Membranes and Maps

Abstract

In positive degree, equivariant Gromov-Witten invariants of Calabi-Yau fivefolds are expected to admit an interpretation in terms of M2-branes, while we conjecture that constant maps are governed by the corresponding supergravity index. We make the first expectation precise by proposing a modular interpretation of M2-branes supported on several smooth curves meeting at an $n$-fold point. Together, the two pictures yield conjectural formulas for the Gromov-Witten invariants, which we translate into closed formulas for pointed and unpointed quintuple Hodge integrals. We show that these conjectures imply a K-theoretic Gromov-Witten/Pairs correspondence for local curves in degree one and link the generating series of constant maps to Donaldson-Thomas theory of points. We also prove the conjectures in two limits of the equivariant parameters. Along the way, we obtain new closed formulas for certain triple Hodge integrals.