Brane

In string theory and related theories such

as supergravity theories, a brane is a
physical object that generalizes the notion
of a point particle to higher dimensions.
Branes are dynamical objects which can
propagate through spacetime according to
the rules of quantum mechanics. They
have mass and can have other attributes
such as charge.
Mathematically, branes can be
represented within categories, and are
studied in pure mathematics for insight
into homological mirror symmetry and
noncommutative geometry.

p-branes
A point particle can be viewed as a brane
of dimension zero, while a string can be
viewed as a brane of dimension one.

In addition to point particles and strings, it

is possible to consider higher-dimensional
branes. A p-dimensional brane is generally
called "p-brane".
The term "p-brane" was coined by M. J.
Duff et al. in 1988;[1] "brane" comes from
the word "membrane" which refers to a
two-dimensional brane.[2]

A p-brane sweeps out a (p+1)-dimensional

volume in spacetime called its
worldvolume. Physicists often study fields
analogous to the electromagnetic field,
which live on the worldvolume of a
brane.[3]

D-branes
Open strings attached to a pair of D-branes

In string theory, a string may be open

(forming a segment with two endpoints) or
closed (forming a closed loop). D-branes
are an important class of branes that arise
when one considers open strings. As an
open string propagates through
spacetime, its endpoints are required to lie
on a D-brane. The letter "D" in D-brane
refers to the Dirichlet boundary condition,
which the D-brane satisfies.[4]

One crucial point about D-branes is that

the dynamics on the D-brane worldvolume
is described by a gauge theory, a kind of
highly symmetric physical theory which is
also used to describe the behavior of
elementary particles in the standard model
of particle physics. This connection has
led to important insights into gauge theory
and quantum field theory. For example, it
led to the discovery of the AdS/CFT
correspondence, a theoretical tool that
physicists use to translate difficult
problems in gauge theory into more
mathematically tractable problems in
string theory.[5]

Categorical description
Mathematically, branes can be described
using the notion of a category.[6] This is a
mathematical structure consisting of
objects, and for any pair of objects, a set of
morphisms between them. In most
examples, the objects are mathematical
structures (such as sets, vector spaces, or
topological spaces) and the morphisms
are functions between these structures.[7]
One can likewise consider categories
where the objects are D-branes and the
morphisms between two branes and
are states of open strings stretched
between and .[8]
A cross section of a Calabi–Yau manifold

In one version of string theory known as

the topological B-model, the D-branes are
complex submanifolds of certain six-
dimensional shapes called Calabi–Yau
manifolds, together with additional data
that arise physically from having charges
at the endpoints of strings.[9] Intuitively,
one can think of a submanifold as a
surface embedded inside of a Calabi–Yau
manifold, although submanifolds can also
exist in dimensions different from two.[10]
In mathematical language, the category
having these branes as its objects is
known as the derived category of coherent
sheaves on the Calabi–Yau.[11] In another
version of string theory called the
topological A-model, the D-branes can
again be viewed as submanifolds of a
Calabi–Yau manifold. Roughly speaking,
they are what mathematicians call special
Lagrangian submanifolds.[12] This means
among other things that they have half the
dimension of the space in which they sit,
and they are length-, area-, or volume-
minimizing.[13] The category having these
branes as its objects is called the Fukaya
category.[14]

The derived category of coherent sheaves

is constructed using tools from complex
geometry, a branch of mathematics that
describes geometric curves in algebraic
terms and solves geometric problems
using algebraic equations.[15] On the other
hand, the Fukaya category is constructed
using symplectic geometry, a branch of
mathematics that arose from studies of
classical physics. Symplectic geometry
studies spaces equipped with a
symplectic form, a mathematical tool that
can be used to compute area in two-
dimensional examples.[16]

The homological mirror symmetry

conjecture of Maxim Kontsevich states
that the derived category of coherent
sheaves on one Calabi–Yau manifold is
equivalent in a certain sense to the Fukaya
category of a completely different Calabi–
Yau manifold.[17] This equivalence
provides an unexpected bridge between
two branches of geometry, namely
complex and symplectic geometry.[18]

See also
Black brane
 Brane cosmology
Dirac membrane
Lagrangian submanifold
M2-brane
M5-brane
NS5-brane

Citations
1. M. J. Duff, T. Inami, C. N. Pope, E. Sezgin,
and K. S. Stelle, "Semiclassical quantization
of the supermembrane", Nucl. Phys. B297
(1988), 515.

2. Moore 2005, p. 214

3. Moore 2005, p. 214
4. Moore 2005, p. 215
 5. Moore 2005, p. 215
6. Aspinwall et al. 2009
7. A basic reference on category theory is
Mac Lane 1998.

8. Zaslow 2008, p. 536

9. Zaslow 2008, p. 536
10. Yau and Nadis 2010, p. 165
11. Aspinwal et al. 2009, p. 575
12. Aspinwal et al. 2009, p. 575
13. Yau and Nadis 2010, p. 175
14. Aspinwal et al. 2009, p. 575
15. Yau and Nadis 2010, pp. 180–1
16. Zaslow 2008, p. 531
17. Aspinwall et al. 2009, p. 616
18. Yau and Nadis 2010, p. 181
General references
Aspinwall, Paul; Bridgeland, Tom; Craw,
Alastair; Douglas, Michael; Gross, Mark;
Kapustin, Anton; Moore, Gregory; Segal,
Graeme; Szendröi, Balázs; Wilson,
P.M.H., eds. (2009). Dirichlet Branes and
Mirror Symmetry. Clay Mathematics
Monographs . Vol. 4. American
Mathematical Society. ISBN 978-0-8218-
3848-8.
Mac Lane, Saunders (1998). Categories
for the Working Mathematician.
ISBN 978-0-387-98403-2.
Moore, Gregory (2005). "What is ... a
Brane?" (https://www.ams.org/notices/2
00502/what-is.pdf) (PDF). Notices of
the AMS. 52: 214. Retrieved June 7,
2018.
Yau, Shing-Tung; Nadis, Steve (2010).
The Shape of Inner Space: String Theory
and the Geometry of the Universe's
Hidden Dimensions. Basic Books.
ISBN 978-0-465-02023-2.
Zaslow, Eric (2008). "Mirror Symmetry".
In Gowers, Timothy (ed.). The Princeton
Companion to Mathematics. ISBN 978-0-
691-11880-2.
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