E + E $\rightarrow$ H

Understand

E-strings arise from M2 branes suspended between an M5 brane and an M9 plane.

• In this paper we obtain explicit expressions for the elliptic genus of two E-strings using a series of string dualities.
• Moreover we show how this can be used to recover the elliptic genus of two $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic strings using the Horava-Witten realization of heterotic strings in M-theory.
• This involves highly non-trivial identities among Jacobi forms, and is remarkable in light of the fact that E-strings are 'sticky' and form bound states whereas heterotic strings do not form bound states.