Wrapped M-branes and Three-dimensional Topologies

Abstract

The three-dimensional topologies of the membrane of M-theory can be constructed by performing Dehn surgery along knot lines. We investigate membranes wrapped around a circle and the correponding subset of topologies (Seifert manifolds). The knot lines are interpreted as magnetic flux tubes in an XY model coupled to Maxwell theory. In this model the eleventh dimension of M-theory gets ``eaten'' by the world-brane metric. There is argued to be a second-order phase transition at a critical value of the string coupling constant. The topology fluctuations that correspond to the knot lines are irrelevant in one phase while they condense in the other phase.