M-theory, type IIA superstrings, and elliptic cohomology

Igor Kriz, Hisham Sati

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The topological part of the M-theory partition function was shown by Witten to be encoded in the index of an E8 bundle in eleven dimensions. This partition function is, however, not automatically anomalyfree. We observe here that the vanishing W7 = 0 of the Diaconescu-Moore-Witten anomaly in IIA and compactified M-theory partition function is equivalent to orientability of spacetime with respect to (complex-oriented) elliptic cohomology. Motivated by this, we define an elliptic cohomology correction to the IIA partition function, and propose its relationship to interaction between 2- and 5-branes in the M-theory limit.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)345-394
Number of pages50
JournalAdvances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2004

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Mathematics
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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