2008/06/12 by Sergio Cecotti, Ashoke Sen, Cecotti, Sergio +1 · 1 citation
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Topics in Algebra #Algebraic structures and combinatorial models #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0806.1990
openalex publication_date 2008/06/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We analyze the coulomb branch of the non-unitary Lorentzian three algebra theory that has been proposed as a possible candidate for describing the world volume theory of multiple M2-branes. In order that it describes the theory of multiple M2-branes in flat eleven dimensional space-time, the ghost fields must decouple and the physical theory must be independent of the eight coordinates of the moduli space representing the center of mass coordinates of the branes. We show that the structure of the Coulomb branch is consistent with this requirement. While the full moduli space has the structure of a Lorentzian space modded out by a Lorentz transformation, the physical subspace has the correct structure of the moduli space of multiple M2-branes. We also suggest a systematic procedure for testing the consistency of the theory by computing the higher derivative corrections to the effective action obtained by integrating out the massive modes propagating in the loop.