Classifying A-field and B-field configurations in the presence of D-branes. Part II: Stacks of D-branes Original Research Article

In the paper of Bonora et al. (2008) we have shown, in the context of type II superstring theory, the classification of the allowed B-field and A-field configurations in the presence of anomaly-free D-branes, the mathematical framework being provided by the geometry of gerbes. Here we complete the discussion considering in detail the case of a stack of D-branes, carrying a non-abelian gauge theory, which was just sketched in Bonora et al. (2008) . In this case we have to mix the geometry of abelian gerbes, describing the B-field, with the one of higher-rank bundles, ordinary or twisted. We describe in detail the various cases that arise according to such a classification, as we did for a single D-brane, showing under which hypotheses the A-field turns out to be a connection on a canonical gauge bundle. We also generalize to the non-abelian setting the discussion about “gauge bundles with non-integral Chern classes”, relating them to twisted bundles with connection. Finally, we analyze the geometrical nature of the Wilson loop for each kind of gauge theory on a D-brane or stack of D-branes.