called Q7-branes. We construct the full bosonic Wess--Zumino term for the Q7-branes. In order to realize a gauge invariant coupling of the Q7-brane to the gauge fields of IIB supergravity it is necessary to introduce an SL(2,R) doublet of two distinct Born--Infeld fields on the Q7-brane world-volume.Comment: 31 pages, Latex fil

Two-Dimensional Helioseismic Power, Phase, and Coherence Spectra of {\it Solar Dynamics Observatory} Photospheric and Chromospheric Observables

While the {\it Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager} (HMI) onboard the {\it Solar Dynamics Observatory} (SDO) provides Doppler velocity [$V$], continuum intensity [$I_C$], and line-depth [$Ld$] observations, each of which is sensitive to the five-minute acoustic spectrum, the {\it Atmospheric Imaging Array} (AIA) also observes at wavelengths -- specifically the 1600 and 1700 Angstrom bands -- that are partly formed in the upper photosphere and have good sensitivity to acoustic modes. In this article we consider the characteristics of the spatio--temporal Fourier spectra in AIA and HMI observables for a 15-degree region around NOAA Active Region 11072. We map the spatio--temporal-power distribution for the different observables and the HMI Line Core [$I_L$], or Continuum minus Line Depth, and the phase and coherence functions for selected observable pairs, as a function of position and frequency. Five-minute oscillation power in all observables is suppressed in the sunspot and also in plage areas. Above the acoustic cut-off frequency, the behaviour is more complicated: power in HMI $I_C$ is still suppressed in the presence of surface magnetic fields, while power in HMI $I_L$ and the AIA bands is suppressed in areas of surface field but enhanced in an extended area around the active region, and power in HMI $V$ is enhanced in a narrow zone around strong-field concentrations and suppressed in a wider surrounding area. The relative phase of the observables, and their cross-coherence functions, are also altered around the active region. These effects may help us to understand the interaction of waves and magnetic fields in the different layers of the photosphere, and will need to be taken into account in multi-wavelength local helioseismic analysis of active regions.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, to be published in Solar Physic

Kappa-symmetric deformations of M5-brane dynamics

We calculate the first supersymmetric and kappa-symmetric derivative deformation of the M5-brane worldvolume theory in a flat eleven-dimensional background. By applying cohomological techniques we obtain a deformation of the standard constraint of the superembedding formalism. The first possible deformation of the constraint and hence the equations of motion arises at cubic order in fields and fourth order in a fundamental length scale $l$. The deformation is unique up to this order. In particular this rules out any induced Einstein-Hilbert terms on the worldvolume. We explicitly calculate corrections to the equations of motion for the tensor gauge supermultiplet.Comment: 17 pages. Additional comments in section