Dilatonic p-Branes and Brane Worlds

Abstract

We study a general dilatonic p-brane solution in arbitrary dimensions in relation to the Randall-Sundrum scenario. When the p-brane is fully localized along its transverse directions, the Kaluza-Klein zero mode of bulk graviton is not normalizable. When the p-brane is delocalized along its transverse directions except one, the Kaluza-Klein zero mode of bulk graviton is normalizable if the warp factor is chosen to increase, in which case there are singularities at finite distance away from the p-brane. Such delocalized p-brane can be regarded as a dilatonic domain wall as seen in higher dimensions. This unusual property of the warp factor allows one to avoid a problem of dilatonic domain wall with decreasing warp factor that free massive particles are repelled from the domain wall and hit singularities, since massive particles with finite energy are trapped around delocalized p-branes with increasing warp factor by gravitational force and can never reach the singularities.