Selection rules for splitting strings

It has been pointed out that Nielsen-Olesen vortices may be able to decay by pair production of black holes. We show that when the abelian Higgs model is embedded in a larger theory, the additional fields may lead to selection rules for this process - even in the absence of fermions - due to the failure of a charge quantization condition. We show that, when there is topology change, the criterion based on the charge quantization condition supplements the usual criterion based on $\pi_0(H)$. In particular, we find that, unless $2\sin^2\theta_W$ is a rational number, the thermal splitting of electroweak Z-strings by magnetically neutral black holes is impossible, even though $\pi_0(H)$ is trivial.Comment: 12 pages revtex -- Published version (some points clarified

A note on the stability of axionic D-term strings

We investigate the stability of a new class of BPS cosmic strings in N=1 supergravity with D-terms recently proposed by Blanco-Pillado, Dvali and Redi. These have been conjectured to be the low energy manifestation of D-strings that might form from tachyon condensation after D- anti-D-brane annihilation in type IIB superstring theory. There are three one-parameter families of cylindrically symmetric one-vortex solutions to the BPS equations (tachyonic, axionic and hybrid). We find evidence that the zero mode in the axionic case, or s-strings, can be excited. Its evolution leads to the decompactification of four-dimensional spacetime at late times, with a rate that decreases with decreasing brane tension.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

F-term uplifting and moduli stabilization consistent with Kahler invariance

An important ingredient in the construction of phenomenologically viable superstring models is the uplifting of Anti-de Sitter supersymmetric critical points in the moduli sector to metastable Minkowski or de Sitter vacua with broken supersymmetry. In all cases described so far, uplifting results in a displacement of the potential minimum away from the critical point and, if the uplifting is large, can lead to the disappearance of the minimum altogether. We propose a variant of F-term uplifting which exactly preserves supersymmetric critical points and shift symmetries at tree level. In spite of a direct coupling, the moduli do not contribute to supersymmetry breaking. We analyse the stability of the critical points in a toy one-modulus sector before and after uplifting, and find a simple stability condition depending solely on the amount of uplifting and not on the details of the uplifting sector. There is a region of parameter space, corresponding to the uplifting of local AdS {\em maxima} --or, more importantly, local minima of the Kahler function-- where the critical points are stable for any amount of uplifting. On the other hand, uplifting to (non- supersymmetric) Minkowski space is special in that all SUSY critical points, that is, for all possible compactifications, become stable or neutrally stable.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur

Semilocal and Electroweak Strings

We review a class of non-topological defects in the standard electroweak model, and their implications. Starting with the semilocal string, which provides a counterexample to many well known properties of topological vortices, we discuss electroweak strings and their stability with and without external influences such as magnetic fields. Other known properties of electroweak strings and monopoles are described in some detail and their potential relevance to future particle accelerator experiments and to baryon number violating processes is considered. We also review recent progress on the cosmology of electroweak defects and the connection with superfluid helium, where some of the effects discussed here could possibly be tested.Comment: 86 pages; submitted to Phys. Re

On the viability of m**2 phi**2 and natural inflation

In the context of single field inflation, models with a quadratic potential and models with a natural potential with subplanckian decay constant are in tension with the Planck data. We show that, when embedded in a two-field model with an additional super massive field, they can become consistent with observations. Our results follow if the inflaton is the phase of a complex field (or an angular variable) protected by a mildly broken U(1) symmetry, and the radial component, whose mass is much greater than the Hubble scale, is stabilized at subplanckian values. The presence of the super massive field, besides modifying the effective single field potential, causes a reduction in the speed of sound of the inflaton fluctuations, which drives the prediction for the primordial spectrum towards the allowed experimental values. We discuss these effects also for the linear potential, and show that this model increases its agreement with data as wellComment: 14 pages, 7 figures. v2 added missing abstract in the pdf, references and very minor changes. v3. typos corrected, references adde

Topological Extensions of Noether Charge Algebras carried by D-p-branes

We derive the fully extended supersymmetry algebra carried by D-branes in a massless type IIA superspace vacuum. We find that the extended algebra contains not only topological charges that probe the presence of compact spacetime dimensions but also pieces that measure non-trivial configurations of the gauge field on the worldvolume of the brane. Furthermore there are terms that measure the coupling of the non-triviality of the worldvolume regarded as a U(1)-bundle of the gauge field to possible compact spacetime dimensions. In particular, the extended algebra carried by the D-2-brane can contain the charge of a Dirac monopole of the gauge field. In the course of this work we derive a set of generalized Gamma-matrix identities that include the ones presently known for the IIA case. In the first part of the paper we give an introduction to the basic notions of Noether current algebras and charge algebras; furthermore we find a Theorem that describes in a general context how the presence of a gauge field on the worldvolume of an embedded object transforming under the symmetry group on the target space alters the algebra of the Noether charges, which otherwise would be the same as the algebra of the symmetry group. This is a phenomenon recently found by Sorokin and Townsend in the case of the M-5-brane, but here we show that it holds quite generally, and in particular also in the case of D-branes.Comment: 45 pages, some minor misprints corrected, no modifications otherwis

Unstable vortices do not confine

Recently, a geometric model for the confinement of magnetic charges in the context of type II string compactifications was constructed by Greene, Morrison and Vafa. This model assumes the existence of stable magnetic vortices with quantized flux in the low energy theory. However, quantization of flux alone does not imply that the vortex is stable, since the flux may not be confined to a tube of definite size. We show that in the field theoretical model which underlies the geometric model of confinement, static, cylindrically symmetric magnetic vortices do not exist. While our results do not preclude the existence of confinement in a different low-energy regime of string theory, they show that confinement is not a universal outcome of the string picture, and its origin in the low energy theory remains to be understood.Comment: Latex, 8 page

Embedded Monopoles

Using the embedded defect method, we classify the possible embeddings of a 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole in a general gauge theory. We then discuss some similarities with embedded vortices and relate our results to fundamental monopoles.Comment: 6 pages, LaTe