Klebanov-Strassler Solution Research Articles

Holography, 1-form symmetries, and confinement

We study confinement in 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ $SU(N)$ Super-Yang Mills (SYM) from a holographic point of view, focusing on the 1-form symmetry and its relation to chiral symmetry breaking. In the 5d supergravity dual, obtained by truncation of the Klebanov-Strassler solution, we identify the topological couplings that determine the 1-form symmetry and its 't Hooft anomalies. One such coupling is a mixed 0-form/1-form symmetry anomaly closely related to chiral symmetry breaking in gapped confining vacua. From the dual gravity description we also identify the infra-red (IR) 4d topological field theory (TQFT), which realises chiral symmetry breaking and matches the mixed anomaly. Finally, complementing this, we derive the chiral and mixed anomalies from the Little String Theory realization of pure SYM.

Phase transitions in a three-dimensional analogue of Klebanov-Strassler

We use top-down holography to study the thermodynamics of a one-parameter family of three-dimensional, strongly coupled Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons theories with M-theory duals. For generic values of the parameter, the theories exhibit a mass gap but no confinement, meaning no linear quark-antiquark potential. For two specific values of the parameter they flow to an infrared fixed point or to a confining vacuum, respectively. As in the Klebanov-Strassler solution, on the gravity side the mass gap is generated by the smooth collapse to zero size of a cycle in the internal geometry. We uncover a rich phase diagram with thermal phase transitions of first and second order, a triple point and a critical point.

Thermal transitions of metastable M-branes

We use blackfold methods to analyse the properties of putative supergravity solutions in M-theory that describe the backreaction of polarised anti-M2 branes (namely, M5 branes wrapping three-cycles with negative M2-brane charge) in the Cvetic-Gibbons-Lu-Pope background of eleven-dimensional supergravity. At zero temperature we recover the metastable state of Klebanov and Pufu directly in supergravity. At finite temperature we uncover a previously unknown pattern of mergers between fat or thin M5-brane states with the thermalised version of the metastable state. At sufficiently small values of the anti-brane charge a single fat-metastable merger follows the same pattern recently discovered for polarised anti-D3-branes in the Klebanov-Strassler solution in type IIB supergravity. We provide quantitative evidence that this merger is driven by properties of the horizon geometry. For larger values of the anti-brane charge the wrapped M5-brane solutions exhibit different patterns of finite-temperature transitions that have no known counterpart in the anti-D3 system in Klebanov-Strassler.

On the KKLT goldstino

We construct general asymptotically Klebanov-Strassler solutions of a five dimensional SU(2) × SU(2) × ℤ2 × ℤ2R truncation of IIB supergravity on T1,1, that break supersymmetry. This generalizes results in the literature for the SU(2) × SU(2) × ℤ2 × U(1)R case, to a truncation that is general enough to capture the deformation of the conifold in the IR. We observe that there are only two SUSY-breaking modes even in this generalized set up, and by holographically computing Ward identities, we confirm that only one of them corresponds to spontaneous breaking: this is the mode triggered by smeared anti-D3 branes at the tip of the warped throat. Along the way, we address some aspects of the holographic computation of one-point functions of marginal and relevant operators in the cascading gauge theory. Our results strengthen the evidence that if the KKLT construction is meta-stable, it is indeed a spontaneously SUSY-broken (and therefore bona fide) vacuum of string theory.

Type IIA Klebanov-Strassler: the hard way

We construct the T-dual of the Klebanov-Strassler solution on a small region at the tip of the deformed conifold. The isometry coordinate we choose is the correct one to obtain an NS5 brane wrapping a holomorphic curve in Type IIA, as shown by a thorough analysis of the deformed conifold geometry. The shape of the locus wrapped by the NS5 brane matches the predictions from the Type IIA brane engineering construction dual to the $SU(N+M) \times SU(N)$ cascading gauge theory. The same isometry is then used to T-dualize the solution obtained by adding backreacted D3 branes to the Klebanov-Strassler solution. Our construction is the first step in a program to test the stability of antibranes in Type IIA backgrounds.

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.

Resurgent supersymmetry and string theory

We study a realization of accidental supersymmetry in type IIB string theory as a proof-of-principle of the mechanism and as a prototype of the strong sector present in resurgent supersymmetry, a warped UV-completion of natural supersymmetry. We first introduce the mechanism of accidental supersymmetry as a way of producing a supersymmetric spectrum in the IR of a quasi-conformal field theory, and then go on to discuss the utility of the mechanism in the specific BSM model of resurgent supersymmetry. The realization of accidental SUSY that we study is IIB string theory on an orbifold of the Klebanov-Strassler solution.

Localised anti-branes in flux backgrounds

Solutions corresponding to finite temperature (anti)-D3 and M2 branes localised in flux backgrounds are constructed in a linear approximation. The flux backgrounds considered are toy models for the IR of the Klebanov-Strassler solution and its M-theory analogue, the Cvetic-Gibbons-Lu-Pope solution. Smooth solutions exist for either sign charge, in stark contrast with the previously considered case of smeared black branes. That the singularities of the anti-branes in the zero temperature extremal limit can be shielded behind a finite temperature horizon indicates that the singularities are physical and resolvable by string theory. As the charge of the branes grows large and negative, the flux at the horizon increases without bound and diverges in the extremal limit, which suggests a resolution via brane polarisation a la Polchinski-Strassler. It therefore appears that the anti-brane singularities do not indicate a problem with the SUSY-breaking metastable states corresponding to expanded anti-brane configurations in these backgrounds, nor with the use of these states in constructing the de Sitter landscape.

Polchinski-Strassler does not uplift Klebanov-Strassler

Abstract Anti-D3-branes at the tip of the Klebanov-Strassler solution with D3-charge dissolved in fluxes give rise, in the probe approximation, to a metastable state. The fully back-reacted smeared solution has singular three-form fluxes in the IR, whose presence suggests a stringy resolution by brane polarization à la Polchinski-Strassler. In this paper we show that there is no polarization into anti-D5-branes wrapping the S 2 of the conifold at a finite radius. The singularities therefore do not seem to be physical, signaling that antibranes cannot be used to uplift AdS and obtain a very large landscape of de Sitter vacua in string theory.

Falling flavors in AdS/CFT

We consider the behavior of D7 probes of supersymmetric warped geometries that are perturbed by the presence of anti-D3-branes. Such constructions are the gravitational duals of non-supersymmetric states in supersymmetric flavored gauge theories. Although the D7s that we consider do not feel a force from either D3s or anti-D3s alone, when both types of 3-branes are present the D7s deform and fall a small distance toward the 3-branes. We perform our analysis in AdS^5 x S^5 and the Klebanov-Witten solution and find qualitatively similar behavior in each case. We then extend our consideration to the approximately conical region of the Klebanov-Strassler solution and find that the effect is parametrically larger than in the AdS^5 x X^5 examples. Additionally, we discuss how these behaviors are modified by the presence of other flavors by considering the backreaction of such flavor branes in AdS^5 x X^5. Finally, we touch upon some of the implications that our results may have for model building and argue that the deformation of the worldvolume results in non-negligible corrections to soft terms in the low-energy description.

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.

Cosmic superstring trajectories in warped compactifications

We explore the generic motion of cosmic (super)strings when the internal compact dimensions are warped, using the Klebanov-Strassler solution as a prototypical throat geometry. We find that there is no dynamical mechanism which localises the string at the tip of the throat, but rather that the motion seems to explore both internal and external degrees of freedom democratically. This indicates that cosmic (super)strings formed by inflationary brane-antibrane annihilation will have sufficient internal motion for the gravitational wave signals from the string network to be suppressed relative to the signal from a `standard' cosmic string network.

On $\mathcal{N} = 2$ truncations of IIB on T 1,1

Abstract We study the $\mathcal{N} = 4$ gauged supergravity theory which arises from the consistent truncation of IIB supergravity on the coset T 1,1. We analyze three $\mathcal{N} = 2$ subsectors and in particular we clarify the relationship between true superpotentials for gauged supergravity and certain fake superpotentials which have been widely used in the literature. We derive a superpotential for the general reduction of type I supergravity on T 1,1 and this together with a certain solution generating symmetry is tantamount to a superpotential for the baryonic branch of the Klebanov-Strassler solution.

Supersymmetry of consistent massive truncations of type-IIB supergravity

We discuss the supersymmetry and fermionic sector of the recently obtained consistent truncations of IIB supergravity containing massive modes. In particular, we present the general form of the five-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetry transformations and equations of motion for the fermions arising in the reduction of IIB theory on ${T}^{1,1}$ which contains all modes invariant under the $\mathrm{SU}(2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\mathrm{SU}(2)$ isometry group. The $\mathcal{N}=4$ reduction can be further truncated to two different $\mathcal{N}=2$ subsectors. For each of these, we present the $\mathcal{N}=2$ fermionic supersymmetry transformations and corresponding superpotentials. As an application, we obtain the explicit Killing spinors of the Klebanov-Strassler solution and comment on the relation to the ansatz of Papadopoulos and Tseytlin. We also demonstrate the applicability of consistent truncations on squashed Sasaki-Einstein manifolds to a class of flux compactifications, focusing on a recent solution describing the geometry of gaugino condensation on wrapped D7 branes and which possesses dynamic SU(2) structure.

SUPERGRAVITY DUAL OF THE SUPERCONFORMAL ANOMALY

The supergravity dual of the superconformal anomaly multiplet in a four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theory is investigated. We consider a well-established dual correspondence between an [Formula: see text]SU(N+M) × SU(N) supersymmetric gauge theory and type IIB superstring in a space–time background described by the Klebanov–Strassler solution. Based on the fact that fractional D3-branes lead to superconformal anomaly on the field theory side and in the meantime deform AdS 5 × T1, 1 space–time background on the gravity side, we observe the five-dimensional gauged supergravity yielded from the spontaneous compactification on the deformed T1, 1, and find that the spontaneous breaking of local symmetries and the consequent super-Higgs effect in the gauged AdS5 supergravity should be the dual of the superconformal anomaly of the four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theory.

Towards multi-scale dynamics on the baryonic branch of Klebanov-Strassler

We construct explicitly a new class of backgrounds in type-IIB supergravity which generalize the baryonic branch of Klebanov-Strassler. We apply a solution-generating technique that, starting from a large class of solutions of the wrapped-D5 system, yields the new solutions, and then proceed to study in detail their properties, both in the IR and in the UV. We propose a simple intuitive field theory interpretation of the rotation procedure and of the meaning of our new solutions within the Papadopoulos-Tseytlin ansatz, in particular in relation to the duality cascade in the Klebanov-Strassler solution. The presence in the field theory of different VEVs for operators of dimensions 2, 3 and 6 suggests that this is an important step towards the construction of the string dual of a genuinely multi-scale (strongly coupled) dynamical model.

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.

Heating up the Baryonic Branch with U-duality: a unified picture of conifold black holes

We study different aspects of a U-duality recently presented by Maldacena and Martelli and apply it to non-extremal backgrounds. In particular, starting from new non-extremal wrapped D5 branes we generate new non-extremal generalizations of the Baryonic Branch of the Klebanov-Strassler solution. We also elaborate on different conceptual aspects of these U-dualities, like its action on (extremal and non-extremal) Dp branes, dual models for Yang-Mills-like theories, generic asymptotics and decoupling limit of the generated solutions.

A supersymmetric consistent truncation for conifold solutions

We establish a supersymmetric consistent truncation of type IIB supergravity on the T 1 , 1 coset space, based on extending the Papadopoulos–Tseytlin ansatz to the full set of SU ( 2 ) × SU ( 2 ) invariant Kaluza–Klein modes. The five-dimensional model is a gauged N = 4 supergravity with three vector multiplets, which incorporates various conifold solutions and is suitable for the study of their dynamics. By analysing the scalar potential we find a family of new non-supersymmetric AdS 5 extrema interpolating between a solution obtained long ago by Romans and a solution employing an Einstein metric on T 1 , 1 different from the standard one. Finally, we discuss some simple consistent subtruncations preserving N = 2 supersymmetry. One of them still contains the Klebanov–Strassler solution, and is compatible with the inclusion of smeared D7-branes.

Electroweak constraints on warped geometry in five dimensions and beyond

Here we consider the tree level corrections to electroweak (EW) observables from standard model (SM) particles propagating in generic warped extra dimensions. The scale of these corrections is found to be dominated by three parameters, the Kaluza-Klein (KK) mass scale, the relative coupling of the KK gauge fields to the Higgs and the relative coupling of the KK gauge fields to fermion zero modes. It is found that 5D spaces that resolve the hierarchy problem through warping typically have large gauge-Higgs coupling. It is also found in $D>5$ where the additional dimensions are warped the relative gauge-Higgs coupling scales as a function of the warp factor. If the warp factor of the additional spaces is contracting towards the IR brane, both the relative gauge-Higgs coupling and resulting EW corrections will be large. Conversely EW constraints could be reduced by finding a space where the additional dimension's warp factor is increasing towards the IR brane. We demonstrate that the Klebanov Strassler solution belongs to the former of these possibilities.