Massive IIA Supergravity Research Articles

Six-Dimensional Superconformal Theories and their Compactifications from Type IIA Supergravity.

We describe three analytic classes of infinitely many AdS(d) supersymmetric solutions of massive IIA supergravity, for d=7,5,4. The three classes are related by simple universal maps. For example, the AdS(7)×M(3) solutions (where M(3) is topologically S(3)) are mapped to AdS(5)×Σ(2)×M(3)', where Σ(2) is a Riemann surface of genus g≥2 and the metric on M(3)' is obtained by distorting M(3) in a certain way. The solutions can have localized D6 or O6 sources, as well as an arbitrary number of D8-branes. The AdS(7) case (previously known only numerically) is conjecturally dual to an NS5-D6-D8 system. The field theories in three and four dimensions are not known, but their number of degrees of freedom can be computed in the supergravity approximation. The AdS(4) solutions have numerical "attractor" generalizations that might be useful for flux compactification purposes.

Supersymmetric AdS5 solutions of massive IIA supergravity

Motivated by a recently found class of AdS7 solutions, we classify AdS5 solutions in massive IIA, finding infinitely many new analytical examples. We reduce the general problem to a set of PDEs, determining the local internal metric, which is a fibration over a surface. Under a certain simplifying assumption, we are then able to analytically solve the PDEs and give a complete list of all solutions. Among these, one class is new and regular. These spaces can be related to the AdS7 solutions via a simple universal map for the metric, dilaton and fluxes. The natural interpretation of this map is that the dual CFT6 and CFT4 are related by twisted compactification on a Riemann surface Σ g . The ratio of their free energy coefficients is proportional to the Euler characteristic of Σ g . As a byproduct, we also find the analytic expression for the AdS7 solutions, which were previously known only numerically. We determine the free energy for simple examples: it is a simple cubic function of the flux integers.

Near horizon geometry of strings ending on intersecting D8/D4-branes

We consider solutions of massive IIA supergravity corresponding to the half-BPS intersection of D8/D4-branes with fundamental strings. The $1+1$-dimensional intersection preserves the symmetry $D(2,1;\gamma;1) \times SO(4)$. We give a reduction and partial integration of the BPS equations for this symmetry group. We then specialize to the cases of enhanced supersymmetry corresponding to $\gamma = -1/2,-2$ or $\gamma = 1$. In the first case, we show that the only solution with enhanced symmetry is given by the $AdS_6$ geometry describing the near horizon geometry of D8/D4-branes in the presence of an O8-plane. In the second case, we identify novel solutions corresponding to fundamental strings ending on D8-branes and a second set of novel solutions corresponding to fundamental strings ending on an O8-plane. In both cases, the fundamental string geometry contains an asymptotically flat region where the string coupling goes to zero. We also show that there are no solutions corresponding to $1+0$-dimensional CFTs, which one may have hoped to construct by suspending fundamental strings between D8-branes.

Dualising the baryonic branch: Dynamic [formula omitted] and confining backgrounds in IIA

In this paper we construct and examine new supersymmetric solutions of massive IIA supergravity that are obtained using non-Abelian T-duality applied to the baryonic branch of the Klebanov–Strassler background. The geometries display SU(2) structure which we show flows from static in the UV to dynamic in the IR. Confinement and symmetry breaking are given a geometrical interpretation by this change of structure. Various field theory observables are studied, suggesting possible ways to break conformality and flow in N=1TN and related field theories.

BPS domain walls from backreacted orientifolds

Compactifications with D-brane and orientifold sources lead to standard gauged supergravity theories if the sources are smeared over the internal directions. It is therefore of interest to find how the solutions described by the gauged supergravity are altered by properly localising the sources. In this paper we analyse this for BPS domain wall solutions in the seven-dimensional gauged supergravity obtained from an O6 toroidal orientifold compactification in massive IIA supergravity. This is one of the simplest no-scale supergravities that can be constructed and analysed in full detail. We find and discuss the BPS domain walls both when the O6 planes are smeared and localised. When the O6 planes are localised the domain wall solutions live in a warped compactification. In order to get explicit expressions we also consider the non-compact versions of the solutions for which the O6 planes have been traded for D6 branes. Through T-duality we obtain partially localised solutions for compactifications to four dimensions using O3 planes with 3-form fluxes.

AdS vacua with scale separation from IIB supergravity

Abstract Only two kinds of compactification are known that lead to four-dimensional supersymmetric AdS vacua with moduli stabilisation and separation of scales at tree-level. The most studied ones are compactifications of massive IIA supergravity on SU(3) structures with smeared O6 planes, for which a general ten-dimensional expression for the solution in terms of the SU(3) structure was found. Less studied are compactifications of IIB supergravity with smeared O5/O7 planes. In this paper we derive a general ten-dimensional expression for the smeared O5/O7 solutions in terms of SU(2) structures. For a specific choice of orientifold projections, we recover the known examples and we also provide new explicit solutions.

Topological resolution of gauge theory singularities

Some gauge theories with Coulomb branches exhibit singularities in perturbation theory, which are usually resolved by nonperturbative physics. In string theory this corresponds to the resolution of timelike singularities near the core of orientifold planes by effects from F or M theory. We propose a new mechanism for resolving Coulomb branch singularities in three-dimensional gauge theories, based on Chern-Simons interactions. This is illustrated in a supersymmetric $SU(2)$ Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons theory. We calculate the one-loop corrections to the Coulomb branch of this theory and find a result that interpolates smoothly between the high-energy metric (that would exhibit the singularity) and a regular singularity-free low-energy result. We suggest possible applications to singularity resolution in string theory and speculate a relationship to a similar phenomenon for the orientifold six-plane in massive IIA supergravity.

Wilson Loops in 5d $${\mathcal{N} = 1}$$ SCFTs and AdS/CFT

We consider \({\frac{1}{2}}\)-BPS circular Wilson loops in a class of 5d superconformal field theories on S 5. The large N limit of the vacuum expectation values of Wilson loops are computed both by localization in the field theory and by evaluating the fundamental string and D4-brane actions in the dual massive IIA supergravity background. We find agreement in the leading large N limit for a rather general class of representations, including fundamental, anti-symmetric and symmetric representations. For single-node theories the match is straightforward, while for quiver theories, the Wilson loop can be in different representations for each node. We highlight the two special cases when the Wilson loop is in either in all symmetric or all anti-symmetric representations. In the anti-symmetric case, we find that the vacuum expectation value factorizes into distinct contributions from each quiver node. In the dual supergravity description, this corresponds to probe D4-branes wrapping internal S 3 cycles. The story is more complicated in the symmetric case and the vacuum expectation value does not exhibit factorization.

Non-Abelian T-duality and the AdS/CFT correspondence: New [formula omitted] backgrounds

We consider non-Abelian T-duality on N=1 supergravity backgrounds possessing well understood field theory duals. For the case of D3-branes at the tip of the conifold, we dualise along an SU(2) isometry. The result is a type-IIA geometry whose lift to M-theory is of the type recently proposed by Bah et al. as the dual to certain N=1 SCFT quivers produced by M5-branes wrapping a Riemann surface. In the non-conformal cases we find smooth duals in massive IIA supergravity with a Romans mass naturally quantised. We initiate the interpretation of these geometries in the context of AdS/CFT correspondence. We show that the central charge and the entanglement entropy are left invariant by this dualisation. The backgrounds suggest a form of Seiberg duality in the dual field theories which also exhibit domain walls and confinement in the infrared.

On non-Abelian T-duality and new [formula omitted] backgrounds

We study the action of non-Abelian T-duality in the context of N=1 geometries with well understood field theory duals. In the conformal case this gives rise to a new solution that contains an AdS5×S2 piece. In the case of non-conformal geometries we obtain a new background in massive IIA supergravity that presents similar behaviour to the cascade of Seiberg dualities. Some physical observables are discussed.

A note on obstinate tachyons in classical dS solutions

The stabilisation of the dilaton and volume in tree-level flux compactifications leads to model independent and thus very powerful existence and stability criteria for dS solutions. In this paper we show that the sizes of cycles wrapped by orientifold planes are scalars whose scalings in the potential are not entirely model independent, but enough to entail strong stability constraints. For all known dS solutions arising from massive IIA supergravity flux compactifications on SU(3)-structure manifolds the tachyons are exactly within the subspace spanned by the dilaton, the total volume and the volumes of the orientifold cycles. We illustrate this in detail for the well-studied case of the O6 plane compactification on SU(2)xSU(2)/Z_2xZ_2. For that example we uncover another novel structure in the tachyon spectrum: the dS solutions have a singular, but supersymmetric, Minkowski limit, in which the tachyon exactly aligns with the sgoldstino.

Non-abelian T-duality and consistent truncations in type-II supergravity

For a general class of SO(4) symmetric backgrounds in type II-supergravity, we show that the action of non-Abelian T-duality can be described via consistent truncation to seven dimensional theories with seemingly massive modes. As such, any solution to these theories uplifts to both massive type IIA and IIB supergravities presenting an invertible map between the two. For supersymmetric backgrounds, we show that for spinors transforming under SO(4) the non-Abelian T-duality transformation breaks the original supersymmetry by half. We use these mappings to generate the non-Abelian T-duals of the maximally supersymmetric pp-wave, the Lin, Lunin, Maldacena geometries and spacetimes with Lifshitz symmetry.

The problematic backreaction of SUSY-breaking branes

In this paper we investigate the localisation of SUSY-breaking branes which, in the smeared approximation, support specific non-BPS vacua. We show, for a wide class of boundary conditions, that there is no flux vacuum when the branes are described by a genuine delta-function. Even more, we find that the smeared solution is the unique solution with a regular brane profile. Our setup consists of a non-BPS AdS7 solution in massive IIA supergravity with smeared anti-D6-branes and fluxes T-dual to ISD fluxes in IIB supergravity.

On the stability of non-supersymmetric AdS vacua

We consider two infinite families of Non-Supersymmetric AdS 4 vacua, called Type 2) and Type 3) vacua, that arise in massive IIA supergravity with flux. We show that both families are perturbatively stable. We then examine non-perturbative decays of these vacua to other supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric AdS 4 vacua mediated by instantons in the thin wall approximation. We find that many decays are ruled out since the tension of the interpolating domain wall is too big compared to the energy difference in AdS units. In fact, within our approximations no decays of Type 2) vacua are allowed, although some decays are only marginally forbidden. This can be understood in terms of a “pairing symmetry” in the landscape which relate Type 2) vacua with supersymmetric ones of the same energy.

Massive type IIA supergravity and E10

AbstractIn this talk we investigate the symmetry under E10 of Romans' massive type IIA supergravity. We show that the dynamics of a spinning particle in a non‐linear sigma model on the coset space E10/K(E10) reproduces the bosonic and fermionic dynamics of massive IIA supergravity, in the standard truncation. In particular, we identify Romans' mass with a generator of E10 that is beyond the realm of the generators of E10 considered in the eleven‐dimensional analysis, but using the same, underformed sigma model. As a consequence, this work provides a dynamical unification of the massless and massive versions of type IIA supergravitiy inside E10.

IIA and IIB spinors from [formula omitted

We analyze the decomposition of recently constructed unfaithful spinor representations of K(E10) under its SO(9)×SO(9), and SO(9)×SO(2) subgroups, respectively, where K(E10) is the ‘maximal compact’ subgroup of the hyperbolic Kac–Moody group E10. We show that under these decompositions, respectively, one and the sameK(E10) spinor gives rise to both the fermionic fields of IIA supergravity, and to the (chiral) fermionic fields of IIB supergravity. This result is thus the fermionic analogue of the decomposition of E10 under its SO(9,9) and SL(9)×SL(2) subgroups, respectively, which yield the correct bosonic multiplets of (massive) IIA and IIB supergravity. The essentially unique Lagrangian for the supersymmetric E10/K(E10)σ-model therefore can also capture the dynamics of IIA and IIB including bosons and fermions in the known truncations.

Massive IIA supergravities

We perform a systematic search for all possible massive deformations of IIA supergravity in ten dimensions. We show that there exist exactly two possibilities: Romans supergravity and Howe-Lambert-West supergravity. Along the way we give the full details of the ten-dimensional superspace formulation of the latter. The scalar superfield at canonical mass dimension zero (whose lowest component is the dilaton), present in both Romans and massless IIA supergravities, is not introduced from the outset but its existence follows from a certain integrability condition implied by the Bianchi identities. This fact leads to the possibility for a certain topological modification of massless IIA, reflecting an analogous situation in eleven dimensions.

Script N = 1,2 supersymmetric vacua of IIA supergravity and SU(2) structures

We consider backgrounds of (massive) IIA supergravity of the form of a warped product $M_{1,3}\times_{\omega} X_6$, where $X_6$ is a six-dimensional compact manifold and $M_{1,3}$ is $AdS_4$ or a four-dimensional Minkowski space. We analyse conditions for $\mathcal{N}=1$ and $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetry on manifolds of SU(2) structure. We prove the absence of solutions in certain cases.

Supersymmetric AdS(4) compactifications of IIA supergravity

We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for = 1 compactifications of (massive) IIA supergravity to AdS4 in the language of SU(3) structures. We find new solutions characterized by constant dilaton and nonzero fluxes for all form fields. All fluxes are given in terms of the geometrical data of the internal compact space. The latter is constrained to belong to a special class of half-flat manifolds.

Solutions to the massive HLW IIA supergravity

We find new supersymmetric solutions of the massive supergravity theory which can be constructed by generalized Scherk–Schwarz dimensional reduction of eleven-dimensional supergravity, using the scaling symmetry of the equations of motion. Firstly, we construct field configurations which solve the ten-dimensional equations of motion by reducing on the radial direction of Ricci-flat cones. Secondly, we will extend this result to the supersymmetric case by performing a dimensional reduction along the flow of a homothetic Killing vector which is the Euler vector of the cone plus a boost.