nLab The World in Eleven Dimensions

Contents

This page collects material related to the book collection

that collects and comments key articles in the (pre-)history of M-theory (M-branes in 11-dimensional supergravity) in the 1990s.

See also

For related texts see at books about string theory.

See also at string theory FAQ

Contents

Eleven-dimensional supergravity

On 11-dimensional supergravity

On classification of supersymmetry-super Lie algebras:

(…)

On the KK-monopole:

The eleven-dimensional supermembrane

On the M2-brane

The eleven-dimensional superfivebrane

On the M5-brane

MM-theory (before MM-theory was cool)

on M-theory

Intersecting branes and black holes

On black branes, BPS-states of intersecting M-branes,

as well as black holes in string theory and Bekenstein-Hawking entropy

MM-theory and duality

On duality in string theory, mostly S-duality and dual heterotic string theory, ending with AdS-CFT

On whether “M” is really for “membrane” after all:

In other words, perhaps D=11D = 11 supergravity together with its BPS configurations: plane wave, membrane, fivebrane, KK monopole and the D=11D = 11 embedding of the Type II eight brane are are all there is to MM-theory and that we need look no further for new degrees of freedom. (p. 329)

Concluding with:

future historians may judge the period 1984-95 as a time when theorists were like boys playing by the sea shore, and diverting themselves with the smoother pebbles or prettier shells of perturbative ten-dimensiorial superstrings while the great ocean of non-perturbative eleven-dimensional M-theory lay all undiscovered before them. (p.330)

Compare to the situation 20 years later as in

with its section 12: “Keep true to the dreams of thy youth: M-theory”

For more see at M-theory – The open problem

category: reference

Last revised on June 25, 2024 at 08:47:55. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.