Brane Configurations and 4D Field Theory Dualities

We study brane configurations which correspond to field theories in four dimension with N = 2 and N = 1 supersymmetry. In particular we discuss brane motions that translate to Seiberg’s duality in N = 1 models recently studied by Elitzur, Giveon and Kutasov. We investigate, using the brane picture, the moduli spaces of the dual theories. Deformations of these models like mass terms and vacuum expectation values of scalar fields can be identified with positions of branes. The map of these deformations between the electric and dual magnetic theories is clarified. The models we study reproduce known field theory results and we provide an example of new dual pairs with N = 1 supersymmetry. Possible relations between brane configurations and non-supersymmetric field theories are discussed. @ 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.