We have investigated the features of the gauge vector field in a braneworld scenario built as a warped product between a 3-brane and a 2-cycle of the resolved conifold. This scenario allowed us to study how the gauge field behaves when the transverse manifold evolves upon a geometric flow that controls the singularity at the origin. Besides, since the transverse manifold has a cylindrical symmetry according to the 3-brane, this geometry can be regarded as a near brane correction of the string-like branes. Indeed, by means of a new warp function and the angular metric component of the resolved conifold, the braneworld can exhibit a conical form near the origin as well as a regular behavior in that region. The analysis of the gauge field in this background has been carried out for the s-wave state and a normalizable massless mode was found. For the massive modes, the resolution parameter avoids an infinite well on the brane and controls the depth of the well and the high of the barrier around the brane. The massive modes are slightly changed near the brane but they agreed with the string-like spectrum for large distances.
Braneworld inflation on the resolved warped deformed conifold is represented by the dynamics of a D3-brane probe with the world volume of a brane spanning the large dimensions of the observable Universe. This model was recently proposed as a string theory candidate for slow-roll inflationary cosmology in hep-th/0511254. During inflation, the scalar curvature of the Universe is determined by the Hubble scale. We argue that taking into account the curvature of the inflationary Universe renders dynamics of the D3-brane fast-roll deep inside the warped throat.
We find the tension spectrum of the bound states of p fundamental strings and q D-strings at the bottom of a warped deformed conifold. We show that it can be obtained from a D3-brane wrapping a 2-cycle that is stabilized by both electric and magnetic fluxes. Because the F-strings are Z_M-charged with non-zero binding energy, binding can take place even if (p,q) are not coprime. Implications for cosmic strings are briefly discussed.
A warped resolved conifold background of type IIB theory, constructed in hep-th/0701064, is dual to the supersymmetric $SU(N)\times SU(N)$ gauge theory with a vacuum expectation value (VEV) for one of the bifundamental chiral superfields. This VEV breaks both the superconformal invariance and the baryonic symmetry. The absolute value of the VEV controls the resolution parameter of the conifold. In this paper we study the phase of the VEV, which corresponds to the Goldstone boson of the broken symmetry. We explicitly construct the linearized perturbation of the 4-form R-R potential that contain…
We study the supersymmetric properties of D7-branes in the warped deformed conifold. We consider the $κ$-symmetry conditions on D7-branes in this specific warped background, taking into account the background NS-NS 2-form flux. While any holomorphic embedding defines a supersymmetric D7-brane in the absence of background H-flux, most of the D7-brane embeddings considered in the literature do not preserve supersymmetry for the warped deformed conifold without also including brane worldvolume flux. For the simplest such embedding, we construct numerically the worldvolume fluxnecessary to restore…
We study D7 brane probes holomorphically embedded in the Klebanov-Strassler model. Analyzing the $κ$-symmetry condition for D7 branes wrapping a 4-cycle of a deformed conifold we find configurations that do not break N=1 supersymmetry of the background. We compute the fluctuations of the probe around one of these configurations and obtain the spectrum of vector and scalar flavored mesons in the dual gauge theory. The spectrum is discrete and exhibits a mass gap.
The warped deformed conifold background of type IIB theory is dual to the cascading $SU(M(p+1))\times SU(Mp)$ gauge theory. We show that this background realizes the (super-)Goldstone mechanism where the U(1) baryon number symmetry is broken by expectation values of baryonic operators. The resulting massless pseudo-scalar and scalar glueballs are identified in the supergravity spectrum. A D-string is then dual to a global string in the gauge theory. Upon compactification, the Goldstone mechanism turns into the Higgs mechanism, and the global strings turn into ANO strings.
It has recently been suggested that a superpotential for the baryonic branch of the Klebanov-Strassler field theory (KS) should exist for a sector of the dual supergravity fields. In this note we would like to argue that if extended to cover the whole set of supergravity fields a would-be superpotential does not have a perturbative expansion around the known KS superpotential. Since the family of supergravity duals to the baryonic branch is an expansion around the warped deformed conifold, our argument most likely indicates that there is no such superpotential, and hints that some one-paramete…
We study supergravity backgrounds encoded through the gauge/string correspondence by the SU(N) \times SU(N) theory arising on N D3-branes on the conifold. As discussed in hep-th/9905104, the dynamics of this theory describes warped versions of both the singular and the resolved conifolds through different (symmetry breaking) vacua. We construct these supergravity solutions explicitly and match them with the gauge theory with different sets of vacuum expectation values of the bi-fundamental fields A_1, A_2, B_1, B_2. For the resolved conifold, we find a non-singular SU(2)\times U(1)\times U(1) …
Continuing the programme of constructing the backreacted solution corresponding to smeared anti-D3 branes in the warped deformed conifold, we solve analytically the equations governing the space of first-order deformations around this solution. We express the results in terms of at most three nested integrals. These are the simplest expressions for the space of $SU(2) \times SU(2) \times \ZZ_2$-invariant deformations, in which the putative solution for smeared anti-D3 branes must live. We also explain why one cannot claim to identify this solution without fully relating the coefficients of the…
We calculate the tension of $(p,q)$-strings in the warped deformed conifold using the non-Abelian DBI action. In the large flux limit, we find exact agreement with the recent expression obtained by Firouzjahi, Leblond and Henry-Tye up to and including order $1/M^2$ terms if $q$ is also taken to be large. Furthermore using the finite $q$ prescription for the symmetrised trace operation we anticipate the most general expression for the tension valid for any $(p,q)$. We find that even in this instance, corrections to the tension scale as $1/M^2$ which is not consistent with simple Casimir scaling…
We discuss a simple transformation that allows to generate SU(3) structure solutions of Type IIB supergravity with RR fluxes, starting from non-Kahler solutions of Type I supergravity. The method may be applied also in the presence of supersymmetric source branes. We apply this transformation to a solution describing fivebranes wrapped on the two-sphere of the resolved conifold with additional flavour fivebrane sources. The resulting solution is a generalisation of the resolved deformed conifold solution of Butti et al. by the addition of D5 brane and D3 brane sources. We propose that this sol…
We interpret D-strings at the bottom of the warped deformed conifold as axionic strings in the dual cascading SU(N+M) x SU(N) gauge theory. The axion is a massless pseudo-scalar glueball which we find in the supergravity fluctuation spectrum and interpret as the Goldstone boson of spontaneously broken U(1) baryon number symmetry. The existence of this massless glueball, anticipated in hep-th/0101013, supports the idea that the cascading gauge theory is on the baryonic branch, i.e. the U(1)_B global symmetry is broken by expectation values of baryonic operators. We also find a massless scalar g…
We calculate quark-antiquark potentials using the relationship between the expectation value of the Wilson loop and the action of a probe string in the string dual. We review and categorize the possible forms of the dependence of the energy on the separation between the quarks. In particular, we examine the possibility of there being a minimum separation for probe strings which do not penetrate close to the origin of the bulk space, and derive a condition which determines whether this is the case. We then apply these considerations to the flavoured resolved deformed conifold background of Gail…
We discuss Kaluza-Klein theory for type $II\ b $ supergravity on the warped deformed conifold using a large radial distance limit of Klebanov-Strassler solution where the radial coordinate separates from angle coordinates for a background asymptotic to $ AdS _5 \times T^{1,1}$ spacetime. The decomposition of field fluctuations on harmonics of the base manifold $T^{1,1}$ and plane waves of $M_4= ð(AdS _5 )$ is examined for the metric tensor components along $M_4= ð(AdS _5 )$, the axio-dilaton and the 4-form potential components along $T^{1,1}$. Semi-classical methods are used to compute the mas…
It has recently been appreciated that the conifold modulus plays an important role in string-phenomenological set-ups involving warped throats, both by imposing constraints on model building and for obtaining a 10-dimensional picture of SUSY-breaking. In this note, we point out that the stability of the conifold modulus furthermore prevents large super- Planckian axion monodromy field ranges caused by brane-flux decay processes down warped throats. Our findings imply a significant challenge for concrete string theory embeddings of the inflationary flux-unwinding scenario.
We assemble a few remarks on the supergravity solution of hep-th/0007191, whose UV asymptotic form was previously found in hep-th/0002159. First, by normalizing the R-R fluxes, we compare the logarithmic flow of couplings in supergravity with that in field theory, and find exact agreement. We also write the 3-form field strength $G_3 = F_3 - τH_3$ present in the solution in a manifestly SO(4) invariant (2,1) form. In addition, we discuss various issues related to the chiral symmetry breaking and wrapped branes.
This paper has been withdrawn. The interpretation of tension spectrum of cosmic superstrings in terms of KK momentum is invalid as presented in section 2. A new paper based on calculations of the KK spectrum presented here will be submitted.
We analyze properties of non-supersymmetric isometry-preserving perturbations to the infrared region of the warped deformed conifold, i.e. the Klebanov Strassler solution. We discuss both perturbations that "squash" the geometry, so that the internal space is no longer conformally Calabi-Yau, and perturbations that do not squash the geometry. Among the perturbations that we discuss is the solution that describes the linearized near-tip backreaction of a smeared collection of anti-D3-branes positioned in the deep infrared. Such a configuration is a candidate gravity dual of a non-supersymmetric…
We carry out a thorough analysis of the moduli space of the cascading gauge theory found on p D3-branes and M wrapped D5-branes at the tip of the conifold. We find various mesonic branches of the moduli space whose string duals involve the warped deformed conifold with different numbers of mobile D3-branes. The branes that are not mobile form a BPS bound state at threshold. In the special case where p is divisible by M there also exists a one-dimensional baryonic branch whose family of supergravity duals, the resolved warped deformed conifolds, was constructed recently. The warped deformed con…
We investigated the localization of the spinorial field in a braneworld built as a warped product between a 3-brane and a 2-cycle of the resolved conifold. This scenario provides a geometric flow that controls the singularity at the origin and changes the properties of the fermion in this background. Furthermore, due the cylindrical symmetry according to the 3-brane and a smoothed warp factor, this geometry can be regarded as a near brane correction of the string-like branes. This geometry allows a normalizable and well-defined massless mode whose decay and value on the brane depend on the res…
We revisit moduli stabilisation for type IIB flux compactifications that include a warped throat region corresponding to a warped deformed conifold, with an anti-D3-brane sitting at its tip. The warping induces a coupling between the conifold's deformation modulus and the bulk volume modulus in the Kähler potential. Previous works have studied the scalar potential assuming a strong warping such that this coupling term dominates, and found that the anti-D3-brane uplift may destabilise the conifold modulus and/or volume modulus, unless flux numbers within the throat are large, which makes tadpol…
We examine the Kaluza-Klein theory for warped flux compactifications of type $II\ b $ string theory on a Minkowski spacetime $ M_4$ times a conic Calabi-Yau orientifold $X_6$. The region glued along the internal space directions to the bulk of $X_6$ is modeled by the warped undeformed conifold $\calc _6$. The resulting classical vacum solution of Klebanov-Tseytlin solution, valid at large radial distances from the conic singularity, describes a spacetime asymptotic to $ AdS_5 $ times the conifold compact base $ T^{1,1}$. The metric tensor, axio-dilaton and antisymmetric fields part of the 10-d…
We obtain a family of heterotic supergravity backgrounds describing non-Kahler warped conifolds with three-form flux and an Abelian gauge bundle, preserving N=1 supersymmetry in four dimensions. At large distance from the singularity the usual Ricci-flat conifold is recovered. By performing a Z_2 orbifold of the T^{1,1} base, the conifold singularity can be blown-up to a four-cycle, leading to a completely smooth geometry. Remarkably, the throat regions of the solutions, which can be isolated from the asymptotic Ricci-flat geometry using a double-scaling limit, possess a worldsheet CFT descrip…
In the appropriate limit, a type IIB string theory setup involving D3 branes, wrapped D5 branes, and fluxes on a conifold generally leads to a supergravity background involving a warped version of the conifold with fluxes. We study the supergravity dual of the baryonic branch of the Klebanov Strassler theory by writing down a very general conifold metric--the non-Kähler resolved warped-deformed conifold--and a general set of fluxes that satisfy the supergravity equations of motion, and derive the necessary constraints that allow the geometry to be dual to an $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric gaug…
We find a cosmological solution corresponding to compactification of 10d supergravity on a warped conifold that easily circumvents `no-go' theorem given for a warped/flux compactification, providing new perspectives for the study of supergravity or superstring theory in cosmological backgrounds. With fixed volume moduli of the internal space, the model can explain a physical universe undergoing an accelerated expansion in the 4d Einstein frame, for a sufficiently long time. The solution found in the limit that the warp factor dependent on the radial coordinate $y$ is extremized (giving a const…
We study the spectrum of the gravitational modes in Minkowski spacetime due to a 6-dimensional warped deformed conifold, i.e., a warped throat, in superstring theory. After identifying the zero mode as the usual 4D graviton, we present the KK spectrum as well as other excitation modes. Gluing the throat to the bulk (a realistic scenario), we see that the graviton has a rather uniform probability distribution everywhere while a KK mode is peaked in the throat, as expected. Due to the suppressed measure of the throat in the wave function normalization, we find that a KK mode's probability in the…
We have studied the localization of scalar field on a 3-brane embedded in a six dimensional warped bulk of the form $M_{4}\times C_{2}$, where $M_{4}$ is a 3-brane and $C_{2}$ is a 2-cycle of a six resolved conifold $\mathcal{C}_{6}$ over a $T^{1,1}$ space. Since the resolved conifold is singularity-free in $r=0$ depending on a resolution parameter $a$, we have analyzed the behavior of the localization of scalar field when we vary the resolution parameter. On one hand, this enable us to study the effects that a singularity has on the field. On the other hand we can use the resolution parameter…
In this paper we obtain a model of Natural Inflation from string theory with a Planckian decay constant. We investigate D-brane dynamics in the background of the warped resolved conifold (WRC) throat approximation of Type IIB string compactifications on Calabi-Yau manifolds. When we glue the throat to a compact bulk Calabi-Yau, we generate a D-brane potential which is a solution to the Laplace equation on the resolved conifold. We can exactly solve this equation, including dependence on the angular coordinates. The solutions are valid down to the tip of the resolved conifold, which is not the …
Two recent results indicate that the addition of supersymmetry-breaking ingredients can destabilize the Klebanov-Strassler warped deformed conifold throat. The first comes from an analytic treatment of the interaction between anti-D3 branes and the complex-structure modulus corresponding to the deformation of the conifold [arXiv:1809.06861]. The second comes from the numeric construction of Klebanov-Strassler black holes [arXiv:1809.08484], which stop existing above a certain value of the non-extremality. We show that in both calculations the destabilization energies have the same parametric d…
Using DBI inflation as an example, we demonstrate that the detailed geometry of warped compactification can leave an imprint on the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We compute CMB observables for DBI inflation in a generic class of warped throats and find that the results (such as the sign of the tilt of the scalar perturbations and its running) depend sensitively on the precise shape of the warp factor. In particular, we analyze the warped deformed conifold and find that the results can differ from those of other warped geometries, even when these geometries approximate well the exact metri…
We show that the conifold and deformed-conifold warped compactifications of the ten-dimensional type IIB supergravity, including the Klebanov-Strassler solution, are dynamically unstable in the moduli sector representing the scale of a Calabi-Yau space, although it can be practically stable for a quite long time in a region with a large warp factor. This instability is associated with complete supersymmetry breaking except for a special case and produces significant time-dependence in the structure of the four-dimensional base spacetime as well as of the internal space.
We present a comprehensive analysis of the black holes on warped deformed conifold with fluxes in Type IIB supergravity. These black holes realize the holographic dual to thermal states of the ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric $SU(N)\times SU(N+M)$ cascading gauge theory of Klebanov et.al on round $S^3$. There are three distinct mass scales in the theory: the strong coupling scale $Λ$ of the cascading gauge theory, the compactification scale $μ=1/L_3$ (related to the $S^3$ radius $L_3$) and the temperature $T$ of a thermal state. Depending on $Λ\,,\, μ$ and $T$, there is an intricate pattern of conf…
We construct spacetime supersymmetric, modular invariant partition functions of strings on the conifold-type singularities which include contributions from the discrete-series representations of SL(2, R). The discrete spectrum is automatically consistent with the GSO projection in the continuous sector, and contains massless matter fields localized on a four-dimensional submanifold at the tip of a cigar. In particular, they are in the 27+1 of E6 for the E8 x E8 heterotic string. We speculate about a possible realization of local E6 GUT by using this framework.
We develop formalism for computing the kinetic terms of 4d fields in string compactifications, particularly with warping. With the help of the Hamiltonian approach, we identify a gauge dependent inner product on the compactification manifold which depends on the warp factor. It is shown that kinetic terms are associated to the minimum value of the inner product over each gauge orbit. We work out the kinetic term for the complex modulus of a deformed conifold with flux, i.e. the Klebanov-Strassler solution embedded in a compact Calabi-Yau manifold. Earlier results of a power-like divergence are…
We provide new evidence for the gauge/string duality between the baryonic branch of the cascading SU(k(M+1)) \times SU(kM) gauge theory and a family of type IIB flux backgrounds based on warped products of the deformed conifold and R^{3,1}. We show that a Euclidean D5-brane wrapping all six deformed conifold directions can be used to measure the baryon expectation values, and present arguments based on kappa-symmetry and the equations of motion that identify the gauge bundles required to ensure worldvolume supersymmetry of this object. Furthermore, we investigate its coupling to the pseudoscal…
We derive a novel deformation of the warped resolved conifold background with supersymmetry breaking ISD (1,2) fluxes by adding D7-branes to this type IIB theory. We find spontaneous supersymmetry breaking without generating a bulk cosmological constant. In the compactified form, our background will no longer be a Calabi-Yau manifold as it allows a non-vanishing first Chern class. In the presence of D7-branes the (1,2) fluxes can give rise to non-trivial D-terms. We study the Ouyang embedding of D7-branes in detail and find that in this case the D-terms are indeed non-zero. In the limit when w…
We investigate the embedding of brane anti-brane inflation into a concrete type IIB string theory compactification with all moduli fixed. Specifically, we are considering a D3-brane, whose position represents the inflaton $ϕ$, in a warped conifold throat in the presence of supersymmetrically embedded D7-branes and an anti D3-brane localized at the tip of the warped conifold cone. After presenting the moduli stabilization analysis for a general D7-brane embedding, we concentrate on two explicit models, the Ouyang and the Kuperstein embeddings. We analyze whether the forces, induced by moduli st…
As shown in arXiv:hep-th/0405282, the warped deformed conifold has two bosonic massless modes, a pseudoscalar and a scalar, that are dual to the phase and the modulus of the baryonic condensates in the cascading gauge theory. We reconsider the scalar mode sector, mixing fluctuations of the NS-NS 2-form and the metric, and include non-zero 4-d momentum $k_μ$. The resulting pair of coupled equations produce a discrete spectrum of $m_4^2=- k_μ^2$ which is interpreted as the spectrum of $J^{PC}= 0^{+-}$ glueballs in the gauge theory. Similarly, we derive the spectrum of certain pseudoscalar glueba…
We derive the equations for the nonsupersymmetric vacua of D3-branes in the presence of nonperturbative moduli stabilization in type IIB flux compactifications, and solve and analyze them in the case of two particular 7-brane embeddings at the bottom of the warped deformed conifold. In the limit of large volume and long throat, we obtain vacua by imposing a constraint on the 7-brane embedding. These vacua fill out continuous spaces of higher dimension than the corresponding supersymmetric vacua, and have negative effective cosmological constant. Perturbative stability of these vacua is possibl…
We describe duality cascades and their infrared behavior for systems of D3-branes at singularities given by complex cones over del Pezzo surfaces (and related examples), in the presence of fractional branes. From the gauge field theory viewpoint, we show that D3-branes probing the infrared theory have a quantum deformed moduli space, given by a complex deformation of the initial geometry to a simpler one. This implies that for the dual supergravity viewpoint, the gauge theory strong infrared dynamics smoothes out the naked singularities of the recently constructed warped throat solutions with …
We present a variant of warped D-brane inflation by incorporating multiple sets of holomorphically-embedded D7-branes involved in moduli stabilization with extent into a warped throat. The resultant D3-brane motion depends on the D7-brane configuration and the relative position of the D3-brane in these backgrounds. The non-perturbative moduli stabilization superpotential takes the racetrack form, but the additional D3-brane open string moduli dependence provides more flexibilities in model building. For concreteness, we consider D3-brane motion in the warped deformed conifold with the presence…
We give a detailed derivation of a supersymmetric configuration of wrapped D5-branes on a two-cycle of a warped resolved conifold. Our analysis reveals that the resolved conifold should support a non-Kahler metric with an SU(3) structure. We use this as a starting point of the geometric transition in type IIB theory. A mirror, and a subsequent flop transition using an intermediate M-theory configuration with a G_2 structure, gives rise to the complete IR geometric transition in type IIA theory. A further mirror transformation gives the type IIB gravity dual of the IR gauge theory on the wrappe…
We investigate a new mechanism for realizing slow roll inflation in string theory, based on the dynamics of p anti-D3 branes in a class of mildly warped flux compactifications. Attracted to the bottom of a warped conifold throat, the anti-branes then cluster due to a novel mechanism wherein the background flux polarizes in an attempt to screen them. Once they are sufficiently close, the M units of flux cause the anti-branes to expand into a fuzzy NS5-brane, which for rather generic choices of p/M will unwrap around the geometry, decaying into D3-branes via a classical process. We find that the…
We present a detailed systematics for comparing warped brane inflation with the observations, incorporating the effects of both moduli stabilization and ultraviolet bulk physics. We explicitly construct an example of the inflaton potential governing the motion of a mobile D3 brane in the entire warped deformed conifold. This allows us to precisely identify the corresponding scales of the cosmic microwave background. The effects due to bulk fluxes or localized sources are parametrized using gauge/string duality. We next perform some sample scannings to explore the parameter space of the complet…
We construct a black hole solution on warped deformed conifold in type IIB supergravity with fluxes. The black hole has translationary invariant horizon and is a holographic dual to a thermal homogeneous and isotropic state of a cascading $SU(K+P)\times SU(K)$ ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric gauge theory with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. We discuss thermal properties of the new black hole solutions. We comment on implications of the new black hole solutions for the landscape of KKLT de Sitter vacua in string theory.
We investigate whether explicit models of warped D-brane inflation are possible in string compactifications. To this end, we study the potential for D3-brane motion in a warped conifold that includes holomorphically-embedded D7-branes involved in moduli stabilization. The presence of the D7-branes significantly modifies the inflaton potential. We construct an example based on a very simple and symmetric embedding due to Kuperstein, z_1 = constant, in which it is possible to fine-tune the potential so that slow roll inflation can occur. The resulting model is rather delicate: inflation occurs i…
We describe the construction of string theory models with semirealistic spectrum in a sector of (anti) D3-branes located at an orbifold singularity at the bottom of a highly warped throat geometry, which is a generalisation of the Klebanov-Strassler deformed conifold. These models realise the Randall-Sundrum proposal to naturally generate the Planck/electroweak hierarchy in a concrete string theory embedding, and yielding interesting chiral open string spectra. We describe examples with Standard Model gauge group (or left-right symmetric extensions) and three families of SM fermions, with corr…
This article discusses model-building scenarios including anti-D3-/D7-branes, in which supersymmetry is broken spontaneously, despite having no scale at which sparticles appear and standard supersymmetry is restored. If the branes are placed on singularities at the tip of warped throats in Calabi-Yau orientifold flux compactifications, they may give rise to realistic particle spectra, closed- and open-string moduli stabilisation with a Minkowski/de Sitter uplift, and a geometrical origin for the scale hierarchies. The paper derives the low-energy effective field theory description for such sce…
We study a supersymmetry breaking deformation of the M-theory background found in arXiv:hep-th/0012011. The supersymmetric solution is a warped product of R^{2,1} and the 8-dimensional Stenzel space, which is a higher dimensional generalization of the deformed conifold. At the bottom of the warped throat there is a 4-sphere threaded by \tilde{M} units of 4-form flux. The dual (2+1)-dimensional theory has a discrete spectrum of bound states. We add p anti-M2 branes at a point on the 4-sphere, and show that they blow up into an M5-brane wrapping a 3-sphere at a fixed azimuthal angle on the 4-sph…
Antibranes provide some of the most generic ways to uplift Anti-de Sitter flux compactifications to de Sitter, and there is a growing body of evidence that antibranes placed in long warped throats such as the Klebanov-Strassler warped deformed conifold solution have a brane-brane-repelling tachyon. This tachyon was first found in the regime of parameters in which the backreaction of the antibranes is large, and its existence was inferred from a highly nontrivial cancellation of certain terms in the inter-brane potential. We use a brane effective action approach, similar to that proposed by Mic…
