Brane Solutions in Supergravity

As part of my MSci in Physics at Imperial College London, I completed a research project under the supervision of Professor Kellogg Stelle.
The project investigated brane solutions in supergravity, a branch of quantum gravity that extends general relativity by incorporating supersymmetry.

This dissertation delves into the intricate structures and dynamics of supergravity, focusing on 11-dimensional supergravity and its extensions through consistent truncation and dimensional reduction. The exploration begins with the application of the $p$-brane ansatz to derive distinct brane solutions, such as 2-branes and 5-branes, and extends to the study of multi-brane configurations to understand the orbital dynamics of probe branes. A detailed investigation of the dimensional reduction process, particularly the $S^1$ reduction, systematically reduces the dimensional setting and examines the implications for the supergravity action. This approach is expanded to successive reductions represented as $T^n$, analysing modifications in the Lagrangian and the emergence of scalar symmetries alongside their associated coset spaces. The dissertation also addresses T-duality within supergravity, focusing on resolving the chirality issues in type IIA and IIB theories by reducing them to nine dimensions, which facilitates their unification and the application of T-duality. The insights gained from this study link to broader theoretical frameworks like M-theory, and future directions in the field are discussed. This work significantly enhances our understanding of the landscape of string theory and supergravity, highlighting new possibilities for theoretical advances and practical applications.

👉 Keywords: Supergravity · Branes · Quantum Gravity · Supersymmetry
📄 Read Full Dissertation (PDF)