Oscillating p-Branes

Coset methods are used to construct the action describing the dynamics associated with the spontaneous breaking of the Poincare symmetries of D dimensional space-time due to the embedding of a p-brane with codimension N=D-p-1. The resulting world volume action is an ISO(1,p+N) invariant generalization of the Nambu-Goto action in d=p+1 dimensional space-time. Analogous results are obtained for an AdS p-brane with codimension N embedded in D dimensional AdS space, yielding an SO(2,p+N) invariant version of the Nambu-Goto action in d=p+1 dimensional space-time. Attention is focused on a supersymmetric extension of the D=6 Minkowski space case with an embedded p=3 brane; a particular realization of which is provided by a non-BPS vortex. Here both the Nambu-Goto-Akulov-Volkov action and its dual tensor form are presented.Comment: 25 pages, no figure

Open P-Branes

It is shown that many of the $p$-branes of type II string theory and $d=11$ supergravity can have boundaries on other $p$-branes. The rules for when this can and cannot occur are derived from charge conservation. For example it is found that membranes in $d=11$ supergravity and IIA string theory can have boundaries on fivebranes. The boundary dynamics are governed by the self-dual $d=6$ string. A collection of $N$ parallel fivebranes contains \half N(N-1) self-dual strings which become tensionless as the fivebranes approach one another.Comment: harvmac, 8 page

Quantization of p-branes, D-p-branes and M-branes

Killing spinors of space-time BPS configurations play an important role in quantization of theories with the fermionic worldvolume local symmetry. We show here how it works for the GS superstring, BST supermembrane and M-5-brane. We show that the non-linear generalization of the (2,0) d=6 tensor supermultiplet action is the M-5-brane action in a Killing gauge. For D-p-branes the novel feature of quantization is that they can be quantized Lorentz covariantly, in particular, for D-0-brane a gauge exists where the action is covariant and free. We present a general condition on possible choice of gauges for the kappa-symmetric branes.Comment: 9 pages, Talk at STRINGS'97 Meeting, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 16-21 Jun 199

Symmetries of P-Branes

Using canonical methods, we study the invariance properties of a bosonic $p$--brane propagating in a curved background locally diffeomorphic to $M\times G$, where $M$ is spacetime and $G$ a group manifold. The action is that of a gauged sigma model in $p+1$ dimensions coupled to a Yang--Mills field and a $(p+1)$--form in $M$. We construct the generators of Yang-Mills and tensor gauge transformations and exhibit the role of the $(p+1)$--form in cancelling the potential Schwinger terms. We also discuss the Noether currents associated with the global symmetries of the action and the question of the existence of infinite dimensional symmetry algebras, analogous to the Kac-Moody symmetry of the string.Comment: 15 pages, CTP-TAMU-32/92, SISSA 182/92/E

Interacting open p-branes

The Kalb-Ramond action, derived for interacting strings through an action-at-a-distance force, is generalized to the case of interacting p-dimensional objects (p-branes) in D-dimensional space-time. The open p-brane version of the theory is especially taken up. On account of the existence of their boundary surface, the fields mediating interactions between open p-branes are obtained as massive gauge fields, quite in contrast to massless gauge ones for closed p-branes.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe

Intersecting M-branes and bound states

In this paper, we construct multi-scalar, multi-center $p$-brane solutions in toroidally compactified M-theory. We use these solutions to show that all supersymmetric $p$-branes can be viewed as bound states of certain basic building blocks, namely $p$-branes that preserve $1/2$ of the supersymmetry. We also explore the M-theory interpretation of $p$-branes in lower dimensions. We show that all the supersymmetric $p$-branes can be viewed as intersections of M-branes or boosted M-branes in $D=11$.Comment: Latex, 14 pages, no figures. References adde

p-branes on the waves

We present a large family of simple, explicit ten-dimensional supergravity solutions describing extended extremal supersymmetric Ramond-Ramond p-branes embedded into time-dependent dilaton-gravity plane waves of an arbitrary (isotropic) profile, with the brane world-volume aligned parallel to the propagation direction of the wave. Generalizations to the non-extremal case are not analyzed explicitly, but can be pursued as indicated.Comment: 11 pages; v.2 minor notation changes, minor typos corrected (published version