The Spacetime Superalgebras in a Massive IIA Background via Brane Probes

Abstract

We derive the spacetime superalgebras explicitly from ``test'' p-brane actions in a D-8-brane (i.e. a massive IIA) background to the lowest order in $\theta$ via canonical formalism, and show that the forms of the superalgebras are the same as those in all the other D-brane (i.e. massless IIA) backgrounds, that is, they are indifferent to the presence of the Chern-Simons terms which are proportional to the mass and added to the D-brane actions in the case of massive IIA backgrounds. Thus, we can say that all the D-brane background solutions including a D-8-brane are on equal footing from the viewpoint of the superalgebras via brane probes. We also deduce from the algebra all the previously known 1/4 supersymmetric intersections of a p-brane or a fundamental string with a D-8-brane, as the supersymmetric ``gauge fixings'' of the test branes in the D-8-brane background.