Giovanni Villadoro

Script N = 1 effective potential from dual type-IIA D6/O6 orientifolds with general fluxes

We consider = 1 compactifications of the type-IIA theory on the T6/(Z2 × Z2) orbifold and O6 orientifold, in the presence of D6-branes and general NSNS, RR and Scherk-Schwarz geometrical fluxes. Introducing a suitable dual formulation of the theory, we derive and solve the Bianchi identities, and show how certain combinations of fluxes can relax the constraints on D6-brane configurations coming from the cancellation of RR tadpoles. We then compute, via generalized dimensional reduction, the = 1, D = 4 effective potential for the seven main moduli, and comment on the relation with truncated = 4 gaugings. As a byproduct, we obtain a general geometrical expression for the superpotential. We finally identify a family of fluxes, compatible with all Bianchi identities, that perturbatively stabilize all seven moduli in supersymmetric AdS4.

Twisted boundary conditions in lattice simulations

Abstract By imposing twisted boundary conditions on quark fields it is possible to access components of momenta other than integer multiples of 2 π / L on a lattice with spatial volume L 3 . We use chiral perturbation theory to study finite-volume effects with twisted boundary conditions for quantities without final-state interactions, such as meson masses, decay constants and semileptonic form factors, and confirm that they remain exponentially small with the volume. We show that this is also the case for partially twisted boundary conditions, in which (some of) the valence quarks satisfy twisted boundary conditions but the sea quarks satisfy periodic boundary conditions. This observation implies that it is not necessary to generate new gluon configurations for every choice of the twist angle, making the method much more practicable. For K → π π decays we show that the breaking of isospin symmetry by the twisted boundary conditions implies that the amplitudes cannot be determined in general (on this point we disagree with a recent claim).

de Sitter vacua via consistent D terms

We introduce a new mechanism for producing locally stable de Sitter or Minkowski vacua, with spontaneously broken N = 1 supersymmetry and no massless scalars, applicable to superstring and M-theory compactifications with fluxes. We illustrate the mechanism with a simple N = 1 supergravity model that provides parametric control on the sign and the size of the vacuum energy. The crucial ingredient is a gauged U(1) that involves both an axionic shift and an R symmetry, and severely constrains the F- and D-term contributions to the potential.

A measure of de Sitter entropy and eternal inflation

We show that in any model of non-eternal inflation satisfying the null energy condition, the area of the de Sitter horizon increases by at least one Planck unit in each inflationary e-folding. This observation gives an operational meaning to the finiteness of the entropy S_dS of an inflationary de Sitter space eventually exiting into an asymptotically flat region: the asymptotic observer is never able to measure more than e^(S_dS) independent inflationary modes. This suggests a limitation on the amount of de Sitter space outside the horizon that can be consistently described at the semiclassical level, fitting well with other examples of the breakdown of locality in quantum gravity, such as in black hole evaporation. The bound does not hold in models of inflation that violate the null energy condition, such as ghost inflation. This strengthens the case for the thermodynamical interpretation of the bound as conventional black hole thermodynamics also fails in these models, strongly suggesting that these theories are incompatible with basic gravitational principles.

D terms from D-branes, gauge invariance and moduli stabilization in flux compactifications

We elucidate the structure of D terms in = 1 orientifold compactifications with fluxes. As a case study, we consider a simple orbifold of the type-IIA theory with D6-branes at angles, O6-planes and general NSNS, RR and Scherk-Schwarz geometrical fluxes. We examine in detail the emergence of D terms, in their standard supergravity form, from an appropriate limit of the D-brane action. We derive the consistency conditions on gauged symmetries and general fluxes coming from brane-localized Bianchi identities, and their relation with the Freed-Witten anomaly. We extend our results to other = 1 compactifications and to non-geometrical fluxes. Finally, we discuss the possible r?le of U(1) D terms in the stabilization of the untwisted moduli from the closed string sector.

Low scale flavor gauge symmetries

We study the possibility of gauging the Standard Model flavor group. Anomaly cancellation leads to the addition of fermions whose mass is inversely proportional to the known fermion masses. In this case all flavor violating effects turn out to be controlled roughly by the Standard Model Yukawa, suppressing transitions for the light generations. Due to the inverted hierarchy the scale of new gauge flavor bosons could be as low as the electroweak scale without violating any existing bound but accessible at the Tevatron and the LHC. The mechanism of flavor protection potentially provides an alternative to Minimal Flavor Violation, with flavor violating effects suppressed by hierarchy of scales rather than couplings.

The Last Vestiges of Naturalness

A bstractDirect LHC bounds on colored SUSY particles now corner naturalness more than the measured value of the Higgs mass does. Bounds on the gluino are of particular importance, since it radiatively “sucks” up the stop and Higgs-up soft masses. As a result, even models that easily accommodate a 125 GeV Higgs are almost as tuned as the simplest version of SUSY, the MSSM: at best at the percent level. In this paper, we further examine how current LHC results constrain naturalness in three classes of models that may relax LHC bounds on sparticles: split families, baryonic RPV, and Dirac gauginos. In models of split families and bRPV, the bounds on the gluino are only slightly reduced, resulting in a few percent tuning. In particular, having a natural spectrum in bRPV models typically implies that tops, W s, and Zs are easily produced in the cascade decays of squarks and gluinos. The resulting leptons and missing energy push the gluino mass limit above 1 TeV. Even when the gluino has a Dirac mass and does not contribute to the stop mass at one loop, tuning reappears in calculable models because there is no symmetry imposing the supersoft limit. We conclude that, even if sparticles are found at LHC-14, naturalness will not emerge triumphant.

Non-universal minimal Z′ models: present bounds and early LHC reach

We consider non-universal ‘minimal’ Z′ models, whose additional U(1) charge is a non-anomalous linear combination of the weak hypercharge Y, the baryon number B and the partial lepton numbers (Le, Lμ, Lτ), with no exotic fermions beyond three standard families with right-handed neutrinos. We show that the observed pattern of neutrino masses and mixing can be fully reproduced by a gauge-invariant renormalizable Lagrangian, and flavor-changing neutral currents in the charged lepton sector are suppressed by a GIM mechanism. We then discuss the phenomenology of some benchmark models. The electrophilic B − 3Le model is significantly constrained by electroweak precision tests, but still allows to fit the hint of an excess observed by CDF in dielectrons but not in dimuons. The muonphilic B − 3Lμ model is very mildly constrained by electroweak precision tests, so that even the very early phase of the LHC can explore significant areas of parameter space. We also discuss the hadrophobic Lμ − Lτ model, which has recently attracted interest in connection with some puzzling features of cosmic ray spectra.

Type-IIA flux compactifications and N = 4 gauged supergravities

We establish the precise correspondence between Type-IIA flux compactifications preserving an exact or spontaneously broken = 4 supersymmetry in four dimensions, and gaugings of their effective = 4 supergravities. We exhibit the explicit map between fluxes and Bianchi identities in the higher-dimensional theory and generalized structure constants and Jacobi identities in the reduced theory, also detailing the origin of gauge groups embedded at angles in the duality group. We present AdS4 solutions of the massive Type-IIA theory with spontaneous breaking to = 1, at small string coupling and large volume, and discuss their dual CFT3.

No) Eternal inflation and precision Higgs physics

Even if nothing but a light Higgs is observed at the LHC, suggesting that the Standard Model is unmodified up to scales far above the weak scale, Higgs physics can yield surprises of fundamental significance for cosmology. As has long been known, the Standard Model vacuum may be metastable for low enough Higgs mass, but a specific value of the decay rate holds special significance: for a very narrow window of parameters, our Universe has not yet decayed but the current inflationary period can not be future eternal. Determining whether we are in this window requires exquisite but achievable experimental precision, with a measurement of the Higgs mass to 0.1 GeV at the LHC, the top mass to 60 MeV at a linear collider, as well as an improved determination of αs by an order of magnitude on the lattice. If the parameters are observed to lie in this special range, particle physics will establish that the future of our Universe is a global big crunch, without harboring pockets of eternal inflation, strongly suggesting that eternal inflation is censored by the fundamental theory. This conclusion could be drawn even more sharply if metastability with the appropriate decay rate is found in the MSSM, where the physics governing the instability can be directly probed at the TeV scale.