U(1)-EXTENDED GAUGE ALGEBRAS IN P-LOOP SPACE

We consider, for p odd, a p-brane coupled to a (p + 1)th-rank backgrou nd antisymmetric tensor field and to background Yang-Mills (YM) fields via a Wess-Zumino term. We obtain the generators of antisymmetric ten sor and Yang-Mills gauge transformations acting on p-brane wave functi onals (functions on ''p-loop space''). The Yang-Mills generators do no t form a closed algebra by themselves; instead, the algebra of Yang-Mi lls and antisymmetric tensor generators is a U(1) extension of the usu al algebra of Yang-Mills gauge transformations. We construct the p-bra ne's hamiltonian and thereby find gauge-covariant functional derivativ es acting on p-brane wave functionals that commute with the YM and U(1 ) generators.