Systematics of type IIB moduli stabilisation with odd axions

Moduli stabilisation in superstring compactifications on Calabi-Yau orientifolds remains a key challenge in the search for realistic string vacua. In particular, odd moduli arising from the reduction of 2-forms (B2, C2) in type IIB are largely unexplored despite their relevance for inflationary model building. This article provides novel insights into the general structure of 4D N = 1 F-term scalar potentials at higher orders in the α′ and gs expansion for arbitrary Hodge numbers. We systematically examine superpotential contributions with distinct moduli dependences which are induced by fluxes or non-perturbative effects. Initially, we prove the existence of a no-scale structure for odd moduli in the presence of (α′)3 corrections to the Kähler potential. By studying a partially SL(2, ℤ)-completed form of the Kähler potential, we derive the exact no-scale breaking effects at the closed string 1-loop and non-perturbative D-instanton level. These observations allow us to present rigorous expressions for the F-term scalar potential applicable to arbitrary numbers of moduli in type IIB Calabi-Yau orientifold compactifications. Finally, we compute the Hessian for odd moduli and discuss potential phenomenological implications

The Standard Model quiver in de Sitter string compactifications

We argue that the Standard Model quiver can be embedded into compact Calabi-Yau geometries through orientifolded D3-branes at del Pezzo singularities dPn with n ≥ 5 in a framework including moduli stabilisation. To illustrate our approach, we explicitly construct a local dP5 model via a combination of Higgsing and orientifolding. This procedure reduces the original dP5 quiver gauge theory to the Left-Right symmetric model with three families of quarks and leptons as well as a Higgs sector to further break the symmetries to the Standard Model gauge group. We embed this local model in a globally consistent Calabi-Yau flux compactification with tadpole and Freed-Witten anomaly cancellations. The model features closed string moduli stabilisation with a de Sitter minimum from T-branes, supersymmetry broken by the Kähler moduli, and the MSSM as the low energy spectrum. We further discuss phenomenological and cosmological implications of this construction

Metal-insulator transition in NiS2−x_{2-x}Sex_x

The origin of the gap in NiS2 as well as the pressure- and doping-induced metal-insulator transition in the NiS2-xSex solid solutions are investigated both theoretically using the first-principles band structures combined with the dynamical mean-field approximation for the electronic correlations and experimentally by means of infrared and x-ray absorption spectroscopies. The bonding-antibonding splitting in the S-S (Se-Se) dimer is identified as the main parameter controlling the size of the charge gap. The implications for the metal-insulator transition driven by pressure and Se doping are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure

Short-term facilitation and depression in the cerebellum: some observations on wild-type and mutant rodents deficient in the extracellular matrix molecule tenascin C

Short-term plasticity was studied on synapses to Purkinje cells (PC): paired-pulse facilitation in parallel fibers (PF) and paired-pulse depression in climbing fibers (CF). Both phenomena relate to synaptic strength. These forms of short-term plasticity were tested on cerebellar slices in rat by early postnatal synchronous stimulation of olivary neurons (i.e., CFs) with harmaline and by inhibition of a metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) as well as in mice that were deficient in the extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin-C. Harmaline stimulation delayed the developmental competition between CF inputs and maintained multiple innervation. Paired-pulse depression of the CF-PC synapse after harmaline treatment was more expressed. However, paired-pulse facilitation in PF-PC synapses remained unchanged. Electrophysiological responses of postsynaptic mGluR1 in CF-PC synapses could be obtained only with AMPA receptors blocked and glutamate uptake impaired. The mGluR1-specific antagonist CPCCOEt suppressed the CF-mGluR EPSC in some PCs and potentiated it in other PCs. CF paired-pulse depression was not changed with CPCCOEt, thus excluding a presynaptic effect. The postsynaptic effect was underlined by CPCCOEt-induced rise in amplitude of EPSC and by a prolongation of its decay time. Tenascins are extracellular matrix glycoproteins that may restrict the regenerative capacity of the nervous tissue. Testing short-term presynaptic plasticity in tenascin-C-deficient mice showed that CF paired-pulse depression was less expressed while PF paired-pulse facilitation was augmented except in a group of cells where there was even depression. The results underline differences in forms of short-term plasticity with regard to susceptibility to diverse modulatory factors