Brane annihilation in non-supersymmetric strings

Abstract

In this paper we study non-perturbative instabilities in Anti de-Sitter vacua arising from flux compactifications of string models with broken supersymmetry. In the semi-classical limit, these processes drive the vacua towards lower fluxes, which translate into higher curvatures and higher string couplings. In order to shed some light on this regime, we provide evidence for a description in terms of branes, which generate near-horizon AdS throats. To this end, we study the attractor properties of the geometries near the throat, and we also characterize their asymptotics away from it. We also describe the instability within a probe-brane picture, finding an agreement between low-energy (super)gravity and brane instanton estimates of the decay rates.

de Sitter in non-supersymmetric string theories: no-go theorems and brane-worlds

“…While a number of parallels between lower-dimensional anti-brane uplifts and the ten-dimensional BSB scenario appear encouraging to this effect, as we shall see shortly the presence of exponential potentials does not ameliorate the situation, insofar as (warped) flux compactifications are concerned. On the other hand, as we shall explain in section 7, the very presence of exponential potentials allows for intriguing brane-world scenarios within the AdS landscapes discussed in [31], whose non-perturbative instabilities play a crucial rôle in this respect.…”

“…In section 6.1 we employ the lower-dimensional formulation to discuss how our results relate to recent Swampland conjectures [18,33,34], showing that the ratio |∇V| V is bounded from below whenever the effective potential V > 0. Finally, in section 7 we review a recently revisited proposal [35][36][37] which rests on the observation that branes nucleating amidst AdS → AdS transitions host dS geometries on their world-volumes, and we embed a construction of this type in the non-supersymmetric string models that we consider, building on the results of [31]. We conclude in section 8 with some closing remarks.…”

“…The string models introduced in the preceding sections can be described, at low energies, by effective actions of the type 12) following the notation of [31] where…”

“…The AdS d solutions of [31] can be recovered setting σ X = −1 and σ Y = 1, and they are perturbative for large fluxes whenever the constraints are satisfied. In the string models described in section 2, in the electric frame p = 1 for the orientifold models, while p = 5 for the heterotic model.…”

On AdS7 stability

“…[11] found vacua that are marginally stable for the considered decay channels. More recently, for example [12] considered the decay of models with brane supersymmetry breaking.…”