In theories beyond the Standard Model, in particular in theories with extra spatial dimensions such as superstring theory, there are a large number of scalar fields which appear in the low energy effective action. These moduli fields must be stabilized. Often, moduli stabilization involves a stage during which the moduli fields oscillatte coherently about their ground state value. Here, we study moduli and graviton production during the period during which the background modulus field is oscillating, assuming that this period takes place in the radiation phase. We find a resonant production of moduli fluctuations, and a tachyonic instability to the generation of long wavelength gravitational waves. As a consequence, the period of moduli stabilization is short on a Hubble time scale.
We study the cosmological inflation from the viewpoint of the moduli stabilization. We study the scenario that the superpotential has a large value during the inflation era enough to stabilize moduli, but it is small in the true vacuum. This scenario is discussed by using a simple model, one type of hybrid models.
In String Gas Cosmology, the simplest shape modulus fields are naturally stabilized by taking into account the presence of string winding and momentum modes. We determine the resulting effective potential for these fields and show that it obeys the de Sitter conjecture, one of the swampland criteria for effective field theories to be consistent with superstring theory.
Moduli potential loses its minima due to external energy sources of inflaton energy density or radiation produced at the end of inflation. But, the non-existence of minima does not necessarily mean destabilization of moduli. In fact, the destabilization of moduli is always dependent on the initial field values of the fields. In this work, we study carefully how the effects of reheating ease the problem of moduli destabilization. The associated time scale to produce the thermal bath allows a larger initial field range to stabilize the field. Contrary to the usual notion, the allowed initial fie…
We study Kähler moduli stabilization in IIB superstring theory. We propose a new moduli stabilization mechanism by the supersymmetry-braking chiral superfield which is coupled to Kähler moduli in Kähler potential. We also study uplifting of the Large Volume Scenario (LVS) by it. In both cases, the form of superpotential is crucial for moduli stabilization. We confirm that our uplifting mechanism does not destabilize the vacuum of the LVS drastically.
We analyze the interplay between Kähler moduli stabilization and chaotic inflation in supergravity. While heavy moduli decouple from inflation in the supersymmetric limit, supersymmetry breaking generically introduces non-decoupling effects. These lead to inflation driven by a soft mass term, $m_φ^2 \sim m m_{3/2}$, where $m$ is a supersymmetric mass parameter. This scenario needs no stabilizer field, but the stability of moduli during inflation imposes a large supersymmetry breaking scale, $m_{3/2} \gg H$, and a careful choice of initial conditions. This is illustrated in three prominent exam…
We consider the phenomenological consequences of fixing compactification moduli. In the simplest KKLT constructions, stabilization of internal dimensions is rather soft: weak scale masses for moduli are generated, and are of order m_σ~ m_{3/2}. As a consequence one obtains a pattern of soft supersymmetry breaking masses found in gravity and/or anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB) models. These models may lead to destabilization of internal dimensions in the early universe, unless the Hubble constant during inflation is very small. Fortunately, strong stabilization of compactified dim…
We study the supergravity hybrid inflation model of Ref.[1] in the presence of a modulus field. The eta-problem is solved by a shift symmetry for the inflaton, which protects the inflaton mass even in the presence of the modulus field. Inflation is (nearly) unaffected by moduli stabilization, provided the scale of supersymmetry breaking in the post-inflation vacuum is small. Therefore the model has the nice phenomenology that it combines low scale supersymmetry breaking with high scale (grand unification scale) inflation.
We study closed-string moduli stabilization in Higgs-otic inflation in Type IIB orientifold backgrounds with fluxes. In this setup large-field inflation is driven by the vacuum energy of mobile D7-branes. Imaginary selfdual (ISD) three-form fluxes in the background source a $μ$-term and the necessary monodromy for large field excursions while imaginary anti-selfdual (IASD) three-form fluxes are sourced by non-perturbative contributions to the superpotential necessary for moduli stabilization. We analyze Kähler moduli stabilization and backreaction on the inflaton potential in detail. Confirmin…
We study moduli stabilization in combination with inflation in heterotic orbifold compactifications in the light of a large Hubble scale and the favored tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \approx 0.05$. To account for a trans-Planckian field range we implement aligned natural inflation. Although there is only one universal axion in heterotic constructions, further axions from the geometric moduli can be used for alignment and inflation. We argue that such an alignment is rather generic on orbifolds, since all non-perturbative terms are determined by modular weights of the involved fields and the Dedeki…
To obtain natural inflation with large tensor-to-scalar ratio in string framework, we need a special moduli stabilization mechanism which can separate the masses of real and imaginary components of Kähler moduli at different scales, and achieve a trans-Planckian axion decay constant from sub-Planckian axion decay constants. In this work, we stabilize the matter fields by F-terms and the real components of Kähler moduli by D-terms of two anomalous $U(1)_X\times U(1)_A$ symmetries strongly at high scales, while the corresponding axions remain light due to their independence on the Fayet-Iliopoul…
We propose a new type of moduli stabilization scenario where the supersymmetric and supersymmetry-breaking minima are degenerate at the leading level. The inclusion of the loop-corrections originating from the matter fields resolves this degeneracy of vacua. Light axions are predicted in one of our models.
We discuss the moduli stabilization in a de Sitter compactification model obtained coupling D-dimensional gravity to scalar and gauge fields. This class of models is characterized by two moduli: one related to the volume of the internal space, the other to the warp factor. While the volume modulus can be fixed by appropriately tuning the gauge field strength, curvature of the internal space, and cosmological constant, the same mechanism does not work for the warp modulus. In this paper we discuss a stabilization mechanism based on quantum effects and show that both moduli can be efficiently st…
We study the back-reaction of moduli fields on the inflaton potential in generic models of F-term inflation. We derive the moduli corrections as a power series in the ratio of Hubble scale and modulus mass. The general result is illustrated with two examples, hybrid inflation and chaotic inflation. We find that in both cases the decoupling of moduli dynamics and inflation requires moduli masses close to the scale of grand unification. For smaller moduli masses the CMB observables are strongly affected.
We study properties of moduli stabilization in the four dimensional N = 1 supergravity theory with heavy moduli and would-be saxion-axion multiplets including light string-theoretic axions. We give general formulation for the scenario that heavy moduli and saxions are stabilized while axions remain light, assuming that moduli are stabilized near the supersymmetric solution. One can find stable vacuum, i.e. non-tachyonic saxions, in the non-supersymmetric Minkowski vacua. We also discuss the cases, where the moduli are coupled to the supersymmetry breaking sector and/or moduli have contribution…
Recent developments on large scale string moduli stabilization via non-geometric fluxes are reviewed. In the framework of type IIB orientifolds on fluxed Calabi-Yau manifolds, the existence of so-called flux-scaling minima provides a good starting point for the realization of parametrically controlled models of F-term axion monodromy inflation.
We examine the modulus stabilization mechanism of a warped geometry model with nested warping. Such a model with multiple moduli is known to offer a possible resolution of the fermion mass hierarchy problem in the standard model. A six dimensional doubly warped braneworld model under consideration admits two distinct moduli, with the associated warp factors dynamically generating different physical mass scales on four 3-branes. In order to address the hierarchy problem related to the Higgs mass, both moduli need to be stabilized around their desired values without any extreme fine tuning of pa…
In the first part of this talk, a short overview of the ongoing debate on the existence of de Sitter vacua in string theory is presented. In the second part, the moduli stabilisation and inflation are discussed in the context of type IIB/F-theory. Considering a configuration of three intersecting $D7$ branes with fluxes, it is shown that higher loop effects inducing logarithmic corrections to the Kähler potential can stabilise the Kähler moduli in a de Sitter Vacuum. When a new Fayet-Iliopoulos term is included, it is also possible to generate the required number of e-foldings and satisfy the …
The rôle of string loop corrections on the existence of de Sitter vacua and the moduli stabilization problem is examined in type IIB effective theories. The fundamental building blocks are a minimum of three intersecting D7 brane stacks, three Kähler moduli, and a novel Einstein-Hilbert term associated with higher derivative terms of the 10-dimensional effective action. It was shown in previous works that loop corrections appear which induce novel logarithmic volume-dependent terms in the effective potential. When D-term contributions are considered, all Kähler moduli are stabilized and de Sit…
We study Kähler moduli stabilizations in semi-realistic magnetized D-brane models based on $ Z_2\times Z_2'$ toroidal orbifolds. In type IIB compactifications, 3-form fluxes can stabilize the dilaton and complex structure moduli fields, but there remain some massless closed string moduli fields, Kähler moduli. The magnetic fluxes generate Fayet-Iliopoulos terms, which can fix ratios of Kähler moduli. On top of that, we consider D-brane instanton effects to stabilize them in concrete D-brane models and investigate the brane configurations to confirm that the moduli fields can be stabilized succ…
We review moduli stabilization in type IIB string theory compactification with fluxes. We focus on the KKLT and Large Volume Scenario (LVS). We show that the predicted soft SUSY breaking terms in KKLT model are not phenomenological viable. In LVS, the following result for scalar mass, gaugino mass, and trilinear term is obtained: $m_0 =m_{1/2}= - A_0=m_{3/2}$, which may account for Higgs mass limit if $m_{3/2} \sim {\cal O}(1.5)$ TeV. However, in this case the relic abundance of the lightest neutralino can not be consistent with the measured limits. We also study the cosmological consequences …
The absence, so far, of any graviton signatures at the LHC imposes severe constraints on the Randall-Sundrum scenario. Although a generalization to higher dimensions with nested warpings has been shown to avoid these constraints, apart from incorporating several other phenomenologically interesting features, moduli stabilization in such models has been an open question. We demonstrate here how both the moduli involved can be stabilized, employing slightly different mechanisms for the two branches of the theory. This also offers a dynamical mechanism to generate and stabilize the scale for the …
A toy landscape sector is introduced as a compactification of the Einstein-Maxwell model on a product of two-spheres. Features of the model include: moduli stabilization, a distribution of the effective cosmological constant of the dimensionally reduced 1+1 spacetime, which is different from the analogous distribution of the Bousso-Polchinski landscape, and the absence of the so-called "alpha-star"-problem. This problem arises when the Kachru-Kallosh-Linde-Trivedi stabilization mechanism is naively applied to the states of the Bousso-Polchinski landscape. The model also contains anthropic stat…
We review the effects of heavy scalar fields during inflation in the framework of $\mathcal N = 1$ supergravity. Such heavy scalars can be geometric moduli from string compactifications or stabilizer fields from a different sector of the theory. Even when these fields are heavier than the Hubble scale during inflation, they generically cause backreactions which alter the dynamics of the system. Severe problems may arise when the heavy fields break supersymmetry, which is quite generic for Kähler moduli. We illustrate these effects in two examples, chaotic inflation and Starobinsky-like inflati…
Recent holographic analyses on IIA and IIB models of moduli stabilization have led to many interesting results. Here we extend this approach to M-Theory. We consider both flux-stabilized models and non-perturbative stabilization methods. We perform a holographic analysis to determine the spectrum of the assumed dual $CFT_{3}$ to see its AdS/CFT implication. For the flux stabilization, which relies on a large complex Chern-Simons invariant, moduli have integer dimensions similar to the DGKT flux-stabilized model in type IIA,. For the non-perturbative stabilization, the results are similar to ra…
We study a supersymmetric field theory in six dimensions compactified on the orbifold T^2/Z_2 with two Wilson lines. After supersymmetry breaking, the Casimir energy fixes the shape moduli at fixed points in field space where the symmetry of the torus lattice is enhanced. Localized Fayet-Iliopoulos terms stabilize the volume modulus at a size much smaller than the inverse supersymmetry breaking scale. All moduli masses are smaller than the gravitino mass.
We investigate the moduli stabilization in string gas compactification. We first present a numerical evidence showing the stability of the radion and the dilaton. To understand this numerical result, we construct the 4-dimensional effective action by taking into account T-duality. It turns out that the dilaton is actually marginally stable. When the moduli other than the dilaton is stabilized at the self-dual point, the potential for the dilaton disappears and then the dilaton is stabilized due to the hubble damping. In order to investigate if this mechanism works in more general cases, we ana…
The simple chaotic inflation is highly consistent with the BICEP2 experiment, and no-scale supergravity can be realized naturally in various string compactifications. Thus, we construct a chaotic inflation model in no-scale supergravity inspired from Type IIB string compactification with an anomalous U(1)_X gauged symmetry. We introduce two moduli T_1 and T_2 which transform non-trivially under U(1)_X, and some pairs of fundamental quarks charged under the SU(N) x U(1)_X gauge group. The non-trivial transformations of moduli under U(1)_X lead to a moduli-dependent Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) term. T…
We describe the resulting phenomenology of string theory/supergravity models with strong moduli stabilization. The KL model with F-term uplifting, is one such example. Models of this type predict universal scalar masses equal to the gravitino mass. In contrast, A-terms receive highly suppressed gravity mediated contributions. Under certain conditions, the same conclusion is valid for gaugino masses, which like A-terms, are then determined by anomalies. In such models, we are forced to relatively large gravitino masses (30-1000 TeV). We compute the low energy spectrum as a function of m_{3/2}. …
We investigate the time evolution of the background spacetime during the moduli stabilization process, which is assumed to occur in the radiation dominated era. The setup is basically the Salam-Sezgin model, but we add a potential term for the dilaton in order to stabilize the moduli completely. We numerically solve the higher-dimensional background field equations, including a case that the stabilization process cannot be described within the 4D effective theory. In contrast to the conventional 4D effective theory analysis, we find that when the mass scale of the stabilization is larger than …
We propose a new type of Kähler moduli stabilization mechanisms in type IIB superstring theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds with the positive Euler number. The overall Kähler modulus can be perturbatively stabilized by radiative corrections due to sparticles. Its minimum is the anti-de Sitter vacuum, where supersymmetry is broken. We can uplift it to the de Sitter vacuum by introducing anti-D-branes, keeping the modulus stabilized. Although our numerical results depend on the choice of the cutoff scale and degeneracies of sparticles, at any rate there exist the parameter spaces where the masses of …
Eighth-BPS local operators in N=4 SYM are dual to quantum states arising from the quantization of a moduli space of giant gravitons in AdS5xS5. Earlier results on the quantization of this moduli space give a Hilbert space of multiple harmonic oscillators in 3 dimensions. We use these results, along with techniques from fuzzy geometry, to develop a map between quantum states and brane geometries. In particular there is a map between the oscillator states and points in a discretization of the base space in the toric fibration of the moduli space. We obtain a geometrical decomposition of the spac…
This brief article reviews a recently proposed scenario of moduli stabilization constructed in the vicinity of a conifold locus in the complex structure moduli space. We discuss typical features of moduli stabilization due to the logarithmic structure of the periods over the Calabi-Yau threefold. Integrating out heavy moduli implies exponential terms in the superpotential very reminiscent of non-perturbative contributions. Ultimately, these terms can lead to an alignment of axions potentially realizing large-field inflation. Our goal is to investigate common issues appearing for moduli stabili…
Equipped with concrete examples of Type IIB orientifolds featuring poly-instanton corrections to the superpotential, the effects on moduli stabilization and inflationary cosmology are analyzed. Working in the framework of the LARGE volume scenario, the Kaehler modulus related to the size of the four-cycle supporting the poly-instanton contributes sub-dominantly to the scalar potential. It is shown that this Kaehler modulus gets stabilized and, by displacing it from its minimum, can play the role of an inflaton. Subsequent cosmological implications are discussed and compared to experimental dat…
