Indonesian Journal of Physics

Kontribusi Fisika Indonesia

Vol. 14 No. 4, October 2003
D-Branes and M-Theory in Supersting Theories
Freddy P Zen

and Jusak S Kosasih

Theoretical Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics

Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl Ganesa 10, Bandung, INDONESIA

fpzen@.itb.ac.id

jusak@.itb.ac.id
Abstract
D-Branes in (type IIA and IIB) superstring theories are investigated in spacetime of dimension d = 10. Type
IIA and IIB superstrings are derived using GSO (Gliozzi, Scherk, Olive) projection on Ramond-Ramond (RR)
sector. The degrees of freedom in that theory contains extended stable objects D-branes with eld strengths
F
(1)
, F
(3)
, F
(5)
for type IIB and F
(2)
, F
(4)
for type IIA, in addition to graviton, dilaton and antisymmetric
tensor of rank 2. From the T-duality for open strings, we also show the existence of D-branes from the Dirichlet
boundary conditions. At the end we review the dualities that relate all ve of the 10 dimensional superstring
theories and a quantum extension of 11 dimensional supergravity called M theory as well as the recently found
correspondence between string theory and gauge theory, the AdS/CFT conjecture.
Keywords: String Theories, D-Branes, M-Theory
1. Bosonic String at Low Energy
The classical action of a bosonic string can be
cast in a polynomial form known as Polyakov action
which is given by the following formula
S
B
=
T
2
_
d
2

hh

(X) (1)
where G

(X) is the spacetime metric and h

is
the metric of the two-dimensional string world-sheet,
X

(, ). Here 0 is the spatial coordiate

along the string, while R describes its propaga-
tion in time. T plays the role of the string tension.
The action (1) has two local gauge symmetries,
that is reparametrization invariance and the Weyl
or conformal invariance. Because of these two lo-
cal symmetries, there only left one degree of freedom
(from the original four degrees of freedom) and there-
fore we can select a gauge in which the three func-
tions residing in the symmetric world-sheet metric
are expressed in terms of just a single function. If
the string world-sheet does not contain non-trivial
topology (in certain gauge) then in light-cone coor-
dinate

= , the action (1) can be written

as
S
B
= 2T
_
d
2

+
X

(X). (2)
The consistency of the above gauge choice is guaran-
teed if
S
B
h

= T

= 0, (3)
which is also a constraint in the derivation of the
equation of motion from the action (2).
The equation of motion for bosonic string
can be derived by applying the variational princi-
ple, X

, to the 1+1-dimensional action (2) and in-

tegrating by parts. For closed strings, the periodic
boundary conditions are imposed as follows
X

( = ) = X

( = 0). (4)
Then the equation of motion is, using the boundary
condition, the two dimensional wave equation

= 0. (5)
The solution to this equation of motion can be writ-
ten in Fourier-mode series expansions, which can be
grouped into left-moving and right-moving terms
X

= X

L
+X

R
,
X

L
=
1
2
x

2
p

L
( +) +
+i
_

n=0
1
n

n
e
in(+)
, (6)
X

R
=
1
2
x

2
p

R
( ) +
+i
_

n=0
1
n

n
e
in()
. (7)
The operators in the above equation satisfy the fol-
121
122 IJP Vol. 14 No. 4, 2003
lowing commutation relations
[x

, p

] = i

,
[

m
,

n
] = [

m
,

n
] = m
m+n,0

(8)
and the rest are all zeros. From the creation op-
erators

n
(n > 0) and the annihilation operators

n
(n < 0), one can construct Fock space for the
left-moving part
[N) =
r

p=1
(
np
)
ip
[0), (9)
on which the left-moving and right-moving number
operators, N
L
and N
R
, act as follows
N
L
[N) =

n=1

[N) =
_
r

p=1
i
p
n
p
_
[N),
N
R
[N) = 0. (10)
Similarly, one can also build Fock space for the right-
moving part.
Using the above oscillator algebra one can now
nd the physical string spectrum explicitly. For that
purpose, we dene the physical states [phys) of the
full Hilbert space to be those which obey the Vira-
soro constraints (3). In Fourier-mode and at quan-
tum level (after normal ordering of the creation and
annihilation operators), the constraints become
(L
0
1)[phys) = 0,
(

L
0
1)[phys) = 0, (11)
where
L
0
=

4
M
2
+N
L
,

L
0
=

4
M
2
+N
R
, (12)
and M
2
= p

. The physical spectrum is derived

from the above conditions and it is given by the fol-
lowing equation

M
2
= 4N
L
4, N
L
= N
R
. (13)
For example, the lowest (ground) state N
L
= N
R
= 0
describes a tachyon

M
2
= 4. The rst exited
state N
L
= N
R
= 1 describes massless state given
by the combinations of

1
. This state can be
decomposed into irreducible representations of the
spacetime little group SO(24), which is the residual
Lorentz symmetry group that remains after the Vira-
soro constraints have been taken into account. This
decomposition is given by
24 24 = S A1. (14)
where the symmetric traceless tensor corresponds
to the spin-2 graviton with Ricci tensor R

, the
Kalb-Ramon antisymmetric spin-2 tensor is called
the Neveu-Schwarz B-eld with the eld strength
H

, while the scalar eld is the spin-0 dilaton.

Using similar procedures, one can nd the next ex-
cited levels. Now the eective low energy action (in-
cluding up to N
L
= N
R
= 1 state) in 26-dimensional
bosonic string theory is given by
S
26
=
1
2K
2
_
d
26
X

Ge
2
(R 4

+
+
1
12
H

). (15)
2. Type II Superstring
We will now add fermions to the bosonic string
to produce quite naturally supersymmetric string
theory, called superstring for short. The introduc-
tion of supersymmetry in string theory will be carried
out using Ramond-Neveu-Schwarz (RNS) formalism.
Starting with the gauge-xed Polyakov action, the
worldsheet action now takes the form
S =
T
2
_
d
2
(

). (16)
Here

( = 0, 1, . . . , 9) are two-component Majo-

rana spinors in the worldsheet and

, ( = 0, 1) are
Dirac matrices in 2-dimension where

0
(17)
Besides the bosonic string symmetries, the action
(16) is also invariant under the global, innitesimal
worldsheet supersymmetric transformations
X

= i

(18)
where the constant parameter is a Majorana spinor.
The mode decomposition for X

(, ) are exactly
as before, but now we need to consider boundary
condition for the free fermionic elds

A
(, ) where
A = is the light-cone index. There are two possible
boundary conditions consistent with the Dirac equa-
tion of motion and Lorentz invariance, the periodic
boundary condition, called Ramond (R) boundary
condition

A
( = ) =

A
( = 0) (19)
and the antiperiodic boundary condition, called
Neveu-Schwarz (NS) boundary condition

A
( = ) =

A
( = 0). (20)
The R sector will give particles which are space-
time fermions while the NS sector will yield space-
time bosons. Corresponding to the dierent pair-
ings between left-moving and right-moving modes
[left) [right), there are now four distinct closed
IJP Vol. 14 No. 4, 2003 123
string sectors, namely, NS-NS and R-R (bosons), NS-
R and R-NS (fermions).
Using the boundary conditions (19) and (20),
the mode decompositions of the general solutions of
the fermionic elds can be expressed as the Fourier
series

rZ+
1
2
b

r
e
ir()
, (21)

+
=

rZ+
1
2

r
e
ir(+)
, (22)
for the NS sector and

mZ
d

m
e
im()
, (23)

+
=

mZ

m
e
im(+)
, (24)
for the R sector. Then, the anticommutation rela-
tions of the operators in the NS sector are
b

r
, b

r
=

r+s,0
(25)

r
,

r
=

r+s,0
(26)
and for the R sector are given by
d

m
, d

n
=

m+n,0
(27)

m
,

n
=

m+n,0
. (28)
In the R sector, taking m = n = 0, the anticommu-
tation relation now becomes (e.g. for right-moving)
d

0
, d

0
=

, (29)
which dene a Cliord algebra in (9+1)-dimension.
This can be seen explicitly by dening

= i

2d

0
,
such that (29) can now be written as

= 2

. (30)
It is now clear that the vacuum state for the R sec-
tor, i.e. [0)
a
R
(a = 1, . . . , 32) is a spinor with 32
components (in 10-dimension) transforming under
SO(9, 1). The chirality operator can now be dened
as

11
=
0

1

9
(31)
so

11
[0)
+
R
= +[0)
+
R
(32)

11
[0)

R
= [0)

R
. (33)
Here [0)
+
R
and [0)

R
are Majorana-Weyl spinors with
16 components which are the decomposition of [0)
a
R
.
Eventhough we have included supersymmetry
into the theory, there are still left over problems, e.g.
the tachyon still appears in the superstring theory.
Gliozzi, Scherk and Olive (GSO) proposed an idea
in projecting (truncating) the superstring spectrum
consistently into a subspace without tachyons. For
the NS sector, GSO projection truncates the spec-
trum by removing all states with an even number of
fermions, such that
(1)
f
b
[phys)
NS
= [phys)
NS
, (34)
where f
b
is the fermion number operator. For the
R-R sector, since the vacuum state has dierent chi-
rality, then the consistent GSO projection is

11
(1)
f
d
[phys)
R
= [phys)
R
. (35)
For the vacuum state f
d
= 0, the GSO projection on
[0)
R
is

11
[0)
rmR
= [0)
R
, (36)
so the massless fermions are Majorana-Weyl fermions
with a given spacetime chirality. When left-movers
and right-movers are combined together with par-
ticular choices of chiralities, there are four possible
choices. Of these, one can indentify two inequiva-
lent possibilities corresponding to the relative chiral-
ity between the surviving R sector Majorana-Weyl
spinors, which are of opposite chirality (called Type
IIA, a non-chiral theory) and of the same chirality
(called Type IIB, a chiral theory).
Both Type IIA and Type IIB of the R-R sec-
tors have a profound implications to the solutions of
the superstring theory. Consider the GSO projection
on the vertex operator which is dened as follows
V
RR
= F
ab
(p)S
a
(i
0

S)
b
e
ipx
. (37)
Here F
ab
is the eld-strength tensor
F
ab
=
10

k=0
i
k
k!
F
1
k
(
1
k
)
ab
, (38)
S
a
is the spin operator and F
1
k
is a dierential
k-form. For f
d
= 0, the GSO projection on F
ab
and
S
a
in (37) gives
Type IIB :
11
F = F
11
= F, (39)
Type IIA :
11
F = +F
11
= F. (40)
The above equation limits the number of dierential
forms that can be contained in Type IIA and Type
IIB, namely
Type IIB : F
1
k
with odd k, (41)
Type IIA : F
1
k
with even k. (42)
Now the general form of action for the low energy
limit is given by
S
10
=
1
2K
2
_
d
10
X

G
_
e
2
(R 4

+
+
1
12
H

) +
5

k=0
1
2k!
F
2
(k)
_
+fermions + gauge elds. (43)
124 IJP Vol. 14 No. 4, 2003
From this action one can deduce that for the R-R
sector in Type II superstring theory, besides gravi-
ton, Kalb-Ramond and dilaton elds, there are other
elds contained in eld-strength tensor F. Using
the analogy with gauge particles with 2-form eld-
strength tensor and 1-form charge, the F in (43) can
be intrepreted as particle or stable object. Since
the eld-strength tensor is not only 2-form, then this
object is extended to what is called Dp-brane. This
object has a charge as follows
q
p
_
pbranes
C
(p+1)
(44)
where C
(p+1)
is the (p + 1)-form potential eld with
(p + 2)-form eld-strength F
(p+2)
.
For completeness, we will give a brief descrip-
tion of heterotic string theories. The independence
of the left-movers and right-movers in closed string
theories enables us to construct a closed string the-
ory in which the left-moving sector is of one type and
the right-moving sector is of another type. The so
called heterotic string theory comprises a heterosis of
two string theories. The theory acquires spacetime
supersymmetry by assuming that the right-moving
sector is 10-dimensional supertring. On the other
hand, one use the 26-dimensional bosonic string for
the left-movers, which gives internal (gauge) degree
of freedom. The following action gives the heterotic
string
1)
S =
1
2
_
d
2

_
9

=0
(

2i

)+
2i
32

A=1

A
+

A
+
_
, (45)
where

and
A
are Majorana-Weyl fermions. The
rst term is the bosonic part and the second term is
for the fermions. The remaining gauge scalars are 16
right-moving degrees of freedom required by N = 1
supersymmetry which can be expressed as 32 real
fermionic elds or 16 complex bosonic elds. The
X

and

have total central charges (c, c) = (10, 10)

and the central charges of ghost elds can be added
until (c
g
, c
g
) = (26, 10), so the remaining central
charges are (c, c) = (16, 0). The simplest possibility
is to take 32 left-moving Majorana-Weyl fermions,

A
(z), A = 1 . . . , 32.
The additional internal degree of freedom
comes from a 16-dimensional self-dual lattice. There
are two constraints on the lattice as required by mod-
ular invariance. Therefore there are only two such
lattices, corresponding to the weight lattices of the
Lie groups, E
8
E
8
and SO(32). If all
A
satisfy
the same boundary conditions, then we have SO(32)
symmetry, if not all of
A
satisfy the same boundary
conditions, then we have E
8
E
8
symmetry.
3. T-Duality and D-Branes
T-duality symmetry is an important concept
and indispensible tool in string theory, similar to S-
duality in gauge theory. To systematically demon-
strate the existence of D-branes in superstring the-
ory, we will describe individually the T-duality sym-
metries of closed strings, open strings, and super-
strings.
We already know that superstring theories
can exist only in 10 dimensional spacetime and this
contradicts our daily experiences and observations.
Therefore we need to compactify the extra dimen-
sions in order to get a physically acceptable theory.
Here we will compactify the extra dimensions follow-
ing the Kaluza-Klein procedure. For this, we com-
pactify x
9
on a circle S
1
of radius R. This means that
the spacetime coordinate is periodically identied as
X
9
= X
9
+ 2mR , m Z. (46)
For closed strings, the coordinate X
9
is no
longer a periodic function and the condition
X
9
(, + 2) = X
9
(, ) + 2mR (47)
is an allowed transformation for any integer m. From
(47) we can see that m is the winding number of the
closed string, i.e. the number of times the string can
wind around the compactied spacetime circle. For
a xed winding number m Z, this is represented
by adding the term mR/ to the mode expansion
X

(, ) = X

L
( +) +X

R
( )
= x

0
+ x

0
+
_

2
_

0
+

0
_
+
+
_

2
_

0
_
+ (oscillators) ,
(48)
for X
9
(, ) and this yields a constraint

9
0

9
0
= mR
_
2

. (49)
On the other hand, single-valuedness of the basis
wavefunction e
ip
9
0
X
9
is satised if the momentum p
9
0
is quantized according to
p
9
0
=
n
R
, n Z (50)
which is a requirement for any quantum system.
Therefore we also have another constraint

9
0
+
9
0
=
2n
R
_

2
. (51)
From (49) and (51) we get

9
0
= p
L
_

2
, p
L
=
n
R
+
mR

, (52)

9
0
= p
R
_

2
, p
R
=
n
R

mR

, (53)
IJP Vol. 14 No. 4, 2003 125
where p
L
and p
R
are called the left-moving and right-
moving momenta.
Let us now consider the mass spectrum in the
remaining uncompactied 1+8 dimensions, which is
given by
m
2
= p

, = 0, 1, . . . , 8
=
2

9
0
_
2
+
4

_
N 1
_
=
2

_

9
0
_
2
+
4

N 1
_
, (54)
where the second and third equalities come from the
L
0
= 1 and

L
0
= 1 constraints, respectively.
The constructed compactied string theory
has an interesting feature. The mass spectrum (54)
is invariant under the simultaneous exchanges
n w , R R

R
, (55)
which by (53) is equivalent to the transformations

9
0

9
0
,
9
0

9
0
. (56)
This symmetry of the compactied string theory is
called T-duality symmetry. We can also generalize
this symmetry at the full interacting level of massive
states by a spacetime parity transformation of the
worldsheet right-movers as
T : X
9
L
( +) X
9
L
( +) ,
X
9
R
( ) X
9
R
( ) . (57)
For open strings, we have no quantum num-
ber comparable to m since open strings do not wind
around the periodic direction of spacetime. There-
fore one cannot exchange m n and we can con-
clude that an open strings theory cannot be T-dual
to itself. In order to nd out what happen if we T-
dualize an open strings theory, write the open string
mode expansion
X

( ) =
x

0
2

x

0
2
+
_

0
( ) +
+i
_

n=0

n
n
e
i n()
,
(58)
with

0
=

0
(59)
and the total embedding coordinates
X

(, ) = X

( +) +X

( )
= x

0
+

0
+i

n=0

n
n
e
i n
cos(n) . (60)
The T-dual open string coordinate can be found from
the closed ones by reecting the right-movers, i.e. set
X
9
( +) X
9
( +) and X
9
( ) X
9
( ).
The resulting embedding function is given by
X
9
( + ) = X
9
(, ) X
9
( )
= x
9
+ 2

n
R
+

n=0

9
n
n
e
in
sinn (61)
The exchange of the cosine and the sine factors in the
oscillator term indicates that T-duality exchanges
Neumann boundary condition and Dirichlet bound-
ary condition

X
9
[
=0,
= 0

X
9
[
=0,
= 0. (62)
This Dirichlet boundary condition shows that the
open string endpoints are at a xed place in space-
time and are equal up to the periodicity of the T-dual
dimension (open string of winding number n Z)
X
9
(, ) X
9
(, 0) =
2

n
R
= 2nR

. (63)
The open string ends are still free to move in the
other 1+8 directions that are not T-dualized, which
constitute a hyperplane called a D-brane, or more
specically a D8-brane. In general, T-dualizing m
directions of the spacetime gives Dirichlet boundary
conditions in the m directions, and hence a hyper-
plance with p = 9 m spatial dimensions which we
call a Dp-brane.
2)
Generalizing the previous results to super-
strings, let us consider the eects of T-duality on the
closed, oriented Type II theories. As we have seen,
T-duality can be seen as a right-handed parity trans-
formation for the right-movers. In other words, T-
duality works on the right-movers of the closed string
theories and changes sign on all oscillation terms in
that right-moving mode and hence T :
11

11
.
Thus the relative chirality between left-movers and
right-movers is ipped, i.e. T-duality reverses the
sign of the GSO projection on right-movers
T : P

GSO
P

GSO
. (64)
In conclusion, T-duality interchanges the
Type IIA and Type IIB superstring theories. It is
only a symmetry of the closed string sector, since in
the open string sector it relates two dierent types
of theories.
4. M-Theory
Supersymmetry representation theory showed
that ten is the largest spacetime dimension in which
there can be a matter theory with spins 1. This
is realized as 10 dimensional super Yang-Mills the-
ory which is a very symmetrical classical eld theory,
but at the quantum level it is both nonrenormaliz-
able and anomalous for any nonabelian gauge group.
126 IJP Vol. 14 No. 4, 2003
These problems can be overcome for suitable gauge
groups, i.e. SO(32) or E
8
E
8
, when the Yang-
Mills theory is embedded in a type I or heterotic
string theory. On the other hand, the largest pos-
sible spacetime dimension for a supergravity theory
with spins 2 is eleven. The the 11 dimensional su-
pergravity theory is a non-chiral classical eld theory
so it has no anomaly problems, but it is also non-
renormalizable which also renders it unqualied for
a fundamental theory.
In short, there are ve consistent superstring
theories which appears to be dierent from the each
others and one supergravity theory in 11 dimen-
sional. The 11 dimensional supergravity theory is
now believed to be a low-energy eective description
of a non-perturbative theory called M-theory. More-
over, Witten put forward a convincing case that the
distinction between string theories is just an arti-
fact of perturbation theory and hence they are non-
perturbatively equivalent. In other words, these ve
theories are just dierent corners of a deeper theory,
or technically speaking, the ve string theories and
M-theory represent six dierent special points in the
moduli space of the underlying theory. These theo-
ries are related by dualities as shown in the picture
below.
M-theory describes supersymmetric extended
object with two spatial dimensions (supermem-
branes) and its dual object with ve spatial dimen-
sions (supervebranes). The relation between the
membrane and the vebrane in 11 dimensions is anal-
ogous to the relation beween electric and magnetic
charges in 4 dimensions. This is more than just an
analogy because now we can see the importance of
duality in this picture. Electric-magnetic duality in
4 dimensional string theory follows as a consequence
of string-string duality in 6 dimensions, which fol-
lows, in its turn, as a consequence of membrane-
vebrane duality in 11 dimensions. In particular,
heterotic-heterotic duality, Type IIA-heterotic dual-
ity, heterotic-Type IIA duality, and Type IIA-Type
IIA duality follow from membrane-vebrane duality
by compactifying M-theory on certain manifolds. In
addition, the more realistic kinds of electric-magnetic
duality envisioned by Seiberg and Witten
4, 5)
can also
be explained in terms of string-string duality and
hence M-theory.
M-theory will also have important conse-
quences in particle physics phenomenology and cos-
mology. As we know, in the supersymmetric exten-
sions of the standard model, the coupling constants

3
,
2
,
1
associated with the SU(3) SU(2)
L

U(1)
Y
all meet at about 10
16
GeV, entirely consis-
tent with the idea of grand unication. The strength
of the dimensionless number
G
related to gravita-
tion also almost meets the other three, but not quite,
which is something that frustrate the theorists. How-
ever, Witten has proposed that spacetime is approx-
imately a narrow ve dimensional layer bounded by
four dimensional walls. The particle of the standard
model live on the walls but gravity lives in the ve
dimensional bulk, which explains why gravity cou-
ples so weakly to matter. As a result, it is possible
to choose the size ot this fth dimension so that all
four forces meet at this common scale. This scale
is much less than the Planck scale of 10
19
GeV and
hence would have all kinds of cosmological conse-
quences. Other impact of M-theory and D-branes in
high energy physics and cosmology is a microscopic
explanation of black hole entropy and the rate of
emission of thermal (Hawking) radiation for black
holes in string theory.
6, 7)
5. AdS/CFT Correspondence
Finally, the story is not complete without
mentioning the recently found correspondence of
gauge theory and gravity, popularly known as
AdS/CFT correspondence.
8, 9)
It started from the
study of quantum gravity, especially the information
paradox of black hole which is related to the prob-
lem in quantizing gravity. On the other hand, string
theory has a large class of black hole solutions which
were called black p-brane (the 0-brane is the stan-
dard black hole), so to address the question of the in-
formation paradox one needs to know what happens
if a string is thrown into the black p-brane. There
are two ways to approach this problem, i.e. to study
the propagation of the string in the black p-brane
geometry, or alternatively, to use the collective coor-
dinates of the p-brane in which one try to formulate
the problem as interactions between the string and
the collective coordinates of the p-brane (D-brane).
At low energy, the intrinsic degrees of freedom of this
D-brane is described by a gauge theory in (p +1) di-
mensions. The equivalence of these two descriptions
is the origin of the connection between gauge theory
and string theory and its evidence have crystallized
on the work of Maldacena. The conjecture is that
superstring theory in a curved 10-dimensional space,
which is 5-dimensional anti-de Sitter space times 5-
dimensional sphere (AdS
5
S
5
), is equivalent to a
gauge theory in 4 dimensions with ^ = 4 supersym-
metry (super Yang-Mills theory) which is a confor-
mal eld theory (CFT). Thus the conjecture is called
the AdS/CFT correspondence. More precisely, the
conjecture states that Type IIB superstring theory
on AdS
5
S
5
is equivalent to the ^ = 4 super-
symmetric gauge theory in 4 dimensions with gauge
group SU(N). More surprisingly, the string theory
is fully equivalent to the gauge theory although they
live in dierent spacetime dimensions (this is dier-
ent from Kaluza-Klein compactication). Another
surprise is that string theory contains gravity and
the gauge theory doesnt so it is suggested that in
IJP Vol. 14 No. 4, 2003 127
MTheory
I IIA IIB
SO(32) E x E
8 8
11D
10D
9D
SDuality
TDuality on TDuality on
TDuality on
TDuality on
1 1
1
9 9
10
10 1
g g
s s
o oo o
S R S R x x
S R x
I R x
Figure 1. The various duality transformations that relate the superstring theories in nine and ten dimensions.
T-Duality inverts the radius R of the circle S
1
, or the length of the nite interval I
1
, along which a single
direction of the spacetime is compactied, i.e. R
2
P
/R. S-duality inverts the (dimensionless) string coupling
constant g
s
, g
s
1/g
s
, and is the analog of electric-magnetic duality (or strong-weak coupling duality) in four-
dimensional gauge theories. M-Theory originates as the strong coupling limit of either the Type IIA or E
8
E
8
heterotic string theories.
3)
quantum gravity the information of the theory can be
stored in lower dimensions, i.e. the idea of hologra-
phy of quantum gravity. Thus, the quantum theory
of gravity should be described by a sort of topolog-
ical quantum theory in the sense that all degrees of
freedom could be projected onto the boundary and,
moreover, one can hope to learn much about quan-
tum gravity using the armory of gauge theory.
In the original formulation of the conjecture,
Maldacena looked at the black D3-brane in super-
gravity and superstring theory. For N parallel sep-
arated D3-branes, the end points of an open string
may be attached to the same brane which induce a
masless U(1)
N
gauge theory with ^ = 4 supersym-
metry in the low energy limit. However, an open
string can also have its ends attached to dierent
branes and the mass of such string cannot get arbi-
trarily small. For N coincident branes, the U(1)
N
gauge symmetry is enhanced to the full U(N) gauge
symmetry. In the low energy limit, N coincident
branes support an ^ = 4 supersymmetric Yang-
Mills in 4 dimensions with gauge group SU(N) in
the low energy limit.
The D3-brane solution is chosen because of its
special and interesting properties:
Its worldbrane has 4 dimensional Poincare in-
variance.
It has constant axion and dilaton elds.
It is regular at y = 0, where y

is the coordinates
in the transverse dimension.
It is self-dual.
The spacetime metric of N coincident D3-
branes can be written in the following form,
ds
2
=
_
1+
R
4
y
4
_

1
2

ij
dx
i
dx
j
+
_
1+
R
4
y
4
_1
2
(dy
2
+y
2
d
2
5
)
(65)
where i, j, are for the 4 dimensional Minkowski
space with metric
ij
= diag(+++) and the radius
R of the D3-brane is given by
R
4
= 4g
s
N
2
. (66)
The at space-time R
10
limit is reached when
y R. For y < R, the geometry is often referred to
as the throat. As y R the geometry would appear
to be singular, but a redenition of the coordinate
u R
2
/y (67)
and using the u limit, transform the metric
into the following asymptotic form
ds
2
= R
2
_
1
u
2

ij
dx
i
dx
j
+
du
2
u
2
+d
2
5
_
(68)
which corresponds to a product geometry AdS
5
S
5
with identical radius R for both components. This
128 IJP Vol. 14 No. 4, 2003
Table 1. The three forms of the AdS/CFT conjecture
in order of decreasing strength
N = 4 conformal SYM Quantum Type IIB string
all N, gY M theory on AdS5 S
5
(gs = g
2
Y M
) (R
4
= 4gsN
2
)
t Hooft limit of N = 4 SYM Classical Type IIB string
= g
2
Y M
N xed, N theory on AdS5 S
5
(1/N expansion) (gs string loop expansion)
Large limit of N = 4 SYM Classical Type IIB SUGRA
for N on AdS5 S
5
(
1/2
expansion) (

expansion)
shows that the geometry close to the brane (y 0)
is regular and highly symmetrical.
The Maldacena limit
8)
corresponds to keeping
xed g
s
and N as well as all physical length scales,
while letting

0. Remarkably, this limit of string

theory exists and is interesting. In the Maldacena
limit, only the AdS
5
S
5
region of the D3-brane
geometry survives the limit and contributes to the
string dynamics of physical processes, while the dy-
namics in the asymptotically at region decouples
from the theory.
The AdS/CFT or Maldacena conjecture states
the equivalence (also referred to as duality) between
the following theories
8)
Type IIB superstring theory on AdS
5
S
5
where
both AdS
5
and S
5
have the same radius R,
where the 5-form F
+
5
has integer ux N =
_
S
5
F
+
5
and where the string coupling is g
s
;
^ = 4 super Yang-Mills theory in 4-dimensions,
with gauge group SU(N) and Yang-Mills cou-
pling g
Y M
in its (super)conformal phase;
with the following identications between the param-
eters of both theories,
g
s
= g
2
Y M
R
4
= 4g
s
N(

)
2
(69)
and the axion expectation value equals the SYM in-
stanton angle C) =
I
. The equivalence includes a
precise map between the states (and elds) on the su-
perstring side and the local gauge invariant operators
on the ^ = 4 SYM side, as well as a correspondence
between the correlators in both theories.
In the strongest form of the conjecture, the
correspondence is to hold for all values N and all
regimes of coupling g
s
= g
2
Y M
. Since string theory
quantization on a general curved manifold appears
to be out of reach at present, one has to seek certain
limits of the conjecture which are more tractable but
still remains highly non-trivial, e.g. the t Hooft limit
and the large limit. These variations of the con-
jecture are summed up in the table above.
There is a continual and rapid pace progress
in the works of the AdS/CFT duality and its impli-
cations. We believe that the conjecture will guide us
to a better understanding of nonperturbative string
theory. We have mentioned that the AdS/CFT cor-
respondence realizes the idea that the t Hooft large
N limit of the SU(N) gauge theory is string the-
ory and also the idea that quantum gravity is holo-
graphic. Since string theory and gauge theory are
equivalent, we may try to use string theory to do
dicult calculations in gauge theory or vice versa.
So, at least, string theory is useful for studying var-
ious gauge theories in search for the unied theory.
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