Weak String Coupling Research Articles

On Calabi‐Yau Manifolds at Strong Topological String Coupling

AbstractIt was recently shown that integrating out M2 states on Calabi‐Yau manifolds captures non‐perturbative topological string physics in the free energy. In this note, It has been shown that the resulting expression manifests a certain duality symmetry: the free energy at strong string coupling is equal to the Calabi‐Yau period at weak string coupling. The duality yields the appropriate prescription for completing the integrating out in the ultraviolet.

Gluon scattering in AdS at finite string coupling from localization

We consider gluons scattering in Type IIB string theory on AdS5 × S5/ℤ2 in the presence of D7 branes, which is dual to the flavor multiplet correlator in a certain 4d N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 2 USp(2N) gauge theory with SO(8) flavor symmetry and complexified coupling τ. We compute this holographic correlator in the large N and finite τ expansion using constraints from derivatives of the mass deformed sphere free energy, which we compute to all orders in 1/N and finite τ using supersymmetric localization. In particular, we fix the F4 higher derivative correction to gluon scattering on AdS at finite string coupling τs = τ in terms of Jacobi theta functions, which feature the expected relations between the SL(2, ℤ) duality and the SO(8) triality of the CFT, and match it to the known flat space term. We also use the flat space limit to compute D2F4 corrections of the correlator at finite τ in terms of a non-holomorphic Eisenstein series. At weak string coupling, we find that the AdS correlator takes a form which is remarkably similar to that of the flat space Veneziano amplitude.

Comments on ABJM free energy on S3 at large N and perturbative expansions in M-theory and string theory

We compare large N expansion of the localization result for the free energy F in the 3d N=6 superconformal U(N)k×U(N)−k Chern-Simons-matter theory to its AdS/CFT counterpart, i.e. to the perturbative expansion of M-theory partition function on AdS×4S7/Zk and to the weak string coupling expansion of type IIA effective action on AdS×4CP3. We show that the general form of the perturbative expansions of F on the two sides of the AdS/CFT duality is indeed the same. Moreover, the transcendentality properties of the coefficients in the large N, large k expansion of F match those in the corresponding M-theory or string theory expansions. To shed light on the structure of the 1-loop M-theory partition function on AdS×4S7/Zk we use the expression for the 1-loop 4-graviton scattering amplitude in the 11d supergravity. We also use the known information about the transcendental coefficients of the leading curvature invariants in the low-energy effective action of type II string theory. Matching of the remaining rational factors in the coefficients requires a precise information about currently unknown RR field strength terms in the corresponding superinvariants.

Asymptotic accelerated expansion in string theory and the Swampland

We study whether the universal runaway behaviour of stringy scalar potentials towards infinite field distance limits can produce an accelerated expanding cosmology à la quintessence. We identify a loophole to some proposed bounds that forbid such asymptotic (at parametric control) accelerated expansion in 4d mathcal{N} = 1 supergravities, by considering several terms of the potential competing asymptotically. We then analyse concrete string theory examples coming from F-theory flux compactifications on Calabi-Yau fourfolds, extending previous results by going beyond weak string coupling to different infinite distance limits in the complex structure moduli space. We find some potential candidates to yield asymptotic accelerated expansion with a flux potential satisfying gamma =frac{leftVert nabla VrightVert }{V}<sqrt{2} along its gradient flow. However, whether this truly describes an accelerated expanding cosmology remains as an open question until full moduli stabilization including the Kahler moduli is studied. Finally, we also reformulate the condition for forbidding asymptotic accelerated expansion as a convex hull de Sitter conjecture which resembles a convex hull scalar WGC for the membranes generating the flux potential. This provides a pictorial way to quickly determine the asymptotic gradient flow trajectory in multi-moduli setups and the value of γ along it.

Universal accelerating cosmologies from 10d supergravity

We study 4d Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker cosmologies obtained from time-dependent compactifications of Type IIA 10d supergravity on various classes of 6d manifolds (Calabi-Yau, Einstein, Einstein-Kähler). The cosmologies we present are universal in that they do not depend on the detailed features of the compactification manifold, but only on the properties which are common to all the manifolds belonging to that class. Once the equations of motion are rewritten as an appropriate dynamical system, the existence of solutions featuring a phase of accelerated expansion is made manifest. The fixed points of this dynamical system, as well as the trajectories on the boundary of the phase space, correspond to analytic solutions which we determine explicitly. Furthermore, some of the resulting cosmologies exhibit eternal or semi-eternal acceleration, whereas others allow for a parametric control on the number of e-foldings. At future infinity, one can achieve both large volume and weak string coupling. Moreover, we find several smooth accelerating cosmologies without Big Bang singularities: the universe is contracting in the cosmological past (T < 0), expanding in the future (T > 0), while in the vicinity of T = 0 it becomes de Sitter in hyperbolic slicing. We also obtain several cosmologies featuring an infinite number of cycles of alternating periods of accelerated and decelerated expansions.

Small cosmological constants in string theory

We construct supersymmetric AdS4 vacua of type IIB string theory in compactifications on orientifolds of Calabi-Yau threefold hypersurfaces. We first find explicit orientifolds and quantized fluxes for which the superpotential takes the form proposed by Kachru, Kallosh, Linde, and Trivedi. Given very mild assumptions on the numerical values of the Pfaffians, these compactifications admit vacua in which all moduli are stabilized at weak string coupling. By computing high-degree Gopakumar-Vafa invariants we give strong evidence that the α′ expansion is likewise well-controlled. We find extremely small cosmological constants, with magnitude < 10−123 in Planck units. The compactifications are large, but not exponentially so, and hence these vacua manifest hierarchical scale-separation, with the AdS length exceeding the Kaluza-Klein length by a factor of a googol.

Asymptotic flux compactifications and the swampland

We initiate the systematic study of flux scalar potentials and their vacua by using asymptotic Hodge theory. To begin with, we consider F-theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau fourfolds with four-form flux. We argue that a classification of all scalar potentials can be performed when focusing on regions in the field space in which one or several fields are large and close to a boundary. To exemplify the constraints on such asymptotic flux compactifications, we explicitly determine this classification for situations in which two complex structure moduli are taken to be large. Our classification captures, for example, the weak string coupling limit and the large complex structure limit. We then show that none of these scalar potentials admits de Sitter critical points at parametric control, formulating a new no-go theorem valid beyond weak string coupling. We also check that the recently proposed asymptotic de Sitter conjecture is satisfied near any infinite distance boundary. Extending this strategy further, we generally identify the type of fluxes that induce an infinite series of Anti-de Sitter critical points, thereby generalizing the well-known Type IIA settings. Finally, we argue that also the large field dynamics of any axion in complex structure moduli space is universally constrained. Displacing such an axion by large field values will generally lead to severe backreaction effects destabilizing other directions.

Vacua with Small Flux Superpotential.

We describe a method for finding flux vacua of type IIB string theory in which the Gukov-Vafa-Witten superpotential is exponentially small. We present an example with W_{0}≈2×10^{-8} on an orientifold of a Calabi-Yau hypersurface with (h^{1,1},h^{2,1})=(2,272), at large complex structure and weak string coupling.

Closed strings and moduli in AdS3/CFT2

String theory on AdS3 × S3 × T4 has 20 moduli. We investigate how the perturbative closed string spectrum changes as we move around this moduli space in both the RR and NSNS flux backgrounds. We find that, at weak string coupling, only four of the moduli affect the energies. In the RR background the only effect of these moduli is to change the radius of curvature of the background. On the other hand, in the NSNS background, the moduli introduce worldsheet interactions which enable the use of integrability methods to solve the spectral problem. Our results show that the worldsheet theory is integrable across the 20 dimensional moduli space.

A new class of de Sitter vacua in type IIB large volume compactifications

We construct a new class of metastable de Sitter vacua of flux compactifications of type IIB string theory. These solutions provide a natural extension of the ‘Large Volume Scenario’ anti-de Sitter vacua, and can analogously be realised at parametrically large volume and weak string coupling, using standard mathcal{N} = 1 supergravity. For these new vacua, a positive vacuum energy is achieved from the inclusion of a small amount of flux-induced supersymmetry breaking in the complex structure and axio-dilaton sector, and no additional ‘uplift’ contribution (e.g. from anti-branes) is required. We show that the approximate no-scale structure of the effective theory strongly influences the spectrum of the stabilised moduli: one complex structure modulus remains significantly lighter than the supersymmetry breaking scale, and metastability requires only modest amounts of tuning. After discussing these general results, we provide a recipe for constructing de Sitter vacua on a given compactification manifold, and give an explicit example of a de Sitter vacuum for the compactification on the Calabi-Yau orientifold realised in mathbb{C}{mathrm{mathbb{P}}}_{11169}^4 . Finally, we note that these solutions have intriguing implications for phenomenology, predicting no csuperpartners in the spectrum below ∼50 TeV, and no WIMP dark matter.

On mirror symmetry for Calabi-Yau fourfolds with three-form cohomology

We study the action of mirror symmetry on two-dimensional N=(2,2) effective theories obtained by compactifying Type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau fourfolds. Our focus is on fourfold geometries with non-trivial three-form cohomology. The couplings of the massless zero-modes arising by expanding in these forms depend both on the complex structure deformations and the Kahler structure deformations of the Calabi-Yau fourfold. We argue that two holomorphic functions of the deformation moduli capture this information. These are exchanged under mirror symmetry, which allows us to derive them at the large complex structure and large volume point. We discuss the application of the resulting explicit expression to F-theory compactifications and their weak string coupling limit. In the latter orientifold settings we demonstrate compatibility with mirror symmetry of Calabi-Yau threefolds at large complex structure. As a byproduct we find an interesting relation of no-scale like conditions on Kahler potentials to the existence of chiral and twisted-chiral descriptions in two dimensions.

Non-Abelian discrete gauge symmetries in F-theory

The presence of non-Abelian discrete gauge symmetries in four-dimensional F-theory compactifications is investigated. Such symmetries are shown to arise from seven-brane configurations in genuine F-theory settings without a weak string coupling description. Gauge fields on mutually non-local seven-branes are argued to gauge both R-R and NS-NS two-form bulk axions. The gauging is completed into a generalisation of the Heisenberg group with either additional seven-brane gauge fields or R-R bulk gauge fields. The former case relies on having seven-brane fluxes, while the latter case requires torsion cohomology and is analysed in detail through the M-theory dual. Remarkably, the M-theory reduction yields an Abelian theory that becomes non-Abelian when translated into the correct duality frame to perform the F-theory limit. The reduction shows that the gauge coupling function depends on the gauged scalars and transforms non-trivially as required for the groups encountered. This field dependence agrees with the expectations for the kinetic mixing of seven-branes and is unchanged if the gaugings are absent.

Entanglement Entropy in Two-Dimensional String Theory.

To understand an emergent spacetime is to understand the emergence of locality. Entanglement entropy is a powerful diagnostic of locality, because locality leads to a large amount of short distance entanglement. Two-dimensional string theory is among the very simplest instances of an emergent spatial dimension. We compute the entanglement entropy in the large-N matrix quantum mechanics dual to two-dimensional string theory in the semiclassical limit of weak string coupling. We isolate a logarithmically large, but finite, contribution that corresponds to the short distance entanglement of the tachyon field in the emergent spacetime. From the spacetime point of view, the entanglement is regulated by a nonperturbative "graininess" of space.

On [formula omitted] corrections in [formula omitted] F-theory compactifications

We consider N=1 F-theory and Type IIB orientifold compactifications and derive new α′ corrections to the four-dimensional effective action. They originate from higher derivative corrections to eleven-dimensional supergravity and survive the M-theory to F-theory limit. We find a correction to the Kähler potential depending on the volume of a non-trivial intersection curve of seven-branes. At weak string coupling this correction arises from the intersection of D7-branes with the O7-plane. We also analyze a four-dimensional higher curvature correction.

Fluxes and warping for gauge couplings in F-theory

We compute flux-dependent corrections in the four-dimensional F-theory effective action using the M-theory dual description. In M-theory the 7-brane fluxes are encoded by four-form flux and modify the background geometry and Kaluza-Klein reduction ansatz. In particular, the flux sources a warp factor which also depends on the torus directions of the compactification fourfold. This dependence is crucial in the derivation of the four-dimensional action, although the torus fiber is auxiliary in F-theory. In M-theory the 7-branes are described by an infinite array of Taub-NUT spaces. We use the explicit metric on this geometry to derive the locally corrected warp factor and M-theory three-from as closed expressions. We focus on contributions to the 7-brane gauge coupling function from this M-theory back-reaction and show that terms quadratic in the internal seven-brane flux are induced. The real part of the gauge coupling function is modified by the M-theory warp factor while the imaginary part is corrected due to a modified M-theory three-form potential. The obtained contributions match the known weak string coupling result, but also yield additional terms suppressed at weak coupling. This shows that the completion of the M-theory reduction opens the way to compute various corrections in a genuine F-theory setting away from the weak string coupling limit.

On the positivity of black hole degeneracies in string theory

Certain helicity trace indices of charged states in N = 4 and N = 8 superstring theory have been computed exactly using their explicit weakly coupled microscopic descrip- tion. These indices are expected to count the exact quantum degeneracies of black holes carrying the same charges. In order for this interpretation to be consistent, these indices should be positive integers. We prove this positivity property for a class of four/five dimen- sional black holes in type II string theory compactified on T 6 /T 5 and on K3 ×T 2 /S 1 . The proof relies on the mock modular properties of the corresponding generating functions. 1. Introduction and statement of results The study of supersymmetric black holes in string theory has been very effective in shedding light on the issue of black hole entropy. The strength of the string theoretic approach lies in the fact that there are two related descriptions of charged black holes. The first (strong string coupling, macroscopic) description is a low energy effective description as general relativity coupled to a set of matter fields. In the second (weak string coupling, microscopic) descrip- tion, a generic state of the theory with the same charges as the black hole is identified as a collection of fundamental objects of string theory namely fundamental strings and branes. The fluctuations of these objects make up the elementary excitations (microstates) of the theory, which can be described by conventional quantum field theoretic methods. The key idea is to identify these two descriptions valid at strong and weak coupling, respectively. At strong coupling, the excitations of the strings and branes exert a gravitational force on each other, and the black hole can be thought of as a quantum mechanical bound state of these microstates. In a class of supersymmetric string theories with sixteen or more unbroken supercharges we now have a practically complete understanding of the spectrum of BPS states (see (27) for a relatively recent review). One can therefore subject the above idea to high precision tests, by comparing the statistical entropy of the ensemble of states and an appropriately defined thermodynamic entropy of the corresponding BPS black hole, beyond a large charge approximation. Since we know the microscopic degeneracies exactly, one can even aim for an

Logarithmic corrections to $${\mathcal{N} = 2}$$ black hole entropy: an infrared window into the microstates

Logarithmic corrections to the extremal black hole entropy can be computed purely in terms of the low energy data -- the spectrum of massless fields and their interaction. The demand of reproducing these corrections provides a strong constraint on any microscopic theory of quantum gravity that attempts to explain the black hole entropy. Using quantum entropy function formalism we compute logarithmic corrections to the entropy of half BPS black holes in N=2 supersymmetric string theories. Our results allow us to test various proposals for the measure in the OSV formula, and we find agreement with the measure proposed by Denef and Moore if we assume their result to be valid at weak topological string coupling. Our analysis also gives the logarithmic corrections to the entropy of extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black holes in ordinary Einstein-Maxwell theory.

Baryon and dark matter genesis from strongly coupled strings

D3-brane probes of E-type Yukawa points lead to strongly coupled nearly conformal sectors nearby the Standard Model (visible sector) which are motivated by F-theory GUTs. Realistic visible sector brane configurations induce a seesaw mass hierarchy in the hidden sector with light GUT singlets charged under a strongly coupled hidden sector U(1). Interpreting these GUT singlets as dark matter, this leads to a matter genesis scenario where the freeze out and subsequent decay of heavy mediators between the two sectors simultaneously populates comparable amounts of baryon and dark matter asymmetry. Generating a net matter asymmetry requires a generational structure in the probe sector which is absent at weak string coupling, but is automatically realized at strong string coupling via towers of dyonic bound states corresponding to multi-prong string junctions. The hidden U(1) couples to the visible sector through both electric and magnetic kinetic mixing terms, providing an efficient means to deplete the symmetric component of dark matter. The mass of the dark matter is of order ~ 10 GeV. The dark matter mass and the matter asymmetry are both controlled by the scale of conformal symmetry breaking ~ 10^(9) - 10^(13) GeV, with the precise relation between the two set by details of the visible sector brane configuration.

Wrapped brane gas as a candidate for dark matter

We consider brane gas models based on type II string theories and analyze the mass, the Ramond-Ramond charge and the charge on moduli fluctuations of branes wrapping over cycles of a compactified space in the four-dimensional Einstein frame. A six-dimensional torus and Calabi-Yau threefolds are considered for the Kaluza-Klein reduction. A large volume of the compactified space and a weak string coupling gives rise to point particles of the wrapped branes which have a light mass and a small charge of the Ramond-Ramond flux and of the moduli fluctuations, while the particles become very heavy in the string frame. We find that the masses and the charges satisfy the sea-saw like dual relations which become time-independent in the four-dimensional Einstein frame.

Cosmology of the closed string tachyon

The spacetime physics of bulk closed string tachyon condensation is studied at the level of a two-derivative effective action. We derive the unique perturbative tachyon potential consistent with a full class of linearized tachyonic deformations of supercritical string theory. The solutions of interest deform a general linear dilaton background by the insertion of purely exponential tachyon vertex operators. In spacetime, the evolution of the tachyon drives an accelerated contraction of the universe and, absent higher-order corrections, the theory collapses to a cosmological singularity in finite time, at arbitrarily weak string coupling. When the tachyon exhibits a null symmetry, the worldsheet dynamics is known to be exact and well defined at tree level. We prove that if the two-derivative effective action is free of nongravitational singularities, higher-order corrections always resolve the spacetime curvature singularity of the null tachyon. The resulting theory provides an explicit mechanism by which tachyon condensation can generate or terminate the flow of cosmological time in string theory. Additional particular solutions can resolve an initial singularity with a tachyonic phase at weak coupling, or yield solitonic configurations that localize the universe along spatial directions.