Niels A. Obers

U duality and M theory

Abstract This work is intended as a pedagogical introduction to M-theory and to its maximally supersymmetric toroidal compactifications, in the frameworks of 11D supergravity, type II string theory and M(atrix) theory. U-duality is used as the main tool and guideline in uncovering the spectrum of BPS states. We review the 11D supergravity algebra and elementary 1/2-BPS solutions, discuss T-duality in the perturbative and non-perturbative sectors from an algebraic point of view, and apply the same tools to the analysis of U-duality at the level of the effective action and of the BPS spectrum, with a particular emphasis on Weyl and Borel generators. We derive the U-duality multiplets of BPS particles and strings, U-duality invariant mass formulae for 1/2- and 1/4-BPS states for general toroidal compactifications on skew tori with gauge backgrounds, and U-duality multiplets of constraints for states to preserve a given fraction of supersymmetry. A number of mysterious states are encountered in D ≤3, whose existence is implied by T-duality and 11D Lorentz invariance. We then move to the M(atrix) theory point of view, give an introduction to Discrete Light-Cone Quantization (DLCQ) in general and DLCQ of M-theory in particular. We discuss the realization of U-duality as electric–magnetic dualities of the Matrix gauge theory, display the Matrix gauge theory BPS spectrum in detail, and discuss the conjectured extended U-duality group in this scheme.

Essentials of blackfold dynamics

We develop and significantly generalize the effective worldvolume theory for higher-dimensional black holes recently proposed by the authors. The theory, which regards the black hole as a black brane curved into a submanifold of a background spacetime — a blackfold—, can be formulated in terms of an effective fluid that lives on a dynamical worldvolume. Thus the blackfold equations split into intrinsic (fluid-dynamical) equations, and extrinsic (generalized geodesic embedding) equations. The intrinsic equations can be easily solved for equilibrium configurations, thus providing an efficient formalism for the approximate construction of novel stationary black holes. Furthermore, it is possible to study time evolution. In particular, the long-wavelength component of the Gregory-Laflamme instability of black branes is obtained as a sound-mode instability of the effective fluid. We also discuss action principles, connections to black hole thermodynamics, and other consequences and possible extensions of the approach. Finally, we outline how the fluid/AdS-gravity correspondence is related to this formalism.

World-Volume Effective Theory for Higher-Dimensional Black Holes

We argue that the main feature behind novel properties of higher-dimensional black holes, compared to four-dimensional ones, is that their horizons can have two characteristic lengths of very different size. We develop a long-distance world-volume effective theory that captures the black hole dynamics at scales much larger than the short scale. In this limit the black hole is regarded as a blackfold: a black brane (possibly boosted locally) whose world volume spans a curved submanifold of the spacetime. This approach reveals black objects with novel horizon geometries and topologies more complex than the black ring, but more generally it provides a new organizing framework for the dynamics of higher-dimensional black holes.

R2 corrections and non-perturbative dualities of N = 4 string ground states

We compute and analyse a variety of four-derivative gravitational terms in the effective action of six- and four-dimensional type II string ground states with N = 4 supersymmetry. In six dimensions, we compute the relevant perturbative corrections for the type II string compactified on K3. In four dimensions we do analogous computations for several models with (4, 0) and (2,2) supersymmetry. Such ground states are related by heterotic-type II duality or type II-type II U-duality. Perturbative computations in one member of a dual pair give a non-perturbative result in the other member. In particular, the exact CP-even R2 coupling on the (2, 2) side reproduces the tree-level term plus NS 5-brane instanton contributions on the (4, 0) side. On the other hand, the exact CP-odd coupling yields the one-loop axionic interaction aR Λ R together with a similar instanton sum. In a subset of models, the expected breaking of the SL(2, Z)s S-duality symmetry to a Γ(2)s subgroup is observed on the non-perturbative thresholds. Moreover, we present a duality chain that provides evidence for the existence of heterotic N = 4 models in which N = 8 supersymmetry appears at strong coupling.

Instabilities of black strings and branes

We review recent progress on the instabilities of black strings and branes both for pure Einstein gravity as well as supergravity theories which are relevant for string theory. We focus mainly on Gregory–Laflamme instabilities. In the first part of the review, we provide a detailed discussion of the classical gravitational instability of the neutral uniform black string in higher-dimensional gravity. The uniform black string is part of a larger phase diagram of Kaluza–Klein black holes which will be discussed thoroughly. This phase diagram exhibits many interesting features including new phases, non-uniqueness and horizon-topology changing transitions. In the second part, we turn to charged black branes in supergravity and show how the Gregory–Laflamme instability of the neutral black string implies via a boost/U-duality map similar instabilities for non- and near-extremal smeared branes in string theory. We also comment on instabilities of D-brane bound states. The connection between classical and thermodynamic stability, known as the correlated stability conjecture, is also reviewed and illustrated with examples. Finally, we examine the holographic implications of the Gregory–Laflamme instability for a number of non-gravitational theories including Yang–Mills theories and little string theory.

Heterotic / type I duality and D-brane instantons

Abstract We study heterotic/type I duality in d = 8, 9 uncompactified dimensions. We consider the special (”BPS-saturated”) F 4 and R 4 terms in the effective one-loop heterotic action, which are expected to be non-perturbatively exact. Under the standard duality map these translate to tree-level, perturbative and non-perturbative contributions on the type I side. We check agreement with the one-loop open string calculation, and discuss the higher-order perturbative contributions, which arise because of the mild non-holomorphicities of the heterotic elliptic genus. We put the heterotic world-sheet instanton corrections in a form that can be motivated as arising from a D-brane instanton calculation on the type I side.

Eisenstein series and string thresholds

Abstract:We investigate the relevance of Eisenstein series for representing certain G(ℤ)-invariant string theory amplitudes which receive corrections from BPS states only. G(ℤ) may stand for any of the mapping class, T-duality and U-duality groups Sl(d,(ℤ), SO(d,d,(ℤ) or Ed+1(d+1)((ℤ) respectively. Using G(ℤ)-invariant mass formulae, we construct invariant modular functions on the symmetric space K\G(ℝ) of non-compact type, with K the maximal compact subgroup of G(ℝ), that generalize the standard non-holomorphic Eisenstein series arising in harmonic analysis on the fundamental domain of the Poincaré upper half-plane. Comparing the asymptotics and eigenvalues of the Eisenstein series under second order differential operators with quantities arising in one- and g-loop string amplitudes, we obtain a manifestly T-duality invariant representation of the latter, conjecture their non-perturbative U-duality invariant extension, and analyze the resulting non-perturbative effects. This includes the R4 and R4H4g-4 couplings in toroidal compactifications of M-theory to any dimension D≥ 4 and D≥ 6 respectively.Brillouin zones were introduced by Brillouin in the thirties to describe quantum mechanical properties of crystals, that is, in a lattice in

New horizons for black holes and branes

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Heterotic/type-I duality in D< 10 dimensions, threshold corrections and D-instantons

. They play an important role in solid-state physics. It was shown by Bieberbach that Brillouin zones tile the underlying space and that each zone has the same area. We generalize the notion of Brillouin Zones to apply to an arbitrary discrete set in a proper metric space, and show that analogs of Bieberbachs results hold in this context. We then use these ideas to discuss focusing of geodesics in orbifolds of constant curvature. In the particular case of the Riemann surfaces H^2/Gamma(k), (k=2,3, or 5), we explicitly count the number of geodesics of length t that connect the point i to itself.

Black Holes on Cylinders

We initiate a systematic scan of the landscape of black holes in any spacetime dimension using the recently proposed blackfold effective worldvolume theory. We focus primarily on asymptotically flat stationary vacuum solutions, where we uncover large classes of new black holes. These include helical black strings and black rings, black odd-spheres, for which the horizon is a product of a large and a small sphere, and non-uniform black cylinders. More exotic possibilities are also outlined. The blackfold description recovers correctly the ultraspinning Myers-Perry black holes as ellipsoidal even-ball configurations where the velocity field approaches the speed of light at the boundary of the ball. Helical black ring solutions provide the first instance of asymptotically flat black holes in more than four dimensions with a single spatial U(1) isometry. They also imply infinite rational non-uniqueness in ultraspinning regimes, where they maximize the entropy among all stationary single-horizon solutions. Moreover, static blackfolds are possible with the geometry of minimal surfaces. The absence of compact embedded minimal surfaces in Euclidean space is consistent with the uniqueness theorem of static black holes.