anti-D3 Branes Research Articles

Matter-coupled de Sitter supergravity

De Sitter supergravity describes interaction of supergravity with general chiral and vector multiplets as well as one nilpotent chiral multiplet. The extra universal positive term in the potential due to the nilpotent multiplet, corresponding to the anti-D3 brane in string theory, supports de Sitter vacua in these supergravity models. In the flat space limit these supergravity models include the Volkov-Akulov model with a non-linearly realized supersymmetry. The rules for constructing pure de Sitter supergravity action are generalized here in presence of other matter multiplets. We present a strategy to derive the complete closed form general supergravity action with a given Kahler potential $K$, superpotential $W$ and vector matrix $f_{AB}$ interacting with a nilpotent chiral multiplet. It has the potential $V=e^K(|F^2 |+ |DW|^2 - 3 |W|^2)$, where $F$ is a necessarily non-vanishing value of the auxiliary field of the nilpotent multiplet. De Sitter vacua are present under simple condition that $|F^2|- 3|W|^2>0$. A complete explicit action in the unitary gauge is presented.

On D-brane -anti D-brane effective actions and their all order bulk singularity structures

All four point functions of brane anti brane system including their correct all order α′ corrections have been addressed. All five point functions of one closed string Ramond-Ramond (RR), two real tachyons and either one gauge field or the scalar field in both symmetric and asymmetric pictures have also been explored. The entire analysis of <C−2 A0 T0 T 0> is carried out. Not only does it fix the vertex operator of RR in asymmetric picture and in higher point functions of string theory amplitudes but also it confirms the fact that there is no issue of picture dependence of the mixed closed RR, gauge fields, tachyons and fermion fields in all symmetric or anti symmetric ones. We compute <C−2 ϕ0 T0 T 0> S-matrix in the presence of a transverse scalar field, two real tachyons and that reveals two different kinds of bulk singularity structures, involving an infinite number of u-channel gauge field and (u+s′+t′)-channel scalar bulk poles. In order to produce all those bulk singularity structures, we define various couplings at the level of the effective field theory that involve the mixing term of Chern-Simons coupling (with C-potential field) and a covariant derivative of the scalar field that comes from the pull-back of brane. Eventually we explore their all order α′ corrections in the presence of brane anti brane system where various remarks will be also pointed out.

De Sitter uplift with Dynamical Susy Breaking

We propose the use of D-brane realizations of Dynamical Supersymmetry Breaking (DSB) gauge sectors as sources of uplift in compactifications with moduli stabilization onto de Sitter vacua. This construction is fairly different from the introduction of anti D-branes, yet allows for tunably small contributions to the vacuum energy via their embedding into warped throats. The idea is explicitly exemplified by the embedding of the 1-family $SU(5)$ DSB model in a local warped throat with fluxes, which we discuss in detail in terms of orientifolds of dimer diagrams.

Global string embeddings for the nilpotent Goldstino

We discuss techniques for embedding a nilpotent Goldstino sector both in weakly coupled type IIB compactifications and F-theory models at arbitrary coupling, providing examples of both scenarios in semi-realistic compactifications. We start by showing how to construct a local embedding for the nilpotent Goldstino in terms of an anti D3-brane in a local conifold throat, and then discuss how to engineer the required local structure in globally consistent compact models. We present two explicit examples, the last one supporting also chiral matter and K\"ahler moduli stabilisation.

Brane polarization is no cure for tachyons

Anti-M2 and anti-D3 branes placed in regions with charges dissolved in fluxes have a tachyon in their near-horizon region, which causes these branes to repel each other. If the branes are on the Coulomb branch this tachyon gives rise to a runaway behavior, but when the branes are polarized into five-branes this tachyon only appears to lower the energy of the polarized branes, without affecting its stability. We analyze brane polarization in the presence of a brane-brane-repelling tachyon and show that when the branes are polarized along the direction of the tachyon the polarized shell is unstable. This implies that tachyons cannot be cured by brane polarization and indicates that, at least in a certain regime of parameters, anti-D3 branes polarized into NS5 branes at the bottom of the Klebanov-Strassler solution have an instability.

Giant tachyons in the landscape

We study the dynamics of localized and fully backreacting anti-D3 branes at the tip of the Klebanov-Strassler geometry. We use a non-supersymmetric version of the Polchinski-Strassler analysis to compute the potential for anti-D3 branes to polarize into all kinds of five-brane shells in all possible directions. We find that generically there is a direction along which the brane-brane interaction is repulsive, which implies that anti-D3 branes are tachyonic. Hence, even though anti-D3 branes can polarize into five-branes, the solution will most likely be unstable. This indicates that anti-D3 brane uplift may not result in stable de Sitter vacua.

Uplifting the baryonic branch: a test for backreacting anti-D3-branes

Placing D3 or anti-D3-branes at the tip of the Klebanov-Strassler background results in uplifting the baryonic branch of the moduli space of the dual field theory. In this paper we derive a mass formula for the scalar particle associated with the motion along the baryonic branch, from both open and closed string points of view. We show that both methods give the same mass at linear order in number of (anti)D3-branes, thus providing a comprehensive check for the recently found linearized supergravity solution describing backreacting anti-D3-branes at the tip.

De Sitter vacua in type IIB string theory: classical solutions and quantum corrections

We revisit the classical theory of ten-dimensional two-derivative gravity coupled to fluxes, scalar fields, D-branes, anti D-branes and Orientifold-planes. We show that such set-ups do not give rise to a four-dimensional positive curvature spacetime with the isometries of de Sitter spacetime. We further argue that a de Sitter solution in type IIB theory may still be achieved if the higher-order curvature corrections are carefully controlled. Our analysis relies on the derivation of the de Sitter condition from an explicit background solution by going beyond the supergravity limit of type IIB theory. As such this also tells us how the background supersymmetry should be broken and under what conditions D-term uplifting can be realized with non self-dual fluxes.

Cascading gauge theory on [formula omitted] and String Theory landscape

Placing anti-D3 branes at the tip of the conifold in Klebanov–Strassler geometry provides a generic way of constructing meta-stable de Sitter (dS) vacua in String Theory. A local geometry of such vacua exhibit gravitational solutions with a D3 charge measured at the tip opposite to the asymptotic charge. We discuss a restrictive set of such geometries, where anti-D3 branes are smeared at the tip. Such geometries represent holographic dual of cascading gauge theory in dS4 with or without chiral symmetry breaking. We find that in the phase with unbroken chiral symmetry the D3 charge at the tip is always positive. Furthermore, this charge is zero in the phase with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. We show that the effective potential of the chirally symmetric phase is lower than that in the symmetry broken phase, i.e., there is no spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking for cascading gauge theory in dS4. The positivity of the D3 brane charge in smooth de-Sitter deformed conifold geometries with fluxes presents difficulties in uplifting AdS vacua to dS ones in String Theory via smeared anti-D3 branes.

Selection rules and RR couplings on non-BPS branes

We compute three and four point functions of the non-BPS scattering amplitudes, including a closed string Ramond-Ramond, gauge/scalar and tachyon in type IIA (IIB) superstring theories. We then discover a unique expansion for tachyon amplitudes in both non-BPS and D-brane anti D-brane formalisms. Based on remarks on Chan-Paton factors and arXiv:1304.3711, we propose selection rules for all non-BPS scattering amplitudes of type II superstring theory. These selection rules, rule out various non-BPS higher point correlation functions of the string theory.

On D-brane anti D-brane effective actions and their corrections to all orders in alpha-prime

Based on a four point function, the S-matrix elements at disk level of the scattering amplitude of one closed string Ramond-Ramond field (C) and two tachyons and one scalar field, we find out new couplings in brane anti brane effective actions for p = n, p+2 = n cases. Using the infinite corrections of the vertex of one RR, one gauge and one scalar field and applying the correct expansion, it is investigated in detail how we produce the infinite gauge poles of the amplitude for p = n case. By discovering new higher derivative corrections of two tachyon-two scalar couplings in brane anti brane systems to all orders in α′, we also obtain the infinite scalar poles in (t′+s′+u)-channel in field theory. Working with the complete form of the amplitude with the closed form of the expansion and comparing all the infinite contact terms of this amplitude, we derive several new Wess-Zumino couplings with all their infinite higher derivative corrections in the world volume of brane anti brane systems. In particular, in producing all the infinite scalar poles of < VCVϕVTVT > , one has to consider the fact that scalar's vertex operator in (-1)-picture must carry the internal σ3 Chan-Paton matrix. The symmetric trace effective action has a non-zero coupling between Dϕ(1)i and Dϕ(2)i while this coupling does not exist in ordinary trace effective action.

The backreaction of anti-D3 branes on the Klebanov-Strassler geometry

Abstract We present the full numerical solution for the 15-dimensional space of linearized deformations of the Klebanov-Strassler background which preserve the SU(2) × SU(2) × $ {{\mathbb{Z}}_2} $ symmetries. We identify within this space the solution corresponding to anti-D3 branes, (modulo the presence of a certain “subleading” singularity in the infrared). All the 15 integration constants of this solution are fixed in terms of the number of anti-D3 branes, and the solution differs in the UV from the supersymmetric solution into which it is supposed to decay by a mode corresponding to a rescaling of the field theory coordinates. Deciding whether two solutions that differ in the UV by a rescaling mode are dual to the same theory is involved even for supersymmetric Klebanov-Strassler solutions, and we explain in detail some of the subtleties associated to this.

Anti-D3 Branes: Singular to the bitter end

We study the full backreaction of anti-D3 branes smeared over the tip of the deformed conifold. Requiring the 5-form flux and warp factor at the tip to be that of anti-D3 branes, we find a simple power counting argument showing that if the three-form fluxes have no IR singularity, they will be necessarily imaginary-anti-self-dual. Hence the only solution with anti-D3 branes at the tip of the conifold that is regular in the IR and the UV is the anti-Klebanov-Strassler solution, and there is no regular solution whose D3-charge is negative in the IR and positive in the UV.

Antibranes cannot become black

When D-branes are inserted in flux backgrounds of opposite charge, the resulting solution has a certain singularity in the fluxes. Recently it has been argued, using numerical solutions, that for anti-D3 branes in the Klebanov-Strassler background, these singularities cannot be cloaked by a horizon, which strongly suggests they are not physical. In this paper we provide an analytic proof that the singularity of all codimension-three antibrane solutions (such as anti-D6 branes in massive type IIA supergravity or anti-D3 branes smeared on the ${\mathbb{T}}^{3}$ of ${\mathbb{R}}^{3}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{T}}^{3}$ with fluxes) cannot be hidden behind a horizon and that the charge of black branes with smooth event horizons must have the same sign as the charge of the flux background. Our result indicates that infinitesimally blackening the antibranes immediately triggers brane-flux annihilation and strengthens the intuition that antibranes placed in flux with positive charge immediately annihilate against it.

Horizons cannot save the landscape

Solutions with anti-D3 branes in a Klebanov-Strassler geometry with positive charge dissolved in fluxes have a certain singularity corresponding to a diverging energy density of the RR and NS-NS three-form fluxes. There are many hopes and arguments for and against this singularity, and we attempt to settle the issue by examining whether this singularity can be cloaked by a regular event horizon. This is equivalent to the existence of asymptotically Klebanov-Tseytlin or Klebanov-Strassler black holes whose charge measured at the horizon has the opposite sign to the asymptotic charge. We find that no such KT solution exists. Furthermore, for a large class of KS black holes we considered, the charge at the horizon must also have the same sign as the asymptotic charge, and is completely determined by the temperature, the number of fractional branes and the gaugino masses of the dual gauge theory. Our result suggests that antibrane singularities in backgrounds with charge in the fluxes are unphysical, which in turn raises the question as to whether antibranes can be used to uplift AdS vacua to deSitter ones. Our results also point out to a possible instability mechanism for the antibranes.

On metastable vacua and the warped deformed conifold: analytic results

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 -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 infrared and ultraviolet expansions of the deformation modes. The analytic solution we find is the first step in this direction.

Persistent anti-brane singularities

Abstract Anti-D-branes inserted in warped throat geometries (supported by fluxes that carry D-brane charges) develop unphysical singularities. It has been argued that these singularities could be resolved when one goes beyond the linearized approximation or includes the effects of brane polarization. In this paper we consider anti-D6 branes, whose singularities have been shown to exist at the full non-linear level, and demonstrate that there is no D8 brane polarization that can resolve the singularity. We comment on the potential implications of this result for the resolution of anti-D3 brane singularities in the Klebanov-Strassler geometry.

On the inflaton potential from antibranes in warped throats

Abstract We compute the force between a stack of smeared antibranes at the bottom of a warped throat and a stack of smeared branes at some distance up the throat, both for anti-D3 branes and for anti-M2 branes. We perform this calculation in two ways: first, by treating the antibranes as probes in the background sourced by the branes and second, by treating the branes as probes in the candidate background sourced by the antibranes. These two very different calculations yield exactly the same expression for the force, for all values of the brane-antibrane separation. This indicates that the force between a brane and an antibrane is not screened in backgrounds where there is positive charge dissolved in flux, and gives a way to precisely compute the inflaton potential in certain string cosmology scenarios.

De Sitter string vacua from dilaton-dependent non-perturbative effects

We consider a novel scenario for modulus stabilisation in IIB string compactifications in which the Kahler moduli are stabilised by a general set-up with two kinds of non-perturbative effects: (i) standard Kahler moduli-dependent non-perturbative effects from gaugino condensation on D7-branes or E3-instantons wrapping four-cycles in the geometric regime; (ii) dilaton-dependent non-perturbative effects from gaugino condensation on space-time filling D3-branes or E(-1)-instantons at singularities. For the LARGE Volume Scenario (LVS), the new dilaton-dependent non-perturbative effects provide a positive definite contribution to the scalar potential that can be arbitrarily tuned from fluxes to give rise to de Sitter vacua. Contrary to anti D3-branes at warped throats, this term arises from a manifestly supersymmetric effective action. In this new scenario the "uplifting" term comes from F-terms of blow-up modes resolving the singularity of the non-perturbative quiver. We discuss phenomenological and cosmological implications of this mechanism. This set-up also allows a realisation of the LVS for manifolds with zero or positive Euler number.

The backreaction of anti-M2 branes on a warped Stenzel space

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 metastable vacuum must have an infrared singularity and discuss whether this singularity is acceptable or not. Given that a similar singularity appears when placing anti-D3 branes in the Klebanov-Strassler solution, our work strengthens the possibility that anti-branes in warped throats do not give rise to metastable vacua.