Five-branes, seven-branes and five-dimensional En field theories

We generalize the (p,q) 5-brane web construction of five-dimensional field theories by introducing (p,q) 7-branes, and apply this construction to theories with a one-dimensional Coulomb branch. The 7-branes render the exceptional global symmetry of these theories manifest. Additionally, 7-branes allow the construction of all En theories up to n=8, previously not possible in 5-brane configurations. The exceptional global symmetry in the field theory is a subalgebra of an affine symmetry on the 7-branes, which is necessary for the existence of the system. We explicitly determine the quantum numbers of the BPS states of all En theories using two simple geometrical constraints. (author)