Aspects of Diffeomorphism Invariant Theory of Extended Objects I: The Relativistic Particle and its d-brane Cousins

Abstract

General structure of classical reparametrization-invariant matter systems, mainly the relativistic particle and its $d$-brane generalization, are studied. The exposition is in close analogy with the relativistic particle in an electromagnetic field as reparametrization-invariant system. The structure of a diffeomorphism invariant Lagrangian action for an extended object ($d$-brane) embedded in a bulk space M is discussed. Our construction uses first order homogeneous Lagrangians to achieve general covariance in contrast to the constructions that use scalar Lagrangians along with metric dependent integration measure. The framework contains intrinsically the relativistic point particle, string theory, and Dirac-Nambu-Goto Lagrangians. In a natural way, the matter Lagrangian contains background interaction fields, such as a 1-form field, analogous to the electromagnetic vector potential, and a metric tensor. The framework naturally suggests new classical interaction fields beyond electromagnetism and gravity. Construction of aninteraction field Lagrangian that is background free and consistent with the gauge symmetries presented in the equations of motion for the matter is outlined. Keywords: diffeomorphism invariant systems, reparametrization-invariant matter systems, matter Lagrangian, homogeneous singular Lagrangians, relativistic particle, string theory, extended objects, d-branes, interaction fields, classical forces beyond electromagnetism and gravity, generally covariant theory, gauge symmetries, background free theories.