Supergravity approach to tachyon condensation on the brane–anti-brane system

Abstract

We study the tachyon condensation on the D-brane–anti-D-brane system from the supergravity point of view. The non-supersymmetric supergravity solutions with symmetry ISO(p,1)×SO(9−p) are known to be characterized by three parameters. By interpreting this solution as coincident N Dp-branes and N¯D¯p-branes we give, for the first time, an explicit representation of the three parameters of supergravity solutions in terms of N, N¯ and the tachyon vev. We demonstrate that the solution and the corresponding ADM mass capture all the required properties and give a correct description of the tachyon condensation advocated by Sen on the D-brane–anti-D-brane system.