nLab topological membrane

Idea

A membrane sigma-model topological quantum field theory that is roughly related to topological M-theory as the M2-brane is related to M-theory and to the topological string (A-model/B-model) as the M2-brane is related to the string and to the topological M5-brane as the M2-brane is related to the M5-brane.

The target space of the topological membrane is a G₂-manifold, the action functional is governed by the higher holonomy of the compatible supergravity C-field over the membrane worldvolume.

Definition

According to (Bao-Bengtsson-Cederwall-Nillson 05, equation (2.14)) the topological $(p=2)$-brane is the super 2-brane which exists in $D = 7$ according to the brane scan, which says that the super Poincare Lie algebra in $D = 7$ carries an exceptional Lie algebra cocycle of degree $(2+2)$, hence admits the Green-Schwarz action functional for a super 2-brane.

Related concepts

The brane scan.

The Green-Schwarz type super $p$-brane sigma-models (see at table of branes for further links and see at The brane bouquet for the full classification):

$\stackrel{d}{=}$	$p =$	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
11			M2			M5
10	D0	F1, D1	D2	D3	D4	NS5, D5	D6	D7	D8	D9
9					*
8				*
7			M2${}_{top}$
6		F1${}_{little}$, S1${}_{sd}$		S3
5			*
4		*	*
3		*

(The first columns follow the exceptional spinors table.)

The corresponding exceptional super L-∞ algebra cocycles (schematically, without prefactors):

$\stackrel{d}{=}$	$p =$	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
11			$\Psi^2 E^2$ on sIso(10,1)			$\Psi^2 E^5 + \Psi^2 E^2 C_3$ on m2brane
10		$\Psi^2 E^1$ on sIso(9,1)	$B_2^2 + B_2 \Psi^2 + \Psi^2 E^2$ on StringIIA	$\cdots$ on StringIIB	$B_2^3 + B_2^2 \Psi^2 + B_2 \Psi^2 E^2 + \Psi^2 E^4$ on StringIIA	$\Psi^2 E^5$ on sIso(9,1)	$B_2^4 + \cdots + \Psi^2 E^6$ on StringIIA	$\cdots$ on StringIIB	$B_2^5 + \cdots + \Psi^2 E^8$ in StringIIA	$\cdots$ on StringIIB
9					$\Psi^2 E^4$ on sIso(8,1)
8				$\Psi^2 E^3$ on sIso(7,1)
7			$\Psi^2 E^2$ on sIso(6,1)
6		$\Psi^2 E^1$ on sIso(5,1)		$\Psi^2 E^3$ on sIso(5,1)
5			$\Psi^2 E^2$ on sIso(4,1)
4		$\Psi^2 E^1$ on sIso(3,1)	$\Psi^2 E^2$ on sIso(3,1)
3		$\Psi^2 E^1$ on sIso(2,1)

The Brane molecule

Furthermore, there exists a more general classification of possible supermembranes in spacetime with $S$ spatial dimensions and $T$ time dimensions, appearing in (Blencowe-Duff 88). In this sense, the brane scan is but the $T=1$ branch of the brane molecule. The objects appearing here are expected to be related to other generalizations of string theory. See D=12 supergravity and bosonic M-theory.

Compare:

• Miles Blencowe, Mike Duff, Supermembranes and the Signature of Space-time, Nucl. Phys. B310 (1988) 387-404 (spire:262142, 10.1016/0550-3213(88)90155-1, pdf)

• brane bouquet

Table of branes appearing in supergravity/string theory (for classification see at brane scan).

brane	in supergravity	charged under gauge field	has worldvolume theory
black brane	supergravity	higher gauge field	SCFT
D-brane	type II	RR-field	super Yang-Mills theory
$(D = 2n)$	type IIA	$\,$	$\,$
D(-2)-brane	$\,$	$\,$
D0-brane	$\,$	$\,$	BFSS matrix model
D2-brane	$\,$	$\,$	$\,$
D4-brane	$\,$	$\,$	D=5 super Yang-Mills theory with Khovanov homology observables
D6-brane	$\,$	$\,$	D=7 super Yang-Mills theory
D8-brane	$\,$	$\,$
$(D = 2n+1)$	type IIB	$\,$	$\,$
D(-1)-brane	$\,$	$\,$	$\,$
D1-brane	$\,$	$\,$	2d CFT with BH entropy
D3-brane	$\,$	$\,$	N=4 D=4 super Yang-Mills theory
D5-brane	$\,$	$\,$	$\,$
D7-brane	$\,$	$\,$	$\,$
D9-brane	$\,$	$\,$	$\,$
(p,q)-string	$\,$	$\,$	$\,$
(D25-brane)	(bosonic string theory)
NS-brane	type I, II, heterotic	circle n-connection	$\,$
string	$\,$	B2-field	2d SCFT
NS5-brane	$\,$	B6-field	little string theory
D-brane for topological string			$\,$
A-brane			$\,$
B-brane			$\,$
M-brane	11D SuGra/M-theory	circle n-connection	$\,$
M2-brane	$\,$	C3-field	ABJM theory, BLG model
M5-brane	$\,$	C6-field	6d (2,0)-superconformal QFT
M9-brane/O9-plane			heterotic string theory
M-wave
topological M2-brane	topological M-theory	C3-field on G₂-manifold
topological M5-brane	$\,$	C6-field on G₂-manifold
S-brane
SM2-brane, membrane instanton
M5-brane instanton
D3-brane instanton
solitons on M5-brane	6d (2,0)-superconformal QFT
self-dual string		self-dual B-field
3-brane in 6d

References

• Ling Bao, Viktor Bengtsson, Martin Cederwall, Bengt Nilsson, Membranes for Topological M-Theory (arXiv:hep-th/0507077)

• Giulio Bonelli, Alessandro Tanzini, Maxim Zabzine, On topological M-theory (arXiv:hep-th/0509175)

• Ling Bao, Topological membranes, Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 171 (2007) 259-260 (inspire)

In the context of exceptional generalized geometry:

• Noriaki Ikeda, Tatsuya Tokunaga, Topological Membranes with 3-Form H Flux on Generalized Geometries, Adv.Theor.Math.Phys.12:1259-1281,2008 (arXiv:hep-th/0609098)