2004/04/30 by Igor Kriz, Hisham Sati
Physics and Astronomy · Mathematics · #hep-th #math.AT
published as Adv.Theor.Math.Phys. 8 (2004) 345-395 · 51 pages, latex2e, typos corrected. Published version
arxiv created 2004/09/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
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 anomaly-free. 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-branes and 5-branes in the M-theory limit.