Monopole dynamics in N=2 super Yang-Mills theory from a threebrane probe

The BPS states of N = 2 super Yang-Mills theory with gauge group SU(2) are constructed as non-trivial finite-energy solutions of the world-volume theo ry of a threebrane probe in F-theory. The solutions preserve 1/2 of N = 2 s upersymmetry and provide a world-volume realization of strings stretching f rom the probe to a sevenbrane. The positions of the sevenbranes correspond to singularities in the field theory moduli space and to points at which th e supergravity description of the probe breaks down. We explicitly show how the UV cut-off of the effective field theory is mapped into an IR cut-off in the supergravity. Finally, we discuss some features of the moduli spaces of these solutions. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.