33,981 research outputs found
Nonperturbative Solution of the Super-Virasoro Constraints
We present the solution of the discrete super-Virasoro constraints to all
orders of the genus expansion. Integrating over the fermionic variables we get
a representation of the partition function in terms of the one-matrix model. We
also obtain the nonperturbative solution of the super-Virasoro constraints in
the double scaling limit but do not find agreement between our flows and the
known supersymmetric extensions of KdV.Comment: 12 pages, CERN-TH.6761/9
Volume modulus inflation and a low scale of SUSY breaking
The relation between the Hubble constant and the scale of supersymmetry
breaking is investigated in models of inflation dominated by a string modulus.
Usually in this kind of models the gravitino mass is of the same order of
magnitude as the Hubble constant which is not desirable from the
phenomenological point of view. It is shown that slow-roll saddle point
inflation may be compatible with a low scale of supersymmetry breaking only if
some corrections to the lowest order Kahler potential are taken into account.
However, choosing an appropriate Kahler potential is not enough. There are also
conditions for the superpotential, and e.g. the popular racetrack
superpotential turns out to be not suitable. A model is proposed in which
slow-roll inflation and a light gravitino are compatible. It is based on a
superpotential with a triple gaugino condensation and the Kahler potential with
the leading string corrections. The problem of fine tuning and experimental
constraints are discussed for that model.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, comments and references added, minor change in
notation, version to be publishe
Flux Compactifications: Stability and Implications for Cosmology
We study the dynamics of the size of an extra-dimensional manifold stabilised
by fluxes. Inspecting the potential for the 4D field associated with this size
(the radion), we obtain the conditions under which it can be stabilised and
show that stable compactifications on hyperbolic manifolds necessarily have a
negative four-dimensional cosmological constant, in contradiction with
experimental observations. Assuming compactification on a positively curved
(spherical) manifold we find that the radion has a mass of the order of the
compactification scale, M_c, and Planck suppressed couplings. We also show that
the model becomes unstable and the extra dimensions decompactify when the
four-dimensional curvature is higher than a maximum value. This in particular
sets an upper bound on the scale of inflation in these models: V_max \sim M_c^2
M_P^2, independently of whether the radion or other field is responsible for
inflation. We comment on other possible contributions to the radion potential
as well as finite temperature effects and their impact on the bounds obtained.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX; v2: typos fixed and references adde
Higher order corrections to Heterotic M-theory inflation
We investigate inflation driven by dynamical five-branes in Heterotic
M-theory using the scalar potential derived from the open membrane instanton
sector. At leading order the resulting theory can be mapped to power law
inflation, however more generally one may expect higher order corrections to be
important. We consider a simple class of such corrections, which imposes tight
bounds on the number of branes required for inflation.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
O3/O7 Orientifold Truncations and Very Special Quaternionic-Kaehler Geometry
We study the orientifold truncation that arises when compactifying type II
string theory on Calabi-Yau orientifolds with O3/O7-planes, in the context of
supergravity. We look at the N=2 to N=1 reduction of the hypermultiplet sector
of N=2 supergravity under the truncation, for the case of very special
quaternionic-Kaehler target space geometry. We explicitly verify the Kaehler
structure of the truncated spaces, and we study the truncated isometry algebra.
For symmetric special quaternionic spaces, we give a complete overview of the
spaces one finds after truncation. We also find new examples of dual Kaehler
spaces, that give rise to flat potentials in N=1 supergravity.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, v2:curvature tensor of the dual symmetric spaces
calculated, section 7 expanded, references added, v3:few typos fixed, version
to appear in Class.Quantum Gravit
Resolving the M2-brane
We construct deformed, T^2 wrapped, rotating M2-branes on a resolved cone
over Q^{1,1,1} and Q^{1,1,1}/Z_2, as well as on a product of two Eguchi-Hanson
instantons. All worldvolume directions of these supersymmetric and regular
solutions are fibred over the transverse space. These constitute gravity duals
of D=3, N=2 gauge theories. In particular, the deformed M2-brane on a resolved
cone over Q^{1,1,1} and the S^1 wrapped M2-brane on a resolved cone over
Q^{1,1,1}/Z_2 provide explicit realizations of holographic renormalization
group flows in M-theory for which both conformal and Lorentz symmetries are
broken in the IR region and restored in the UV limit. These solutions can be
dualized to supersymmetric type IIB pp-waves, which are rendered non-singular
either by additional flux or a twisted time-like direction.Comment: Latex, 23 pages, references adde
Brane Inflation and Cosmic String Tension in Superstring Theory
In a simple reanalysis of the KKLMMT scenario, we argue that the slow roll
condition in the D3-anti-D3-brane inflationary scenario in superstring theory
requires no more than a moderate tuning. The cosmic string tension is very
sensitive to the conformal coupling: with less fine-tuning, the cosmic string
tension (as well as the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbation mode) increases
rapidly and can easily saturate the present observational bound. In a
multi-throat brane inflationary scenario, this feature substantially improves
the chance of detecting and measuring the properties of the cosmic strings as a
window to the superstring theory and our pre-inflationary universe.Comment: Combined bounds from WMAP and SDSS Lyman alpha experiments are added
for analysis, changes are added to the tabl
Theoretical Aspects of the Equivalence Principle
We review several theoretical aspects of the Equivalence Principle (EP). We
emphasize the unsatisfactory fact that the EP maintains the absolute character
of the coupling constants of physics while General Relativity, and its
generalizations (Kaluza-Klein,..., String Theory), suggest that all absolute
structures should be replaced by dynamical entities. We discuss the
EP-violation phenomenology of dilaton-like models, which is likely to be
dominated by the linear superposition of two effects: a signal proportional to
the nuclear Coulomb energy, related to the variation of the fine-structure
constant, and a signal proportional to the surface nuclear binding energy,
related to the variation of the light quark masses. We recall the various
theoretical arguments (including a recently proposed anthropic argument)
suggesting that the EP be violated at a small, but not unmeasurably small
level. This motivates the need for improved tests of the EP. These tests are
probing new territories in physics that are related to deep, and mysterious,
issues in fundamental physics.Comment: 21 pages, no figures; submitted to a "focus issue" of Classical and
Quantum Gravity on Tests of the Weak Equivalence Principle, organized by
Clive Speake and Clifford Wil
N=4 gauged supergravity and a IIB orientifold with fluxes
We analyze the properties of a spontaneously broken D=4, N=4 supergravity
without cosmological constant, obtained by gauging translational isometries of
its classical scalar manifold. This theory offers a suitable low energy
description of the super-Higgs phases of certain Type-IIB orientifold
compactifications with 3-form fluxes turned on. We study its N=3,2,1,0 phases
and their classical moduli spaces and we show that this theory is an example of
no-scale extended supergravity.Comment: Misprints corrected. Version appeared on NJP 4 (2002)7
Renormalization of the electron-phonon interaction: a reformulation of the BCS-gap equation
A recently developed renormalization approach is used to study the
electron-phonon coupling in many-electron systems. By starting from an
Hamiltonian which includes a small gauge symmetry breaking field, we directly
derive a BCS-like equation for the energy gap from the renormalization
approach. The effective electron-electron interaction for Cooper pairs does not
contain any singularities. Furthermore, it is found that phonon-induced
particle-hole excitations only contribute to the attractive electron-electron
interaction if their energy difference is smaller than the phonon energy.Comment: 8 pages, version to appear in Eur. Phys. J.
- …