BRANE CONFIGURATIONS AND 4D FIELD-THEORY DUALITIES

We study brane configurations which correspond to field theories in fo ur dimension with N = 2 and N = 1 supersymmetry. In particular we disc uss brane motions that translate to Seiberg's duality in N = 1 models recently studied by Elitzur, Giveon and Kutasov, We investigate, using the brane picture, the moduli spaces of the dual theories. Deformatio ns of these models like mass terms and vacuum expectation values of sc alar fields can be identified with positions of branes. The map of the se deformations between the electric and dual magnetic theories is cla rified, The models we study reproduce known field theory results and w e provide an example of new dual pairs with N = 1 supersymmetry. Possi ble relations between brane configurations and non-supersymmetric fiel d theories are discussed. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.