DUAL D-BRANE ACTIONS

Dual super Dp-brane actions are constructed by carrying out a duality transformation of the world-volume U(1) gauge field. The resulting wor ld-volume actions, which contain a (p - 2)-form gauge field, are shown to have the expected properties. Specifically, the D1-brane and D3-br ane transform in ways that can be understood on the basis of the SL(2, Z) duality of type IIB superstring theory. Also, the D2-brane and the D4-brane transform in ways that are expected on the basis of the rela tionship between type IIA superstring theory and 11D M-theory. For exa mple, the dual D4-brane action is shown to coincide with the double-di mensional reduction of the recently constructed M5-brane action. The i mplications for gauge-fixed D-brane actions are discussed briefly. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.