MATRIX STRING THEORY FROM BRANE CONFIGURATION

Configurations of fivebranes, twobranes and fourbranes in type IIA str ing theory, which give (1 + 1) dimensional supersymmetric gauge theori es in the low energy limit, are constructed. It is shown that these br ane configurations are equivalent to a certain class of matrix string theories. This opens up an avenue for the investigation of matrix stri ng dynamics via the geometry of brane configurations in type IIA strin g theory. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.