1997/05/08 by Petr Horava · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/s0550-3213(97)00509-9
published as Nucl.Phys. B505 (1997) 84-108 · 30 pages, no figures, harvmac
arxiv created 1997/05/08 · arxiv updated 2016/09/06
We consider compactifications of the matrix model of M-theory on S1/Z2× Td for d>0, and interpret them as orbifolds of the supersymmetric U(N) Yang-Mills theory on R× Td+1. The orbifold group acts both on the gauge group and on the Td+1, reduces the gauge group to O(N) over 1+1 dimensional fixed-point submanifolds, and breaks half of the supersymmetry. We clarify some puzzling aspects of the gauge anomaly cancellation in the presence of space-time Wilson lines; in general, the Yang-Mills theory requires certain Chern-Simons couplings to supergravity background fields. We discuss the possibility that D8-branes are present as certain matrix configurations in the Yang-Mills theory, and the fundamental fermions emerge as zero modes. Finally, we point out that the correspondence between matrix theory and string theory suggests the existence of a multitude of non-trivial RG fixed points and dualities in orbifold Yang-Mills theories with eight supercharges in various dimensions.