We consider the equations of motion of the non-abelian 5-branes theory recently constructed in [1] and find exact string solutions both for uncompactified and compactified spacetime. Although one does not have the full supersymmetric construction of the non-abelian (2,0) theory, by combining knowledge of conformal symmetry and R-symmetry one can argue for the form of the 1/2 BPS equations in the case when only one scalar field is turned on. We solve this system and show that our string solutions could be lifted to become solutions of the non-abelian (2,0) theory with self-dual electric and magnetic charges, with the scalar field describing a M2-brane spike emerging out of the multiple M5-branes worldvolume.

We construct an alternative form of the M5-brane action in which the six-dimensional worldvolume is subject to a covariant split into 3+3 directions by a triplet of auxiliary fields. We consider the relation of this action to the original form of the M5-brane action and to a Nambu-Poisson 5-brane action based on the Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson model with the gauge symmetry of volume preserving diffeomorphisms.

Abstract:We consider the non-abelian theory [1] for an arbitrary number N 5 of five-branes and construct self-dual string solution with an arbitrary N 2 unit of selfdual charges. This generalizes the previous solution of non-abelian self-dual string [2] of N 5 = 2, N 2 = 1. The radius-transverse distance relation describing the M2-branes spike, particularly its dependence on N 2 and N 5 , is obtained and is found to agree precisely with the supergravity description of an intersecting M2-M5 branes system.

We construct a manifestly diffeomorphic M5-brane action in dual formulation coupled to an eleven-dimensional supergravity target space. The covariantisation is carried out by using (generalised) PST technique with 5 auxiliary scalar fields, which are obtained by using a geometrical consideration as a reduction of an auxiliary 4−form of MaznytsiaPreitschopf-Sorokin. As is typical in PST-covariantised theory, our construction possesses as usual the two local PST symmetries. By using one of the local PST symmetries, the action can be reduced to the non-manifestly covariant M5-brane action in dual formulation constructed earlier by the authors. The discussion on double dimensional reduction to D4-brane, and on the comparison of on-shell action then easily follows.

We construct a dual formulation, with respect to the conventional PST formalism, of the M5-brane action propagating in a generic 11d supergravity background. Constraint analysis is performed to further justify that our theory has the correct number of degrees of freedom. Comparison of this action with the existing M5-brane actions is carried out. We also show that a conventional D4-brane action is obtained upon double dimensional reduction.