Coupling of branes and normalization of effective actions in string/M-theory

TL;DR

The paper analyzes the normalization and charge quantization of p-branes in string/M-theory, deriving consistent couplings of D-, membrane, and five-branes to background supergravity and addressing anomaly cancellation. It shows that dilaton couplings and brane tensions are fixed nonperturbatively through dualities (T-duality, S-duality, and M-theory relations) and that the D-brane actions retain their perturbative form even nonperturbatively, via κ-symmetry and topological arguments. A dual, self-consistent formulation of M-theory with membranes and five-branes is developed, including a boundary field for membranes ending on five-branes and a self-dual 3-form on the M5-brane, plus a detailed treatment of anomaly inflow. The work ties together Type I, heterotic, and M-theory frameworks, showing that gauge-to-gravitational couplings are fixed to all orders and that perturbative anomalies in the presence of five-branes can be canceled by bulk inflow and appropriate counterterms, in line with Horava-Witten constructions. Overall, the paper provides a coherent, nonperturbative picture of brane couplings and the normalization of low-energy effective actions in string/M-theory.

Abstract

We discuss issues involving p(D)- brane charge quantization and the normalization of effective actions, in string/M-theory. We also construct the action of (the bosonic sector of) eleven dimensional supergravity in the presence of two- and five- branes and discuss (perturbative) anomaly cancellation.