More on Meta-Stable Brane Configuration by Quartic Superpotential for Fundamentals
Changhyun Ahn
备注：
16 pp, 4 figures; second paragraph of section 1, figures 2, 3, 4, the last paragraph of page 5, the equation (2.1) and the footnote 2 are improved and to appear in PLB
For the case where the gauge theory superpotential has a quartic term as well as the mass term for quarks, the nonsupersymmetric meta-stable brane configuration was found recently. By adding the orientifold 6-planes and the extra fundamental flavors to this brane configuration, we describe the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua of the gauge theory with antisymmetric flavor as well as fundamental flavors in type IIA string theory.
The type IIA nonsupersymmetric meta-stable brane configuration consisting of three NS5-branes, D4-branes and anti-D4-branes where the electric gauge theory superpotential has a quartic term for the bifundamentals besides a mass term is constructed. By adding the orientifold 4-plane and 6-plane to this brane configuration, we also describe the intersecting brane configurations of type IIA string theory corresponding to the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua of corresponding gauge theories.
We study matrix models related to $SO/Sp$ gauge theories with flavors. We give the effective superpotentials for gauge theories with arbitrary tree level superpotential up to first instanton level. For quartic tree level superpotential we obtained exact one-cut solution. We also derive Seiberg-Witten curve for these gauge theories from matrix model argument.
Dijkgraaf and Vafa have conjectured that the effective superpotentials for N=1 four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories can be given by the planar diagrams of matrix models. We examine some special models with cubic and quartic tree level superpotentials for adjoint chiral superfield Φ. We consider the effective superpotentials for the classical vacuum Φ=0 for U(N) and SO(N)/Sp(N) gauge theories. We evaluate the effective superpotentials exactly in terms of the matrix model and in terms of closed string theory on Calabi-Yau geometry with fluxes. As a result we find their perfect agreemen…
We studied the phase structures of N=1 supersymmetric USp(2N_c) gauge theory with N_f flavors in the fundamental representation as we deformed the N=2 supersymmetric QCD by adding the superpotential for adjoint chiral scalar field. We determined the most general factorization curves for various breaking patterns, for example, the two different breaking patterns of quartic superpotential. We observed all kinds of smooth transitions for quartic superpotential. Finally we discuss the intriguing role of USp(0) in the phase structure and the possible connection with observations made recently in he…
We examine a large N duality via geometric transition for N=1 SO/Sp gauge theories with superpotential for adjoint chiral superfield. In this paper, we find that the large N gauge theories are exactly analyzed for the classical quartic superpotentials by the finite rank SO/Sp gauge theories. With this classical superpotentials, we evaluate the confining phase superpotentials using the Seiberg-Witten theory. In the dual theory, we calculate the superpotential generated by the R-R and NS-NS 3-form fluxes. As the non-trivial examples, we discuss for SO(6), SO(8) and Sp(4) gauge theories. In these…
A recently derived basic theorem on the decomposition of SO(2N) vertices is used to obtain a complete analytic determination of all SO(10) invariant cubic superpotential couplings involving $16_{\pm}$ semispinors of SO(10) chirality $\pm$ and tensor representations. In addition to the superpotential couplings computed previously using the basic theorem involving the 10, 120 and $\bar{126}$ tensor representations we compute here couplings involving the 1, 45 and 210 dimensional tensor representations, i.e., we compute the $\bar{16}_{\mp}16_{\pm}1$,$\bar{16}_{\mp}16_{\pm}45$ and $\bar{16}_{\mp}1…
We consider an N=1 U(N) gauge theory with matter in the antisymmetric representation and its conjugate, with a tree level superpotential containing at least quartic interactions for these fields. We obtain the effective glueball superpotential in the classically unbroken case, and show that it has a non-trivial N-dependence which does not factorize. We also recover additional contributions starting at order S^N from the dynamics of Sp(0) factors. This can also be understood by a precise map of this theory to an Sp(2N-2) gauge theory with antisymmetric matter.
We analyze various brane configurations corresponding to field theories in three, four and five dimensions. We find brane configurations which correspond to three dimensional N=2 and four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric QCD theories with quartic superpotentials, in which what appear to be ``hidden parameters'' play an important role. We discuss the construction of five dimensional N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories and superconformal fixed points using branes, which leads to new five dimensional N=1 superconformal field theories. The same five dimensional theories are also used, in a surprising …
We search for models of dynamical SUSY breaking in meta-stable vacua which might have dual string descriptions with a few brane probes. Two models with quartic superpotential are proposed: One of them might be closely related to the dual gauge theory to the flavored Maldacena-Nunez geometry by Casero, Nunez, and Paredes with a few additional brane probes corresponding to massive flavors. The other model might be dual to the Klebanov-Strassler geometry with one fractional D3-brane and a few D7-branes as probes.
Aspects of three dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ gauge theories with monopole superpotentials and their dualities are investigated. The moduli spaces of a number of such theories are studied using Hilbert series. Moreover, we propose new dualities involving quadratic powers for the monopole superpotentials, for unitary, symplectic and orthogonal gauge groups. These dualities are then tested using the three sphere partition function and matching of the Hilbert series. We also provide an argument for the obstruction to the duality for theories with quartic monopole superpotentials.
We construct a large class of SU(5) orientifold vacua with tadpole cancellation both for the standard and the flipped case. We give a general analysis of superpotential couplings up to quartic order in orientifold vacua and identify the properties of needed Yukawa couplings as well as the baryon number violating couplings. We point out that successful generation of the perturbatively forbidden Yukawa couplings entails a generically disastrous rate for proton decay from an associated quartic term in the superpotential, generated from the same instanton effects. We search for the appropriate ins…
We construct the type IIA nonsupersymmetric meta-stable brane configuration consisting of (2k+1) NS5-branes and D4-branes where the electric gauge theory superpotential has an order (2k+2) polynomial for the bifundamentals. We find a rich pattern of nonsupersymmetric meta-stable states as well as the supersymmetric stable ones. By adding the orientifold 4-plane to this brane configuration, we also describe the intersecting brane configuration of type IIA string theory corresponding to the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua of corresponding gauge theory.
We studied the phase structures of ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric $SO(N_c)$ gauge theory with $N_f$ flavors in the vector representation as we deformed the ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric QCD by adding the superpotential of arbitrary polynomial for the adjoint chiral scalar field. Using weak and strong coupling analyses, we determined the most general factorization forms for various breaking patterns. We observed all kinds of smooth transitions for quartic superpotential.
We argue that the Wess-Zumino model with quartic superpotential admits static solutions in which three domain walls intersect at a junction. We derive an energy bound for such junctions and show that configurations saturating it preserve 1/4 supersymmetry.
We consider N=1 supersymmetric QCD based on the G_2 gauge group and including 3 chiral matter 7-plets. In that case, the gauge symmetry is broken completely and the instanton-generated superpotential on the classical moduli space is present. If the theory involves the Yukawa term, there are six chirally asymmetric vacua. In the limit when the Yukawa coupling vanishes, two of the vacua run away to infinity and only 4 asymmetric vacuum states are left. Besides, a chirally symmetric state is always present. We consider also an O(7) model with 4 chiral multiplets in spinor representation. In that …
We show that, for a generic choice of a point on the Coulomb branch of any N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory, it is possible to find a superpotential perturbation which generates a metastable vacuum at the point. For theories with SU(N) gauge group, such a superpotential can be expressed as a sum of single-trace terms for N=2 and 3. If the metastable point is chosen at the origin of the moduli space, we can show that the superpotential can be a single-trace operator for any N. In both cases, the superpotential is a polynomial of degree 3N of the vector multiplet scalar field.
A hermitian one-matrix model with an even quartic potential exhibits a third-order phase transition when the cuts of the matrix model curve coalesce. We use the known solutions of this matrix model to compute effective superpotentials of an N=1, SU(N) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory coupled to an adjoint superfield, following the techniques developed by Dijkgraaf and Vafa. These solutions automatically satisfy the quantum tracelessness condition and describe a breaking to SU(N/2) x SU(N/2) x U(1). We show that the value of the effective superpotential is smooth at the transition point, and th…
Starting from an N=1 supersymmetric electric gauge theory with the gauge group Sp(N_c) x SO(2N_c') with fundamentals for the first gauge group factor and a bifundamental, we apply Seiberg dual to the symplectic gauge group only and arrive at the N=1 supersymmetric dual magnetic gauge theory with dual matters including the gauge singlets and superpotential. By analyzing the F-term equations of the dual magnetic superpotential, we describe the intersecting brane configuration of type IIA string theory corresponding to the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua of this gauge theory.
We present a general scheme for finding or creating a metastable vacuum in supersymmetric theories. By using the formalism, we show that there is a parameter region where a metastable vacuum exists in the Wess-Zumino model coupled to messenger fields. This model serves as a perturbative renormalizable model of direct gauge mediation.
We reexamine the N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories with product gauge groups by adding the mass terms and the quartic terms for the flavors: two gauge group theory with fundamentals, bifundamentals and adjoints, three gauge group theory with fundamentals and bifundamentals, and their orientifold 4-plane generalizations. By moving the branes appropriately, we obtain the corresponding dual gauge theories. By analyzing the dual superpotentials, we present the type IIA nonsupersymmetric meta-stable brane configurations.
It has been shown that four dimensional N=2 gauge theories, softly broken to N=1 by a superpotential term, can accommodate metastable non-supersymmetric vacua in their moduli space. We study the SU(2) theory at high temperatures in order to determine whether a cooling universe settles in the metastable vacuum at zero temperature. We show that the corrections to the free energy because of the BPS dyons are such that may destroy the existence of the metastable vacuum at high temperatures. Nevertheless we demonstrate the universe can settle in the metastable vacuum, provided that the following tw…
Giveon and Kutasov have found the type IIA intersecting nonsupersymmetric meta-stable brane configuration where the electric gauge theory superpotential has a quartic term as well as the mass term for quarks. In this paper, by adding the orientifold 6-plane to this brane configuration, we describe the brane configuration corresponding to the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua of the supersymmetric unitary gauge theory with symmetric flavor as well as fundamental flavors.
We construct the type IIA nonsupersymmetric meta-stable brane configurations corresponding to the various N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories. The D6-branes are both displaced and rotated where these deformations are described as the mass term and quartic term for the fundamental flavors respectively. The multiplicity of the NS5-branes occurs in the superpotential order for adjoint, symmetric, or bifundamental matters. A rich pattern of nonsupersymmetric meta-stable states as well as the supersymmetric stable states is found.
We show that the perturbation of an N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory by a superpotential linear in the Kahler normal coordinates of the Coulomb branch, discussed in arXiv:0704.3613, is equivalent to the perturbation by Fayet-Iliopoulos terms. It follows that the would-be meta-stable vacuum at the origin of the normal coordinates in fact preserves N=1 supersymmetry unless the superpotential is truncated to a finite-degree polynomial of the adjoint scalar fields. We examine the criteria for supersymmetry breaking under a perturbation by Fayet-Iliopoulos terms and present a general classification …
We obtain N=1 SU(N)^k gauge theories with bifundamental matter and a quartic superpotential as the low energy theory on D3-branes at singular points. These theories generalize that on D3-branes at a conifold point, studied recently by Klebanov and Witten. For k=3 the defining equation of the singular point is that of an isolated D_4 singularity. For k>3 we obtain a family of multimodular singularities. The considered SU(N)^k theories flow in the infrared to a non-trivial fixed point. We analyze the AdS/CFT correspondence for our examples.
We consider the N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories with product gauge groups. The two kinds of D6-branes in the electric theory are both displaced and rotated respectively where these deformations are interpreted as the mass terms and quartic terms for the two kinds of flavors. Then we apply the Seiberg dual to the whole gauge group factors by moving the branes and obtain the corresponding dual gauge theories. By analyzing the magnetic superpotentials consisting of an interaction term between a magnetic meson field and dual matters as well as the above deformations for each gauge group, we pres…
We propose a robust supergravity model of dynamical supersymmetry breaking and gauge mediation, and a natural embedding in non-perturbative string theory with D-branes. A chiral field (and its mirror) charged under "anomalous" U(1)'s acts as a Polonyi field whose hierarchical Polonyi-term can be generated by string instantons. Further quartic superpotential terms arise naturally as a tree-level decoupling effect of massive string states. A robust supersymmetry breaking minimum allows for gauge mediation with soft masses at the TeV scale, which we realise for a globally consistent SU(5) GUT mod…
We study the String dual to N=1 SQCD deformed by a quartic superpotential in the quark superfields. We present a unified view of the previous results in the literature and find new exact solutions and new asymptotic solutions. Then we study the Physics encoded in these backgrounds, giving among other things a resolution to an old puzzle related to the beta function and a sufficient criteria for screening. We also extend our results to the SO(Nc) case where we present a candidate for the Wilson loop in the spinorial representation. Various aspects of this line of research are critically analyze…
We demonstrate that, in an appropriate limit, the off-shell M5-brane worldvolume action effectively captures the scalar potential of Seiberg-Witten theory perturbed by a small superpotential and, consequently, any nonsupersymmetric vacua that it describes. This happens in a similar manner to the emergence from M5's of the scalar potential describing certain type IIB flux configurations [arXiv:0705.0983]. We then construct exact nonholomorphic M5 configurations in the special case of SU(2) Seiberg-Witten theory deformed by a degree six superpotential which correspond to the recently discovered …
We find the superpotential governing the supersymmetric warped M-theory solution with a transverse Stenzel space found by Cvetic, Gibbons, Lu and Pope in hep-th/0012011, and use this superpotential to extract and solve the twelve coupled equations underlying the first-order backreacted solution of a stack of anti-M2 branes in this space. These anti-M2 branes were analyzed recently in a probe approximation by Klebanov and Pufu, who conjectured that they should be dual to a metastable vacuum of a supersymmetric 2+1 dimensional theory. We find that the would-be supergravity dual to such a metasta…
Using both the matrix model prescription and the strong-coupling approach, we describe the intersections of n=0 and n=1 non-degenerated branches for quartic (polynomial of adjoint matter) tree-level superpotential in N=1 supersymmetric SO(N)/USp(2N) gauge theories with massless flavors. We also apply the method to the degenerated branch. The general matrix model curve on the two cases we obtain is valid for arbitrary N and extends the previous work from strong-coupling approach. For SO(N) gauge theory with equal massive flavors, we also obtain the matrix model curve on the degenerated branch f…
We present the configurations of intersecting branes in type IIA string theory corresponding to the meta-stable supersymmetry breaking vacua(hep-th/0608063) in the four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory coupled massive flavors with adjoint matter where the superpotential has three deformed terms.
We investigate, at the microscopic level, the compatibility between D-term potentials from world-volume fluxes on D7-branes and non-perturbative superpotentials arising from gaugino condensation on a different stack of D7-branes. This is motivated by attempts to construct metastable de Sitter vacua in type IIB string theory via D-term uplifts. We find a condition under which the Kaehler modulus, T, of a Calabi-Yau 4-cycle gets charged under the anomalous U(1) on the branes with flux. If in addition this 4-cycle is wrapped by a stack of D7-branes on which gaugino condensation takes place, the q…
We describe the intersecting brane configuration of type IIA string theory corresponding to the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua in four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric SU(N_c) gauge theory with an antisymmetric flavor, a conjugate symmetric flavor, eight fundamental flavors, m_f fundamental flavors and m_f antifundamental flavors. This is done by analyzing the N=1 supersymmetric SU(2m_f-N_c+4) magnetic gauge theory with dual matters and the corresponding dual superpotential.
We construct holographic duals to N=1 SQCD with a quartic superpotential and unquenched massive flavors. Our backgrounds are generated by D5-branes wrapping two-dimensional submanifolds of an internal space. The flavor degrees of freedom are introduced by means of D5-branes extended along two-dimensional calibrated surfaces, and act as sources of the different supergravity fields. The backgrounds we get include the backreaction of the flavor branes and generalize the geometries obtained so far to the case in which the fundamental matter is massive. The supergravity solutions we find are regula…
The baby Skyrme model is a well-known nonlinear field theory supporting topological solitons in two space dimensions. Its action functional consists of a potential term, a kinetic term quadratic in derivatives (the "nonlinear sigma model term") and the Skyrme term quartic in first derivatives. The limiting case of vanishing sigma model term (the so-called BPS baby Skyrme model) is known to support exact soliton solutions saturating a BPS bound which exists for this model. Further, the BPS model has infinitely many symmetries and conservation laws. Recently it was found that the gauged version …
We consider semi-direct gauge mediation models of supersymmetry breaking where the messengers are composite fields and their supersymmetric mass is naturally generated through quartic superpotential couplings. We show that such composite messenger models can be easily embedded in quiver gauge theories arising from D-branes at Calabi-Yau singularities, and argue that semi-direct gauge mediation is in fact a very natural option for supersymmetry breaking in D-brane models. We provide several explicit examples and discuss their salient phenomenological properties.
In a recent paper [1] we showed that N=1 supersymmetric QCD in the presence of certain superpotential deformations has a rich landscape of supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric vacua. In this paper we embed this theory in string theory as a low energy theory of intersecting NS and D-branes. We find that in the region of parameter space of brane configurations that can be reliably studied using classical string theory, the vacuum structure is qualitatively similar to that in the field theory regime. Effects that in field theory come from one loop corrections arise in string theory as classical …
We find non-supersymmetric metastable vacua in four dimensional N=2 gauge theories softly broken to N=1 by a superpotential term. First we study the simplest case, namely the SU(2) gauge theory without flavors. We study the spectrum and lifetime of the metastable vacuum and possible embeddings of the model in UV complete theories. Then we consider larger gauge group theories with flavors. We show that when we softly break them to N=1, the potential induced on specific submanifolds of their moduli space is identical to the potential in lower rank gauge theories. Then we show that the potential …
Gauge mediation of supersymmetry breaking is drastically simplified using generic superpotentials without U(1)_R symmetry by allowing metastable vacua.
From an N=1 supersymmetric electric gauge theory with the gauge group SU(N_c) x SU(N_c') with fundamentals for each gauge group, the bifundamentals and a symmetric flavor and a conjugate symmetric flavor for SU(N_c), we apply Seiberg dual to each gauge group independently and obtain two N=1 supersymmetric dual magnetic gauge theories with dual matters including the gauge singlets. By analyzing the F-term equations of the dual magnetic superpotentials, we describe the intersecting brane configurations of type IIA string theory corresponding to the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua of these ga…
In this paper we consider quiver gauge theories with fractional branes whose infrared dynamics removes the classical supersymmetric vacua (DSB branes). We show that addition of flavors to these theories (via additional non-compact branes) leads to local meta-stable supersymmetry breaking minima, closely related to those of SQCD with massive flavors. We simplify the study of the one-loop lifting of the accidental classical flat directions by direct computation of the pseudomoduli masses via Feynman diagrams. This new approach allows to obtain analytic results for all these theories. This work e…
Starting from the N=1 SU(N_c) x SU(N_c') gauge theory with fundamental and bifundamental flavors, we apply the Seiberg dual to the first gauge group and obtain the N=1 dual gauge theory with dual matters including the gauge singlets. By analyzing the F-term equations of the superpotential, we describe the intersecting type IIA brane configuration for the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua of this gauge theory. By introducing an orientifold 6-plane, we generalize to the case for N=1 SU(N_c) x SO(N_c') gauge theory with fundamental and bifundamental flavors. Finally, the N=1 SU(N_c) x Sp(N_c') …
We geometrically engineer N=2 theories perturbed by a superpotential by adding 3-form flux with support at infinity to local Calabi-Yau geometries in type IIB. This allows us to apply the formalism of Ooguri, Ookouchi, and Park [arXiv:0704.3613] to demonstrate that, by tuning the flux at infinity, we can stabilize the dynamical complex structure moduli in a metastable, supersymmetry-breaking configuration. Moreover, we argue that this setup can arise naturally as a limit of a larger Calabi-Yau which separates into two weakly interacting regions; the flux in one region leaks into the other, whe…
We study a brane configuration of D4-branes and NS5-branes in weakly coupled type IIA string theory, which describes in a particular limit d=4 N=1 SU(N+p) supersymmetric QCD with 2N flavors and a quartic superpotential. We describe the geometric realization of the supersymmetric vacuum structure of this gauge theory. We focus on the confining vacua of the gauge theory, whose holographic description is given by the MQCD brane configuration in the near-horizon geometry of N D4-branes. This description, which gives an embedding of MQCD into a field theory decoupled from gravity, is valid for 1 <<…
From an N=1 supersymmetric electric gauge theory with the gauge group SU(N_c) x SU(N_c') x SU(N_c'') with fundamentals for each gauge group and the bifundamentals, we apply Seiberg dual to each gauge group and obtain the N=1 supersymmetric dual magnetic gauge theories with dual matters including the additional gauge singlets. By analyzing the F-term equations of the dual magnetic superpotentials, we describe the intersecting brane configurations of type IIA string theory corresponding to the meta-stable nonsupersymmetric vacua of this gauge theory. We apply also to the case for N=1 supersymmet…
We find a new class of metastable de Sitter solutions in compactifications of six-dimensional supergravity motivated by type IIB or heterotic string vacua. Two Fayet-Iliopoulos terms of a local U(1) symmetry are generated by magnetic flux and by the Green-Schwarz term canceling the gauge anomalies, respectively. The interplay between the induced D-term, the moduli dependence of the effective gauge coupling, and a nonperturbative superpotential stabilizes the moduli and determines the size of the extra dimensions.
We present a new method to introduce scalar potentials to gauge-invariant chiral models coupled to supergravity. The theories under consideration contain consistent higher-derivative terms which do not give rise to instabilities and ghost states. The chiral auxiliaries are not propagating and can be integrated out. Their elimination gives rise to emerging potentials even when there is not a superpotential to start with. We present the case of a single chiral multiplet with and without a superpotential and, in the gauged theory, up to two chiral multiplets coupled to supergravity with no superp…
We explore the dynamics of magnetized nonsupersymmetric D5-brane configurations on Calabi-Yau orientifolds with fluxes. We show that supergravity D-terms capture supersymmetry breaking effects predicted by more abstract Pi-stability considerations. We also examine superpotential interactions in the presence of fluxes, and investigate the vacuum structure of such configurations. Based on the shape of the potential, we argue that metastable nonsupersymmetric vacua can be in principle obtained by tuning the values of fluxes.
Coincident D3-branes placed at a conical singularity are related to string theory on $AdS_5\times X_5$, for a suitable five-dimensional Einstein manifold $X_5$. For the example of the conifold, which leads to $X_5=T^{1,1}=(SU(2)\times SU(2))/U(1)$, the infrared limit of the theory on $N$ D3-branes was constructed recently. This is ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric $SU(N)\times SU(N)$ gauge theory coupled to four bifundamental chiral superfields and supplemented by a quartic superpotential which becomes marginal in the infrared. In this paper we consider D3-branes wrapped over the 3-cycles of $T^{1,1…
In the present paper, we reexamine the moduli stabilization problem of the Type IIB orientifolds with one complex structure modulus in a modified two-step procedure. The full superpotential including both the 3-form fluxes and the non-perturbative corrections is used to yield a F-term potential. This potential is simplified by using one optimization condition to integrate the dilaton field out. It is shown that having a locally stable supersymmetric Anti-deSitter vacuum is not inevitable for these orientifolds, which depend strongly upon the details of the flux parameters. For those orientifol…
We propose a new way of using geometric transitions to study metastable vacua in string theory and certain confining gauge theories. The gauge theories in question are N=2 supersymmetric theories deformed to N=1 by superpotential terms. We first geometrically engineer supersymmetry-breaking vacua by wrapping D5 branes on rigid 2-cycles in noncompact Calabi-Yau geometries, such that the central charges of the branes are misaligned. In a limit of slightly misaligned charges, this has a gauge theory description, where supersymmetry is broken by Fayet-Iliopoulos D-terms. Geometric transitions rela…
We consider intersecting brane configurations realizing N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories broken to N=1 by multitrace superpotentials, and softly to N=0. We analyze, in the framework of M5-brane wrapping a curve, the supersymmetric vacua and the analogs of spontaneous supersymmetry breaking and soft supersymmetry breaking in gauge theories. We show that the M5-brane does not exhibit the analog of metastable spontaneous supersymmetry breaking, and does not have non-holomorphic minimal volume curves with holomorphic boundary conditions. However, we find that any point in the N=2 moduli space can…
Our understanding of quantum gravity suggests that at the Planck scale the usual geometry loses its meaning. If so, the quest for grand unification in a large non-abelian group naturally endowed with the property of asymptotic freedom may also lose its motivation. Instead we propose an unification of all fundamental interactions at the Planck scale in the form of a Universal Landau Pole (ULP), at which all gauge couplings diverge. The Higgs quartic coupling also diverges while the Yukawa couplings vanish. The unification is achieved with the addition of fermions with vector gauge couplings com…
We study spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in spatially modulated stable or meta-stable vacua in supersymmetric field theories. Such spatial modulation can be realized in a higher derivative chiral model for which vacuum energies are either positive, negative or zero, depending on the model parameters. There appears a Nambu-Goldstone boson associated with the spontaneously breaking of the translational and $U(1)$ symmetries without the quadratic kinetic term and with a quartic derivative term in the modulated direction, and a gapless Higgs mode. We show that there appears a Goldstino associat…
We derive a sufficient condition for realizing meta-stable de Sitter vacua with small positive cosmological constant within type IIB string theory flux compactifications with spontaneously broken supersymmetry. There are a number of `lamp post' constructions of de Sitter vacua in type IIB string theory and supergravity. We show that one of them -- the method of `Kähler uplifting' by F-terms from an interplay between non-perturbative effects and the leading $α'$-correction -- allows for a more general parametric understanding of the existence of de Sitter vacua. The result is a condition on the…
