Heterotic NS5-branes from closed string tachyon condensation

Abstract

We show how to construct the familiar heterotic NS5 brane as a topological soliton in a supercritical version of heterotic string theory. Closed string tachyon condensation removes the extra dimensions, leaving the NS5 in 10d, in a process highly reminiscent of the K-theoretical description of type II D-branes, but linking non-trivial gauge bundles and geometry. The construction requires a modification of the anomalous Bianchi identity for $H_3$ in supercritical heterotic string theory. We give various proofs for the existence of this modification.

arXiv comment5 pages

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Dynamical Cobordism and the Beginning of Time: Supercritical Strings and Tachyon Condensation
• Realistic three-generation models from SO(32) heterotic string theory
• Closed tachyon solitons in type II string theory
• Open Strings and Heterotic Instantons