Eur. Phys. J. C (2005) 39: 13-19
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjcd/s2004-01-006-x

Young Scientists

Almost product manifolds as the low energy geometry of Dirichlet branes

Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom, and, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo N2J 2W9, Canada

Received: 10 October 2003
Accepted: 18 February 2004
Published online: 30 March 2004

Abstract

Any candidate theory of quantum gravity must address the breakdown of the classical smooth manifold picture of space-time at distances comparable to the Planck length. String theory, in contrast, is formulated on conventional space-time. However, we show that in the low energy limit, the dynamics of generally curved Dirichlet p-branes possess an extended local isometry group, which can be absorbed into the brane geometry as an almost product structure. The induced kinematics encode two invariant scales, namely a minimal length and a maximal speed, without breaking general covariance. Quantum gravity effects on D-branes at low energy are then seen to manifest themselves by the kinematical effects of a maximal acceleration. Experimental and theoretical implications of such new kinematics are easily derived. We comment on consequences for brane world phenomenology.