Generalised Fayet-Iliopoulos terms in supergravity
Sergei M. Kuzenko
备注：
Contribution to the Proceedings of the Workshop "Supersymmetries and Quantum Symmetries" (SQS'2019, 26 August - August 31, 2019). V2: References have been reformated into the internationally recognised standard
The U(1) vector multiplet theory with the Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) term is one of the oldest and simplest models for spontaneously broken rigid supersymmetry. Lifting the FI term to supergravity requires gauged $R$-symmetry, as was first demonstrated in 1977 by Freedman within ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity. There exists an alternative to the standard FI mechanism, which is reviewed in this conference paper. It is obtained by replacing the FI model with a manifestly gauge-invariant action such that its functional form is determined by two arbitrary real functions of a single complex variable. One of these functions generates a superconformal kinetic term for the vector multiplet, while the other yields a generalised FI term. Coupling such a vector multiplet model to supergravity does not require gauging of the $R$-symmetry. These generalised FI terms are consistently defined for any off-shell formulation for ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity, and are compatible with a supersymmetric cosmological term.
As an extension of the recent construction of generalised Fayet-Iliopoulos terms in ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity given in [1], we present self-interactions for a vector multiplet coupled to conformal supergravity. They are used to construct new models for spontaneously broken local supersymmetry.
In this short note we discuss quantization of the Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter in supergravity theories. We argue that in supergravity, the Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter determines a lift of the group action to a line bundle, and such lifts are quantized. Just as D-terms in rigid N=1 supersymmetry are interpreted in terms of moment maps and symplectic reductions, we argue that in supergravity the quantization of the Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter has a natural understanding in terms of linearizations in geometric invariant theory (GIT) quotients, the algebro-geometric version of symplectic quotients.
We review the properties of the new type of Fayet-Iliopoulos terms that do not require the gauging of the R-symmetry when embedded in N=1 supergravity, and we discuss recent developments.
We review and clarify the cancellation conditions for gauge anomalies which occur when N=1, D=4 supergravity is coupled to a Kahler non-linear sigma-model with gauged isometries and Fayet-Iliopoulos couplings. For a flat sigma-model target space and vanishing Fayet-Iliopoulos couplings, consistency requires just the conventional anomaly cancellation conditions. A consistent model with non-vanishing Fayet-Iliopoulos couplings is unlikely unless the Green-Schwarz mechanism is used. In this case the U(1) gauge boson becomes massive and the D-term potential receives corrections. A Green-Schwarz me…
We consider ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric Born-Infeld actions that have a second non-linear supersymmetry. We focus on the model proposed by Bagger and Galperin and show that the breaking of the second supersymmetry is sourced by the new Fayet-Iliopoulos D-term. Interpreting such an action as the effective theory of a space-filling (anti) D3-brane leads to an expression for the new Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter in terms of the brane tension and $α'$.
Motivated by recent discussions, we revisit the issue of whether globally supersymmetric theories with non-zero Fayet-Iliopoulos terms may be consistently coupled to supergravity. In particular, we examine claims that a fundamental inconsistency arises due to the conflicting requirements which are imposed on the $R$-symmetry properties of the theory by the supergravity framework. We also prove that certain kinds of Fayet-Iliopoulos contributions to the supercurrent supermultiplets of theories with non-zero Fayet-Iliopoulos terms fail to exist. A key feature of our discussion is an explicit com…
We present a new type of Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms in ${\mathcal N}=2$ supergravity that do not require the gauging of the $R$-symmetry. We elaborate on the impact of such terms on the vacuum structure of the ${\mathcal N}=2$ theory and compare their properties with the standard Fayet-Iliopoulos terms that arise from gaugings. In particular, we show that, with the use of the new FI terms, models with a single physical ${\mathcal N}=2$ vector multiplet can be constructed that give stable de Sitter vacua.
Gauge invariant generation of mass for supersymmetric U(1) vector field through use of a chiral Stueckelberg superfield is considered. When a Fayet-Iliopoulos D term is also present, no breaking of supersymmetry ever occurs so long as the Stueckelberg mass is not zero. A moduli space in which gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken arises in this case.
We exactly compute the partition function for $U(2)_k\times U(2)_{-k}$ ABJM theory on $\mathbb S^3$ deformed by mass $m$ and Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter $ζ$. For $k=1,2$, the partition function has an infinite number of Lee-Yang zeros. For general $k$, in the decompactification limit the theory exhibits a quantum (first-order) phase transition at $m=2ζ$.
The simplest examples of gauged supergravities are N=1 or N=2 theories with Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms. FI terms in supergravity imply that the R-symmetry is gauged. Also the U(1) or SU(2) local symmetries of Kaehler and quaternionic-Kaehler manifolds contribute to R-symmetry gauge fields. This short review clarifies the relations.
Recently there has appeared in the literature a sequence of papers questioning the consistency of supergravity coupled to Fayet-Iliopoulos terms. A key feature of these arguments is a demonstration that the conventional superspace stress tensor fails to be gauge invariant. We briefly show here how this can be understood as defining the stress tensor in a non-covariant Brans-Dicke frame in an underlying superconformal theory. When converted to the Einstein frame, the inconsistency vanishes, which is consistent with the emergence of a global symmetry discussed in these papers.
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 study the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) action with one linear and one non-linear supersymmetry in the presence of a constant Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) D-term added explicitly or through a deformation of supersymmetry transformations. The linear supersymmetry appears to be spontaneously broken since the D auxiliary field gets a non-vanishing vacuum expectation value and an extra term proportional to the FI parameter involving fermions emerges in the non-linear formulation of the action written recently. However in this note, we show that on-shell this action is equivalent to a standard supersymmetric…
The N = 1 supersymmetric Born-Infeld action is known to describe the vector Goldstone multiplet for partially broken N = 2 rigid supersymmetry, and this model is believed to be unique. However, it can be deformed by adding the Fayet-Iliopoulos term without losing the second nonlinearly realized supersymmetry. Although the first supersymmetry then becomes spontaneously broken, the deformed action still describes partial N = 2 to N = 1 supersymmetry breaking. The unbroken supercharges in this theory correspond to a different choice of N = 1 subspace in the N = 2 superspace, as compared with the …
We explicitly compute the component action of certain recently discovered new $\mathcal{N} = 1$ supergravity actions which enlarge the space of scalar potentials allowed by supersymmetry and also contain fermionic interaction terms that become singular when supersymmetry is unbroken. They are the "Liberated Supergravity" introduced by Farakos, Kehagias and Riotto, and supergravities with a new Kahler-invariant Fayet-Iliopoulos term proposed by Antoniadis, Chatrabhuti, Isono, and Knoops. This paper is complementary to our previous papers [Phys. Rev. D 103 (2021), 025008 and 105006], in which n…
We discuss a gauged $U(1)_R$ supergravity on five-dimensional (5D) orbifold ($S^1/Z_2$) in which both a $Z_2$-even U(1) gauge field and the $Z_2$-odd graviphoton take part in the $U(1)_R$ gauging. Based on the off-shell formulation of 5D supergravity, we analyze the structure of Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms allowed in such model. Introducing a $Z_2$-even $U(1)_R$ gauge field accompanies new bulk and boundary FI terms in addition to the known integrable boundary FI term which could be present in the absence of any gauged $U(1)_R$ symmetry. Some physical consequences of these new FI terms are exa…
We propose a four-dimensional N = 1 supergravity-based Starobinsky-type inflationary model in terms of a single massive vector multiplet, whose action includes the Dirac-Born-Infeld-type kinetic terms and a generalized (new) Fayet-Iliopolulos-type term without gauging the R-symmetry. The bosonic action and the scalar potential are computed. Inflaton is the superpartner of goldstino in our model, and supersymmetry is spontaneously broken after inflation by the D-type mechanism, whose scale is related to the value of the cosmological constant.
We describe how the geometry of the Higgs branch of 5d superconformal field theories is transformed under movement along the extended Coulomb branch. Working directly with the (unitary) magnetic quiver, we demonstrate a correspondence between Fayet-Iliopoulos deformations in 3d and 5d mass deformations. When the Higgs branch has multiple cones, characterised by a collection of magnetic quivers, the mirror map is not globally well-defined, however we are able to utilize the correspondence to establish a local version of mirror symmetry. We give several detailed examples of deformations, includi…
We have studied $R$-symmetrc gauge mediation models with Fayet-Iliopoulos terms. We give a concrete example of hidden sector with an $U(1)_H$ gauge theory and a Fayet-Iliopoulos term, which can induce distinctive soft terms in the visible sector, and help solving fine tuning problems in models of $R$-symmetric gauge mediation.
We consider the generation of Fayet-Iliopoulos terms at one string loop in some recently found N=1 open string orbifolds with anomalous U(1) factors with nonvanishing trace of the charge. Low-energy field theory arguments lead one to expect a one loop quadratically divergent Fayet-Iliopoulos term. We show that a one loop Fayet-Iliopoulos term is not generated, due to a cancellation between contributions of worldsheets of different topology. The vanishing of the one loop Fayet-Iliopoulos term in open string compactifications is related to the cancellation of twisted Ramond-Ramond tadpoles.
Starting from an Abelian ${\cal N}=1$ vector supermultiplet $V$ coupled to conformal supergravity, we construct from it a nilpotent real scalar Goldstino superfield $\mathfrak V$ of the type proposed in arXiv:1702.02423. It contains only two independent component fields, the Goldstino and the auxiliary $D$-field. The important properties of this Goldstino superfield are: (i) it is gauge invariant; and (ii) it is super-Weyl invariant. As a result, the gauge prepotential can be represented as $V={\cal V} +\mathfrak V$, where $\cal V$ contains only one independent component field, modulo gauge de…
We generalize the description of the d=4 Attractor Mechanism based on an effective black hole (BH) potential to the presence of a gauging which does not modify the derivatives of the scalars and does not involve hypermultiplets. The obtained results do not rely necessarily on supersymmetry, and they can be extended to d>4, as well. Thence, we work out the example of the stu model of N=2 supergravity in the presence of Fayet-Iliopoulos terms, for the supergravity analogues of the magnetic and D0-D6 BH charge configurations, and in three different symplectic frames: the SO(1,1)^{2}, SO(2,2) cova…
In this paper we discuss quantization of the Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter in supergravity theories with altered nonperturbative sectors, which were recently used to argue a fractional quantization condition. Nonlinear sigma models with altered nonperturbative sectors are the same as nonlinear sigma models on special stacks known as gerbes. After reviewing the existing results on such theories in two dimensions, we discuss examples of gerby moduli `spaces' appearing in four-dimensional field theory and string compactifications, and the effect of various dualities. We discuss global topological de…
We analyze the vacuum structure of spontaneously broken N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory with the Fayet-Iliopoulos term. Our theory is based on the gauge group SU(2) \times U(1) with N_f=2 massless quark hypermultiplets having the same U(1) charges. In the classical potential, there are degenerate vacua even in the absence of supersymmetry. It is shown that this vacuum degeneracy is smoothed out, once quantum corrections are taken into account. While there is the runaway direction in the effective potential, we found the promising possibility that there appears the local minimum with broken sup…
We study magnetized orbifold models. We assume the localized Fayet-Iliopoulos terms and the corresponding gauge background. Such terms lead to strong localization of zero-mode wavefunc- tions. In this setup, we compute quark mass matrices.
We find a new class of N=1 no-scale supergravity models with F- and D-term supersymmetry breaking, using a new Fayet-Iliopoulos term. The minimal setup contains one U(1) vector multiplet and one neutral chiral multiplet parametrizing SL(2,R)/U(1) manifold, with constant superpotential and linear gauge kinetic function. In our construction the FI term is field-dependent, and one can obtain flat vanishing potential (Minkowski vacuum) with broken SUSY, and global SL(2,R) invariance (self-duality) of the bosonic equations of motion. The spectrum of the model includes a massive spin-1/2 field as we…
We classify the critical points of the effective black hole potential which governs the attractor mechanism taking place at the horizon of static dyonic extremal black holes in $\mathcal{N}=2$, $D=4$ Maxwell-Einstein supergravity with $U(1)$ Fayet-Iliopoulos gaugings. We use a manifestly symplectic covariant formalism, and we consider both spherical and hyperbolic horizons, recognizing the relevant sub-classes to which some representative examples belong. We also exploit projective special Kähler geometry of vector multiplets scalar manifolds, the $U$-duality-invariant quartic structure (and 2…
We study the dilaton stabilization in models with anomalous U(1) symmetry by adding specific string-motivated, non-perturbative corrections to the tree-level dilaton Kähler potential. We find that the non-perturbative effects can stabilize the dilaton at a desirably large value. We also observe that the size of Fayet-Iliopoulos term is reduced at the stabilized point.
The anomalies in five-dimensional orbifold theories are examined in a generic type of non-factorizable geometries. In spite of complicated fermion wavefunctions, the shape of anomaly is found to be identical to that of flat theories. In particular it is split evenly on the orbifold fixed points. This result also follows from the arguments on the AdS/CFT correspondence and an anomaly cancellation mechanism. The cancellation with Chern-Simons term works if the four-dimensional effective theory is free from chiral anomalies. We also discuss the Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) term in warped supersymmetric …
We explore the construction of supersymmetric solutions of theories of N=2,d=4 supergravity with a SU(2) gauging and SU(2) Fayet-Iliopoulos terms. In these theories an SU(2) isometry subgroup of the Special Kahler manifold is gauged together with a SU(2) R-symmetry subgroup. We construct several solutions of the CP3 quadratic model directly in four dimensions and of the ST[2,6] model by dimensional reduction of the solutions found by Cariglia and Mac Conamhna in N=(1,0),d=6 supergravity with the same kind of gauging. In the CP3 model, we construct an AdS2xS2 solution which is only 1/8 BPS and …
We adapt ``string-inspired'' worldline techniques to one-loop calculations on orbifolds, in particular on the $S^1/Z_2$ orbifold. Our method also allows for the treatment of brane-localized terms, or bulk-brane couplings. For demonstration, we reproduce the well-known result for the one-loop induced Fayet-Iliopoulos term in rigidly supersymmetric Abelian gauge theory, and generalize it to the case where soft supersymmetry breaking mass terms for the bulk scalar fields are present on the branes.
We construct a supergravity-Maxwell theory with a novel embedding of the Fayet-Iliopoulos D-term, leading to spontaneous supersymmetry breaking. The gauging of the R-symmetry is not required and a gravitino mass is allowed for a generic vacuum. When matter couplings are introduced, an uplift through a positive definite contribution to the scalar potential is obtained. We observe a notable similarity to the $\overline{D3}$ uplift constructions and we give a natural description in terms of constrained multiplets.
We embed a new three-form vector multiplet in ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity and we show that it can be used to generate dynamically the Hilbert--Einstein term. We then recast the theory into the standard Freedman model and we argue that a pure Fayet--Iliopoulos term is in tension with the weak gravity conjecture. Finally, we couple the three-form to a super-membrane and study BPS domain walls within matter-coupled supergravity. In these models, the Planck mass takes different values on the domain wall sides.
We derive an off-shell formulation for the boundary Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms in locally supersymmetric U(1) gauge theory on 5D $S^1/Z_2$ orbifold. Some physical consequences of such FI terms, e.g., the supersymmetry breaking and the generation of 5D kink mass for hypermultiplet are studied within the full supergravity framework. We especially find that the supersymmetry is broken by the FI term without charged hypermultiplet for models giving an AdS$_5$ geometry.
Supersymmetric theories in 5d orbifold can have Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms on the boundaries. These terms induce a 5d mass for the bulk matter fields. We analyze this effect using N=1 superfields and show how it can be understood as a mixing between the U(1) gauge boson and the graviphoton. We also study the implications of the FI-terms in the mass spectrum of theories with Scherk-Schwarz supersymmetry breaking. We present a new 5d supersymmetric model that has the massless spectrum of the Standard Model and predicts a Higgs boson with a mass around the present experimental limit.
We show how certain non-perturbative superpotentials W, which are the two-dimensional analogs of the Seiberg-Witten prepotential in 4d, can be computed via geometric engineering from 4-folds. We analyze an explicit example for which the relevant compact geometry of the 4-fold is given by $P^1$ fibered over $P^2$. In the field theory limit, this gives an effective U(1) gauge theory with N=(2,2) supersymmetry in two dimensions. We find that the analog of the SW curve is a K3 surface, and that the complex FI coupling is given by the modular parameter of this surface. The FI potential itself coinc…
We study Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms of six-dimensional supersymmetric Abelian gauge theory compactified on a $T^2/Z_2$ orbifold. Such orbifold compactifications can lead to localized FI-terms and instability of bulk zero modes. We study 1-loop correction to FI-terms in more general geometry than the previous works. We find induced FI-terms depend on the complex structure of the compact space. We also find the complex structure of the torus can be stabilized at a specific value corresponding to a self-consistent supersymmetric minimum of the potential by such 1-loop corrections, which is appli…
We study Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms of 5-dimensional supersymmetric $U(1)$ gauge theory compactified on $S^1/Z_2$. In this model, loop diagrams including matter hypermultiplets and brane chiral multiplets induce FI-terms localized at the fixed points. Localized FI-terms lead instabilities of bulk modes. The form of the induced FI-terms strictly depends on wave function profiles of matter multiplets. It is a non-trivial question whether the vacuum of 1-loop corrected potential is stable under radiative corrections. We investigate this issue and it is found that the stable configuration is obta…
Compact Type IIB D=4, N=1 orientifolds have certain U(1) sigma model symmetries at the level of the effective Lagrangian. These symmetries are generically anomalous. We study the particular case of $Z_N$ orientifolds and find that these anomalies may be cancelled by a generalized Green-Schwarz mechanism. This mechanism works by the exchange of twisted RR-fields associated to the orbifold singularities and it requires the mixing between twisted and untwisted moduli of the orbifold. As a consequence, the Fayet-Iliopoulos terms which are present for the gauged anomalous U(1)'s of the models get a…
In hep-ph/0011311 the one Higgs doublet standard model was obtained by an orbifold projection of a 5D supersymmetric theory in an essentially unique way, resulting in a prediction for the Higgs mass m_H = 127 \pm 8 GeV and for the compactification scale 1/R = 370 \pm 70 GeV. The dominant one loop contribution to the Higgs potential was found to be finite, while the above uncertainties arose from quadratically divergent brane Z factors and from other higher loop contributions. In hep-th/0108184, a quadratically divergent Fayet-Iliopoulos term was found at one loop in this theory. We show that t…
We clarify a number of issues on Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms in supergravity, keeping the formalism at a minumum and making use of explicit examples. We explain why, if the U(1) vector is massive everywhere in field space, FI terms are not genuine and can always be redefined away or introduced when they are not present. We formulate a simple anomaly-free model with a genuine FI term, a classically stable de Sitter (dS) vacuum and no global symmetries. We explore the relation between N=2 and N=1 FI terms by discussing N=1 truncations of N=2 models with classically stable dS vacua.
We propose a geometric method to study the residual symmetries in $N=2$, $d=4$ $\text{U}(1)$ Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) gauged supergravity. It essentially involves the stabilization of the symplectic vector of gauge couplings (FI parameters) under the action of the U-duality symmetry of the ungauged theory. In particular we are interested in those transformations that act non-trivially on the solutions and produce scalar hair and dyonic black holes from a given seed. We illustrate the procedure for finding this group in general and then show how it works in some specific models. For the prepotenti…
We discuss Fayet-Iliopoulos terms in the context of five-dimensional supergravity compactified on an orbifold. For this purpose we use our superfield formulation of the off-shell 5D SUGRA. In the case of tuned FI terms, contrary to other claims, we find BPS solutions which ensure that N=1 supersymmetry is unbroken also in warped geometries. As in the rigid case, the FI terms induce odd masses for charged hypermultiplets, leading to the (de)localisation of the KK wave-functions near the fix-point branes. In the case of ungauged U(1)_R symmetry, we present also supersymmetric warped solutions in…
We discuss a locally supersymmetric formulation for the boundary Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms in 5-dimensional U(1) gauge theory on $S^1/Z_2$, using the four-form multiplier mechanism to introduce the necessary $Z_2$-odd FI coefficient. The physical consequence of the boundary FI terms is studied within the full supergravity framework. For both models giving a flat and a warped spacetime geometry, the only meaningful deformation of vacuum configuration induced by the FI terms is a kink-type vacuum expectation value of the vector multiplet scalar field which generate a 5D kink mass for charged h…
Subject to some relatively mild assumptions, we derive the complete form of all timelike half-supersymmetric solutions to N=2, D=4 gauged supergravity coupled to an arbitrary number of abelian vector multiplets. This is done using spinorial geometry techniques. Explicit examples are given for a simple prepotential. Among the solutions, there are near-horizon geometries of extremal rotating BPS black holes still to be discovered, with a nontrivial dependence of the scalar fields on one of the horizon coordinates.
A careful analysis of the Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) model shows that its energy momentum tensor and supersymmetry current are not gauge invariant. Since the corresponding charges are gauge invariant, the model is consistent. However, our observation about the currents gives a new perspective on its restrictive renormalization group flow and explains why FI-terms never appear in dynamical supersymmetry breaking. This lack of gauge invariance is at the root of the complications of coupling the model to supergravity. We show that this is possible only if the full supergravity theory (including all hi…
We study the consistency of orbifold field theories and clarify to what extent the condition of having an anomaly-free spectrum of zero-modes is sufficient to guarantee it. Preservation of gauge invariance at the quantum level is possible, although at the price, in general, of introducing operators that break the 5d local parity. These operators are, however, perfectly consistent with the orbifold projection. We also clarify the relation between localized Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms and anomalies. These terms can be consistently added, breaking neither local supersymmetry nor the gauge symmetr…
In the recent years, phenomenological models of moduli stabilization were proposed, where the dynamics of the stabilization is essentially supersymmetric, whereas an O'Rafearthaigh supersymmetry breaking sector is responsible for the "uplift" of the cosmological constant to zero. We investigate the case where the uplift is provided by a Fayet-Iliopoulos sector. We find that in this case the modulus contribution to supersymmetry breaking is larger than in the previous models. A first consequence of this class of constructions is for gauginos, which are heavier compared to previous models. In so…
We show how the necessary constraints to project out all the components of a chiral superfield except for some scalar degrees of freedom originate from simple operators in the microscopic theory. This is in particular useful in constructing the simplest models of a goldstone boson/inflaton; or extracting the Standard Model Higgs doublet from a supersymmetric electroweak sector. We use the Fayet-Iliopoulos model as an example of the origin for the supersymmetry breaking. We consider the regime where both gauge symmetry and supersymmetry are spontaneously broken, leaving (in the decoupling limit…
We study supersymmetric (SUSY) models derived from the ten-dimensional SUSY Yang- Mills theory compactified on magnetized orbifolds, with nonvanishing Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms induced by magnetic fluxes in extra dimensions. Allowing the presence of FI-terms relaxes a constraint on flux configurations in SUSY model building based on magnetized backgrounds. In this case, charged fields develop their vacuum expectation values (VEVs) to cancel the FI-terms in the D-flat directions of fluxed gauge symmetries, which break the gauge symmetries and lead to a SUSY vacuum. Based on this idea, we prop…
We study peculiarities of realization of N=2 supersymmetry in N=2 abelian gauge theory with two sorts of FI terms, electric and magnetic ones, within manifestly supersymmetric formulations via the Mezincescu and harmonic-analytic prepotentials. We obtain a `magnetic', duality- transformed superfield form of the N=2 Maxwell effective holomorphic action with standard electric $FI$ term and demonstrate that in such a system off-shell N=2 supersymmetry is inevitably realized in an unusual Goldstone mode corresponding to the {\it partial} spontaneous breaking down to N=1. On shell, the standard tot…
We show that in string theory or supergravity with supersymmetry breaking through combined F-terms and Fayet-Iliopoulos D-terms, the masses for charged scalars and fermions can be hierarchically split. The mass scale for the gauginos and higgsinos of the MSSM is controlled by the gravitino mass m_{3/2}, as usual, while the scalars get extra contributions from the D-terms of extra abelian U(1) factors, which can make them much heavier. The vanishing of the vacuum energy requires that their masses lie below {m_{3/2} M_{Pl}}^{1/2}, which for m_{3/2}=O(TeV) sets a bound of 10^{10-13} GeV. Thus, sc…
A new supergravity D-term, not associated to gauged R-symmetry, was recently discovered and used to construct new supergravity models. In this paper we use a generalization of the new D-term that we used in previous works, to construct a supergravity model of slow-roll inflation with the observable sector of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. Supersymmetry is broken at a high scale in the hidden sector and communicated to the observable sector by gravity mediation. The new D-term contains free parameters that can give large masses to scalar superpartners of quarks and leptons and to th…
We construct the gravity dual of a field theory with flavour in which there are Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms present. For this purpose we turn on a constant Kalb-Ramond B field in four internal space directions of AdS_5 x S^5 together with a D7 brane probe wrapping AdS_5 x S^3. The B field induces noncommutativity on the four internal directions of the D7 brane probe perpendicular to the AdS boundary. We argue on general grounds that the moduli space of the Higgs part of mixed Coulomb-Higgs states in the dual field theory at the boundary is described by the ADHM equations for noncommutative ins…
We show that contrary to the common lore it is possible to spontaneously break N=2 supersymmetry even in simple theories without constant Fayet-Iliopoulos terms. We consider the most general N=2 supersymmetric theory with one hypermultiplet and one vector multiplet without Fayet-Iliopoulos terms, and show that metastable supersymmetry breaking vacua can arise if both the hyper-Kahler and the special-Kahler geometries are suitably curved. We then also prove that while all the scalars can be massive, the lightest one is always lighter than the vector boson. Finally, we argue that these results a…
We show that a KSVZ axion with a decay constant in the phenomenologically allowed range can be obtained in certain $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic string models. These models have an enhanced symmetry locus in the moduli space, and a non-universal, Kahler moduli dependent Fayet-Iliopoulos term which vanishes at this locus. Close to this locus the Fayet-Iliopoulos term is small and can lead to an axion decay constant significantly lower than the string scale. In this way, the no-go arguments of Svrcek and Witten, which are based on a universal, dilaton-dependent Fayet-Iliopoulos term, can be avoided.…
Recently, a new type of constant Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms was introduced in $\mathcal{N}=1$ supergravity, which do not require the gauging of the $R$-symmetry. We revisit and generalise these constructions, building a new class of Kähler invariant FI terms parametrised by a function of the gravitino mass as functional of the chiral superfields, which is then used to describe new models of inflation. They are based on a no-scale supergravity model of the inflaton chiral multiplet, supplemented by an abelian vector multiplet with the new FI-term. We show that the inflaton potential is compati…
