Perturbing gauge/gravity duals by a Romans mass

We show how to produce algorithmically gravity solutions in massive IIA (as infinitesimal first order perturbations in the Romans mass parameter) dual to assigned conformal field theories. We illustrate the procedure on a family of Chern--Simons--matter conformal field theories that we recently obtained from the N=6 theory by waiving the condition that the levels sum up to zero.Comment: 30 page

The gauge dual of Romans mass

We deform the recently proposed holographic duality between the ABJM N=6 Chern-Simons-matter theory and type IIA string theory in AdS4xCP3. We add a non-zero Romans mass F_0, whose dual we identify as the sum of the Chern-Simons levels for the two gauge groups. One can naturally identify four different theories, with different amounts of supersymmetry and of flavor symmetry.Comment: 26 pages. v4: Corrected the sign for the probe brane potentia

Localized O6-plane solutions with Romans mass

Orientifold solutions have an unphysical region around their source; for the O6, the singularity is resolved in M-theory by the Atiyah-Hitchin metric. Massive IIA, however, does not admit an eleven-dimensional lift, and one wonders what happens to the O6 there. In this paper, we find evidence for the existence of localized (unsmeared) O6 solutions in presence of Romans mass, in the context of four-dimensional compactifications. As a first step, we show that for generic supersymmetric compactifications, the Bianchi identity for the F_4 RR field follows from constancy of F_0. Using this, we find a procedure to deform any O6-D6 Minkowski compactification at first order in F_0. For a single O6, some of the symmetries of the massless solution are broken, but what is left is still enough to obtain a system of ODEs with as many variables as equations. Numerical analysis indicates that Romans mass makes the unphysical region disappear.Comment: 38 pages, 1 figur

Massive type IIA string theory cannot be strongly coupled

Understanding the strong coupling limit of massive type IIA string theory is a longstanding problem. We argue that perhaps this problem does not exist; namely, there may be no strongly coupled solutions of the massive theory. We show explicitly that massive type IIA string theory can never be strongly coupled in a weakly curved region of space-time. We illustrate our general claim with two classes of massive solutions in AdS4xCP3: one, previously known, with N = 1 supersymmetry, and a new one with N = 2 supersymmetry. Both solutions are dual to d = 3 Chern-Simons-matter theories. In both these massive examples, as the rank N of the gauge group is increased, the dilaton initially increases in the same way as in the corresponding massless case; before it can reach the M-theory regime, however, it enters a second regime, in which the dilaton decreases even as N increases. In the N = 2 case, we find supersymmetry-preserving gauge-invariant monopole operators whose mass is independent of N. This predicts the existence of branes which stay light even when the dilaton decreases. We show that, on the gravity side, these states originate from D2-D0 bound states wrapping the vanishing two-cycle of a conifold singularity that develops at large N.Comment: 43 pages, 5 figures. v2: added reference

On the Vacua of Mass-deformed Gaiotto-Tomasiello Theories

We write explicit Lagrangian and supersymmetry transformation rules using the component fields in the ${\cal N}=2,3$ GT theories. In the component field expansion, the manifestation of an additional ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetry is verified in the ${\cal N}=3$ GT theory. We find maximal supersymmetry preserving mass-deformation of the GT theories and their classical supersymmetric discrete vacua. Some interesting aspects of the set of discrete vacua are discussed in comparison with the ABJM case.Comment: 19 pages, no figures, references are added, published versio

Flux compactification on smooth, compact three-dimensional toric varieties

Three-dimensional smooth, compact toric varieties (SCTV), when viewed as real six-dimensional manifolds, can admit G-structures rendering them suitable for internal manifolds in supersymmetric flux compactifications. We develop techniques which allow us to systematically construct G-structures on SCTV and read off their torsion classes. We illustrate our methods with explicit examples, one of which consists of an infinite class of toric CP^1 bundles. We give a self-contained review of the relevant concepts from toric geometry, in particular the subject of the classification of SCTV in dimensions less or equal to 3. Our results open up the possibility for a systematic construction and study of supersymmetric flux vacua based on SCTV.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures; v2: references, minor typos & improvement

On the Open-Closed B-Model

We study the coupling of the closed string to the open string in the topological B-model. These couplings can be viewed as gauge invariant observables in the open string field theory, or as deformations of the differential graded algebra describing the OSFT. This is interpreted as an intertwining map from the closed string sector to the deformation (Hochschild) complex of the open string algebra. By an explicit calculation we show that this map induces an isomorphism of Gerstenhaber algebras on the level of cohomology. Reversely, this can be used to derive the closed string from the open string. We shortly comment on generalizations to other models, such as the A-model.Comment: LaTeX, 48 pages. Citation adde