String Theory Models Research Articles

Aspects of holography for theories with hyperscaling violation

AbstractWe analyze various aspects of the recently proposed holographic theories with general dynamical critical exponentzand hyperscaling violation exponentθ. We first find the basic constraints onz,θfrom the gravity side, and compute the stress-energy tensor expectation values and scalar two-point functions. Massive correlators exhibit a nontrivial exponential behavior at long distances, controlled byθ. At short distance, the two-point functions become power-law, with a universal form forθ > 0. Next, the calculation of the holographic entanglement entropy reveals the existence of novel phases which violate the area law. The entropy in these phases has a behavior that interpolates between that of a Fermi surface and that exhibited by systems with extensive entanglement entropy. Finally, we describe microscopic embeddings of someθ ≠ 0 metrics into full string theory models — these metrics characterize large regions of the parameter space of Dp-brane metrics forp ≠ 3. For instance, the theory ofND2-branes in IIA super gravity hasz = 1 andθ = −1/3 over a wide range of scales, at largegsN.

Observational constraints on axions as quintessence in string theory

We study the observational constraints for the axion models in string theory which can successfully act as quintessence. The evolution of the universe in this model is sensitive to the initial value of the axion field. This initial value of the axion field controls deviation of the cosmic evolution from the \Lambda CDM behaviour. We use the recent Union2 Supernova Type Ia dataset as well as the data from BAO measurements, the WMAP measurement of the shift parameter and the $H(z)$ measurements. Using these data, the reconstructed equation of state of the axion field has extremely small deviation from the cosmological constant \omega = -1 even at 2\sigma confidence level. One interesting outcome of this analysis is that one can put bound on the SUSY breaking scale using cosmological measurements assuming the values of different string related parameters and vice versa.

Coupled Boltzmann calculation of mixed axion/neutralino cold dark matter production in the early universe

We calculate the relic abundance of mixed axion/neutralino cold dark matter which arises in R-parity conserving supersymmetric (SUSY) models wherein the strong CP problem is solved by the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism with a concommitant axion/saxion/axino supermultiplet.By numerically solving the coupled Boltzmann equations, we include the combined effects of 1. thermal axino production with cascade decays to a neutralino LSP, 2. thermal saxion production and production via coherent oscillations along with cascade decays and entropy injection, 3. thermal neutralino production and re-annihilation after both axino and saxion decays, 4. gravitino production and decay and 5. axion production both thermally and via oscillations. For SUSY models with too high a standard neutralino thermal abundance, we find the combined effect of SUSY PQ particles is not enough to lower theneutralino abundance down to its measured value, while at the same time respectingbounds on late-decaying neutral particles from BBN.However, models with a standard neutralino underabundance can now be allowed with either neutralino or axion domination of dark matter, and furthermore,these models can allow the PQ breaking scale fato be pushed up into the 1014−1015 GeV range, which is where it is typically expected to be in string theory models.

Cosmic string constraints from WMAP and the South Pole Telescope data

The predictions of the inflationary $\ensuremath{\Lambda}\mathrm{CDM}$ paradigm match today's high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy extremely well. The same data put tight limits on other sources of anisotropy. Cosmic strings are a particularly interesting alternate source to constrain. Strings are topological defects, remnants of inflationary-era physics that persist after the big bang. They are formed in a variety of models of inflation, including string theory models such as brane inflation. We assume a ``Nambu-Goto'' model for strings, approximated by a collection of unconnected segments with zero-width, and show that measurements of temperature anisotropy by the South Pole Telescope break a parameter degeneracy in the WMAP data, permitting us to place a strong upper limit on the possible string contribution to the CMB anisotropy: the power sourced by zero-width strings must be $<1.75%$ (95% CL) of the total or the string tension $G\ensuremath{\mu}<1.7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}$. These limits imply that the best hope for detecting strings in the CMB will come from B-mode polarization measurements at arcminute scales rather than the degree scale measurements pursued for gravitational wave detection.

Discrete gauge symmetries in D-brane models

In particle physics model building discrete symmetries are often invoked to forbid unwanted or dangerous couplings. A classical example is the R-parity of the MSSM, which guarantees the absence of dimension four baryon- and lepton-number violating operators. Although phenomenologically useful, these discrete symmetries are, in the context of field theory, poorly motivated at a more fundamental level. Moreover, discrete {\em global} symmetries are expected to be violated in consistent couplings to quantum gravity, while their {\em gauged} versions are expected to actually exist. In this paper we study discrete gauge symmetries in brane models in string theory, and argue that they are fairly generic in this framework. In particular we study the appearance of discrete gauge symmetries in (MS)SM brane constructions in string theory, and show that a few discrete ${Z_N}$ gauge symmetries, including R-parity and {\it baryon triality}, appear naturally as remnants of continuous U(1) gauge symmetries with St\"uckelberg $N(B\wedge F)$ couplings. Interestingly, they correspond to the simplest anomaly-free discrete symmetries of the MSSM as classified in the early 90's. We provide a number of examples based on type IIA intersecting brane constructions with a (MS)SM spectrum. We also study the appearance of discrete generalizations of R-parity in unified SU(5) type IIA orientifolds and local F-theory SU(5) GUTs.

Seeking string theory in the cosmos

We review the existence, formation and properties of cosmic strings in string theory, the wide variety of observational techniques that are being employed to detect them, and the constraints that current observations impose on string theory models.

Catastrophic inflation

We study inflection point inflation using Singularity Theory, which relates degenerate critical points of functions to their local behavior. This approach illuminates universal features of small-field models and gives analytic control over parametrized families of scalar potentials near inflationary solutions. The behavior of the scalar potential is tied to the number of physical input parameters, which determines a set of universality classes. Within these classes, we obtain universal scaling relations for density perturbations and the scale of inflation. In specific models, we show that the scale of supersymmetry breaking also possesses scaling behavior. We illustrate this general structure with a specific example: the Racetrack Inflation model in type IIB string theory, with the inflaton being the real part of the Kahler modulus, and the input parameters being flux dependent quantities that appear in the 4D, N=1 superpotential.

AdS/CFT and sQGP

Abstract In this talk I summarize the current understanding of the bounds on the ratio of shear viscosity and entropy density in the context of strongly coupled plasmas. Currently, it is understood that the famous KSS bound is violated by fundamental matter and that dual gravity models in 3+1 dimensions yield a value as low as 0.414 × 1 / 4 π . Then I turn my attention to numerical studies of cavitation within string theory models. We find that the N = 2 ⁎ models in string theory which incorporate a bulk viscosity do not exhibit cavitation before the transition temperature is reached.

Cavitation in holographic sQGP

We study the possibility of cavitation in the non-conformal N=2⁎SU(N) theory which is a mass deformation of N=4SU(N) Yang–Mills theory. The second order transport coefficients are known from the numerical work using AdS/CFT by Buchel and collaborators. Using these and the approach of Rajagopal and Tripuraneni, we investigate the flow equations in a (1+1)-dimensional boost invariant set up. We find that the string theory model does not exhibit cavitation before phase transition is reached. We give a semi-analytic explanation of this finding.

Overview on string phenomenology

I provide an introduction and update on the status of string theory models of particle physics, and in particular focus on recent developments flux compactifications and non-perturbative D-brane instanton effects.

KÄHLER MODULI INFLATION AND WMAP7

Inflationary potentials are investigated for specific models in type IIB string theory via flux compactification. As concrete models, we investigate several cases where the internal spaces are weighted projective spaces. The models we consider have two, three, or four Kähler moduli. The Kähler moduli play a role of inflaton fields and we consider the cases where only one of the moduli behaves as the inflaton field. For the cases with more than two moduli, we choose the diagonal basis for the expression of the Calabi–Yau volume, which can be written down as a function of four-cycle. With the combination of multiple moduli, we can express the multi-dimensional problem as an effective one-dimensional problem. In the large volume scenario, the potentials of these three models turn out to be of the same type. By taking the specific limit of the relation between the moduli and the volume, the potentials are reduced to simpler ones which induce inflation. For the case of two Kähler moduli, we exclude the potential as an inflationary model because the moduli might not be stable during inflation. As a toy model, we first consider the simple potential. We calculate the slow roll parameters ϵ, η and ξ for each inflationary potential. Then, we check whether the potentials give reasonable spectral indices ns and their running αs's by comparing with the recently released seven-year WMAP data. For both models, we see reasonable spectral indices for the number of e-folding 47<Ne<61. Conversely, by inserting the observed seven-year WMAP data, we see that the potential of the toy model gives requisite number of e-folds while the potential of the Kähler moduli gives much smaller number of e-folding. Finally, we see that two models do not produce reasonable values of the running of the spectral index.

Resonant non-gaussianity

We provide a derivation from first principles of the primordial bispectrum of scalar perturbations produced during inflation driven by a canonically normalized scalar field whose potential exhibits small sinusoidal modulations. A potential of this type has been derived in a class of string theory models of inflation based on axion monodromy. We use this model as a concrete example, but we present our derivations and results for a general slow-roll potential with superimposed modulations. We show analytically that a resonance between the oscillations of the background and the oscillations of the fluctuations is responsible for the production of an observably large non-Gaussian signal. We provide an explicit expression for the shape of this resonant non-Gaussianity. We show that there is essentially no overlap between this shape and the local, equilateral, and orthogonal shapes, and we stress that resonant non-Gaussianity is not captured by the simplest version of the effective field theory of inflation. We hope our analytic expression will be useful to further observationally constrain this class of models.

COLD COMPRESSED BARYONIC MATTER WITH HIDDEN LOCAL SYMMETRY AND HOLOGRAPHY

I describe a novel phase structure of cold dense baryonic matter predicted in a hidden local symmetry approach anchored on gauge theory and in a holographic dual approach based on the Sakai-Sugimoto model of string theory. This new phase is populated with baryons with half-instanton quantum number in the gravity sector which is dual to half-skyrmion in gauge sector in which chiral symmetry is restored while light-quark hadrons are in the color-confined phase. It is suggested that such a phase that aries at a density above that of normal nuclear matter and below or at the chiral restoration point can have a drastic influence on the properties of hadrons at high density, in particular on short-distance interactions between nucleons, e.g., multi-body forces at short distance and hadrons – in particular kaons – propagating in a dense medium. Potentially important consequences on the structure of compact stars will be predicted.

Non-perturbative vacuum destabilization and D-brane dynamics

We analyze the process of string vacuum destabilization due to instanton induced superpotential couplings which depend linearly on charged fields. These nonperturbative instabilities result in potentials for the D-brane moduli and lead to processes of D-brane recombination, motion and partial moduli stabilization at the non-perturbative vacuum. By using techniques of D-brane instanton calculus, we explicitly compute this scalar potential in toroidal orbifold compactifications with magnetized D-branes by summing over the possible discrete instanton configurations. We illustrate explicitly the resulting dynamics in globally consistent models. These instabilities can have phenomenological applications to breaking hidden sector gauge groups, open string moduli stabilization and supersymmetry breaking. Our results suggest that breaking supersymmetry by Polonyi-like models in string theory is more difficult than expected.

Stable non-supersymmetric throats in string theory

We construct a large class of non-supersymmetric AdS-like throat geometries in string theory by taking non-supersymmetric orbifolds of supersymmetric backgrounds. The scale of SUSY breaking is the AdS radius, and the dual field theory has explicitly broken supersymmetry. The large hierarchy of energy scales in these geometries is stable. We establish this by showing that the dual gauge theories do not have any relevant operators which are singlets under the global symmetries. When the geometries are embedded in a compact internal space, a large enough discrete subgroup of the global symmetries can still survive to prevent any singlet relevant operators from arising. We illustrate this by embedding one case in a non-supersymmetric orbifold of a Calabi-Yau manifold. These examples can serve as a starting point for obtaining Randall-Sundrum models in string theory, and more generally for constructing composite Higgs or technicolor-like models where strongly coupled dynamics leads to the breaking of electro-weak symmetry. Towards the end of the paper, we briefly discuss how bulk gauge fields can be incorporated by introducing D7-branes in the bulk, and also show how the strongly coupled dynamics can lead to an emergent weakly coupled gauge theory in the IR with matter fields including scalars.

CONSTRAINING THE RUNAWAY DILATON AND QUINTESSENTIAL DARK ENERGY

Dark energy is some of the weirdest and most mysterious stuff in the universe that tends to increase the rate of expansion of the universe. Two commonly known forms of dark energy are the cosmological constant, a constant energy density filling space homogeneously, and scalar fields such as quintessence or moduli whose energy density can vary with time. We explore one particular model for dynamic dark energy: quintessence driven by a scalar dilaton field. We propose an ansatz for the form of the dilaton field, |ϕ(a)|mP ≡ α1 ln t + α2tn = α ln a + βa2ζ, where a is the scale factor and α and ζ are parameters of the model. This phenomenological ansatz for ϕ can be motivated by generic solutions of a scalar dilaton field in many effective string theory and string-inspired gravity models in four dimensions. Most of the earlier discussions in the literature correspond to the choice that ζ = 0 so that ϕ(t) ∝ ln t or ϕ(t) ∝ ln a(t). Using a compilation of current data including type Ia supernovae, we impose observational constraints on the slope parameters like α and ζ and then discuss the relation of our results to analytical constraints on various cosmological parameters, including the dark energy equation of state. Some useful constraints are imposed on model parameters like α and ζ as well as on the dark energy/dark matter couplings using results from structure formation. The constraints of this model are shown to encompass the cosmological constant limit within 1σ error bars.

The viscosity bound in string theory

The ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density η / s of any material in nature has been conjectured to have a lower bound of 1 / 4 π , the famous KSS bound. We examine string theory models for evidence in favour of and against this conjecture. We show that in a broad class of models quantum corrections yield values of η / s just above the KSS bound. However, incorporating matter fields in the fundamental representation typically leads to violations of this bound. We also outline a program to extend AdS/CFT methods to RHIC phenomenology.

Circumventing the eta problem in building an inflationary model in string theory

The eta problem is one of the most significant obstacles to building a successful inflationary model in string theory. Planck mass suppressed corrections to the inflaton potential generally lead to inflaton masses of order the Hubble scale and generate contributions of order unity to the $\ensuremath{\eta}$ slow-roll parameter rendering prolonged slow-roll inflation impossible. We demonstrate the severity of this problem in the context of brane antibrane inflation in a warped throat of a Calabi-Yau flux compactification with all phenomenologically dangerous moduli stabilized. Using numerical solutions we show that the eta problem can be avoided in scenarios where the inflaton is nonminimally coupled to gravity and has Dirac-Born-Infeld kinetic term. We show that the resulting cosmic microwave background observables such as measures of non-Gaussianites can, in principle, serve as a probe of scalar-gravity couplings.

AN OBSERVATIONAL DETERMINATION OF THE PROTON TO ELECTRON MASS RATIO IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE

In an effort to resolve the discrepancy between two measurements of the fundamental constant mu, the proton to electron mass ratio, at early times in the universe we reanalyze the same data used in the earlier studies. Our analysis of the molecular hydrogen absorption lines in archival VLT/UVES spectra of the damped Lyman alpha systems in the QSOs Q0347-383 and Q0405-443 yields a combined measurement of a (Delta mu)/mu value of (-7 +/- 8) x 10^{-6}, consistent with no change in the value of mu over a time span of 11.5 gigayears. Here we define (Delta mu) as (mu_z - mu_0) where mu_z is the value of mu at a redshift of z and mu_0 is the present day value. Our null result is consistent with the recent measurements of King et al. 2009, (Delta mu)/u = (2.6 +/- 3.0) x 10^{-6}, and inconsistent with the positive detection of a change in mu by Reinhold et al. 2006. Both of the previous studies and this study are based on the same data but with differing analysis methods. Improvements in the wavelength calibration over the UVES pipeline calibration is a key element in both of the null results. This leads to the conclusion that the fundamental constant mu is unchanged to an accuracy of 10^{-5} over the last 80% of the age of the universe, well into the matter dominated epoch. This limit provides constraints on models of dark energy that invoke rolling scalar fields and also limits the parameter space of Super Symmetric or string theory models of physics. New instruments, both planned and under construction, will provide opportunities to greatly improve the accuracy of these measurements.

Decoupling A and B model in open string theory: topological adventures in the world of tadpoles

In this paper we analyze the problem of tadpole cancellation in open topological strings. We prove that the inclusion of unorientable worldsheet diagrams guarantees a consistent decoupling of A and B model for open superstring amplitudes at all genera. This is proven by direct microscopic computation in Super Conformal Field Theory. For the B-model we explicitly calculate one loop amplitudes in terms of analytic Ray-Singer torsions of appropriate vector bundles and obtain that the decoupling corresponds to the cancellation of D-brane and orientifold charges. Local tadpole cancellation on the worldsheet then guarantees the decoupling at all loops. The holomorphic anomaly equations for open topological strings at one loop are also obtained and compared with the results of the Quillen formula.