# A New Angle on Intersecting Branes in Infinite Extra Dimensions

## 1 Introduction

String/M-theory requires the existence of nine or ten spatial dimensions. Traditionally it has been assumed that all but three spatial dimensions are compact, with size comparable to the Planck length. Recently it has been proposed that at least some of the extra dimensions are compact but very large, with size between a Fermi and a millimeter<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1For earlier work on TeV<sup>-1</sup> sized new dimensions, see ref. ., but that the fields of the Standard Model are confined to a $`3+1`$ dimensional subspace, or “3-brane” . Large new dimensions in which the standard model fields do not propagate may allow for the unification of gravity with the other forces and strong quantum gravity effects below the Planck scale , perhaps as low as a few TeV . An alternative picture due to Randall and Sundrum (RS) also assumes that the Standard Model is confined to a 3-brane, but allows for a non-factorizable metric with $`4`$ dimensional Minkowski space embedded in a slice of $`5`$ dimensional Anti-deSitter (AdS) space<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2These solutions parallel earlier solutions found in 4 dimensions  reviewed in ref. .. The exponential dependence of the coefficient of the 4 dimensional metric tensor on an additional coordinate (the “warp factor”) can provide a explanation of the weak/Planck hierarchy without a large extra dimension . Randall and Sundrum  have pointed out that such a warp factor also allows for a non-compact extra dimension, with a normalizable 0-mode of the graviton providing effective 3+1 dimensional Einsteinian gravity at long distances, even though there is a continuous, gapless spectrum of Kaluza-Klein gravitational modes<sup>3</sup><sup>3</sup>3See also refs. .. Such a normalizable zero mode is a general feature of any space-time metric that has a 3+1 dimensional Minkowski subspace and a warp factor which decreases sufficiently fast in all new directions . Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, Dvali and Kaloper (ADDK) have extended the RS work to $`n`$ intersecting $`(2+n)`$ branes separating sections of $`4+n`$ dimensional AdS space<sup>4</sup><sup>4</sup>4As this work was being completed a paper appeared which further generalizes the RS solution.. Both the RS and the ADDK solutions require a specific relationship between the brane tensions and the bulk cosmological constants. In addition, the ADDK solution requires that there is no additional contribution to the tension of the intersection from brane-brane interactions. In this note I further generalize the ADDK solution for the case of 2 new dimensions, to the case of AdS space containing $`n`$ AdS branes with almost arbitrary brane tension meeting at a 3+1 dimensional Minkowski junction with localized gravity. One fine-tuning is required as there is a constraint on the value of the brane-brane interaction contribution to the tension of the intersection.

## 2 AdS Branes in AdS Space Intersecting at Angles

The following metric is a solution to Einsteins equations in 5+1 dimensions with a bulk cosmological constant and a 4-brane located along the $`y`$ axis.

$`ds^2`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Omega }^2(\eta _{\mu \nu }dx^\mu dx^\nu +dy^2+dz^2)`$ (1)   
$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ $`=`$ $`1/\left[1+k\left(y\mathrm{cos}\varphi +|z|\mathrm{sin}\varphi \right)\right]`$   
Here the usual 3+1 dimensions are denoted by $`x^\mu `$ and the 2 new dimensions by $`y`$ and $`z`$. The brane glues together 2 semi-infinite slices of Anti-deSitter (AdS) space. In units of the 6 dimensional Newton’s constant, the bulk cosmological constant is $`10k^2`$ while the brane tension is $`8k\mathrm{sin}\varphi `$. For $`\varphi =90^o`$ this solution trivially generalizes the Randall-Sundrum metric to one additional dimension, and the induced metric on the brane is 5 dimensional Minkowski. Otherwise the induced metric is 5 dimensional AdS. Note that the angle $`\varphi `$ is determined by the relationship between 2 apparently nondynamical parameters–the brane tension and the bulk cosmological constant. Now consider $`n`$ branes, intersecting on a 3+ 1 dimensional subspace. Between adjacent pairs of branes is a wedge of 6 dimensional AdS space. The metric within one wedge may be written as in eq. 1 in a coordinate system where there is one semi-infinite brane located along the positive $`y`$ axis, and another extending from the origin in the $`z>0`$ half-plane along the line $`y\mathrm{cos}(2\varphi )z\mathrm{sin}(2\varphi )=0`$. The metric is reflection symmetric about the line $`y\mathrm{cos}(\varphi )z\mathrm{sin}(\varphi )=0`$. For $`\varphi =45^o`$, a solution pasting together 4 such wedges was found by ADDK . The ADDK solutions require a fine-tuned relation between the bulk cosmological constant and the brane tension, and also that there be no brane-brane interaction tension localized at the intersection. Generally, however, one would not expect $`\varphi =180^o/n`$ for integer $`n`$. However one could still patch together $`n`$ sections of six dimensional AdS space along $`n`$ AdS 4-branes, by allowing a global “deficit angle” (in analogy with the case of the gauge string metric ) of $`360^o2n\varphi `$. In a spacetime patch around each brane, in a coordinate system rotated such that the brane is located at along the positive $`y`$ axis, the metric is given by eq. 1. Thus this patched together metric is automatically a solution to Einstein’s equations everywhere except in the core of the intersection. For a global solution to exist the brane-brane interaction must produce a specific contribution to the tension of the intersection region, needed to match the global deficit angle. Thus it still appears that one fine tuning of a nondynamical parameter (or a remnant supersymmetry) is required. Perhaps a better understanding of brane interactions will shed some light on the cosmological constant question.

## 3 Outlook on Extra Dimensions and the Cosmsological Constant

The idea that noncompact higher dimensions with nonfactorizable spacetime might be consistent with our successful effective long distance theories and explain why the cosmological constant is zero has been around for a long time . The hope is that the metric can adjust such that in equilibrium an apparent cosmological term will only affect the part of the metric corresponding to the additional dimensions. For instance in the case of a gauge string, the vacuum energy of any effective degrees of freedom which live only on the string contribute to the string tension, but the induced metric on the string remains Minkowski, with any change in the string tension simply changing the deficit angle. Extra dimensional theories typically have new light degrees of freedom. New light fields are needed to understand any cosmological constant adjustment mechanism from an effective field theory point of view. It is conceivable that new degrees of freedom associated with an extra-dimensional metric somehow cleverly avoid the usual problems of adjustment mechanisms . Since the effective four dimensional Newton’s constant typically depends on the extra dimensional metric, perhaps a higher dimensional configuration can be found where apparent low energy contributions to the four dimensional cosmological constant (e.g. the QCD phase transition) actually just renormalize Newton’s constant. The configuration described in this note does not, however, seem so clever.

Acknowledgments

While this work was in progress ref.  appeared, with overlapping results and speculations. I thank David Kaplan, Patrick Fox, and Andrew Cohen for useful conversations and the Aspen Center for Physics for hospitality during the inception of this work. The work was supported in part by DOE grant DE-FG03-96ER40956.