This page collects material related to the book collection
The world in eleven dimensions:
Supergravity, Supermembranes and -theory
IoP 1999
that collects and comments key articles in the (pre-)history of M-theory (M-branes in 11-dimensional supergravity) in the 1990s.
See also
For related texts see at books about string theory.
See also at string theory FAQ
On 11-dimensional supergravity
On classification of supersymmetry-super Lie algebras:
(…)
On the KK-monopole:
On the M2-brane
On the M5-brane
on M-theory
On black branes, BPS-states of intersecting M-branes,
as well as black holes in string theory and Bekenstein-Hawking entropy
On duality in string theory, mostly S-duality and dual heterotic string theory, ending with AdS-CFT
On whether “M” is really for “membrane” after all:
In other words, perhaps supergravity together with its BPS configurations: plane wave, membrane, fivebrane, KK monopole and the embedding of the Type II eight brane are are all there is to -theory and that we need look no further for new degrees of freedom. (p. 329)
Concluding with:
future historians may judge the period 1984-95 as a time when theorists were like boys playing by the sea shore, and diverting themselves with the smoother pebbles or prettier shells of perturbative ten-dimensiorial superstrings while the great ocean of non-perturbative eleven-dimensional M-theory lay all undiscovered before them. (p.330)
Compare to the situation 20 years later as in
with its section 12: “Keep true to the dreams of thy youth: M-theory”
For more see at M-theory – The open problem
Last revised on February 9, 2024 at 15:11:03. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.