BPS-spectra in four dimensions from M-theory
arXiv:hep-th/9711076 · doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-3978(199901)47:1/3<189::AID-PROP189>3.0.CO;2-X
Abstract
I review my work together with Piljin Yi on the spectrum of BPS-saturated states in N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories. In an M-theory description, such states are realized as certain two-brane configurations. We first show how the central charge of the N = 2 algebra arises from the two-form central charge of the eleven-dimensional supersymmetry algebra, and derive the condition for a two-brane configuration to be BPS-saturated. We then discuss how the topology of the two-brane determines the type of BPS-multiplet. Finally, we discuss the phenomenon of marginal stability and show how it is related to the mutual non-locality of states.
5 pages, talk delivered at the workshop `Quantum aspects of gauge theories, supersymmetry and unification', Neuchatel University, 18-23 September 1997, to appear in the proceedings