Paul McGuirk

Non-supersymmetric infrared perturbations to the warped deformed conifold

Abstract We analyze properties of non-supersymmetric, isometry-preserving perturbations to the infrared region of the warped deformed conifold, i.e. the Klebanov–Strassler solution. We discuss both perturbations that “squash” the geometry, so that the internal space is no longer conformally Calabi–Yau, and perturbations that do not squash the geometry. Among the perturbations that we discuss is the solution that describes the linearized near-tip backreaction of a smeared collection of D 3 ¯ -branes positioned in the deep infrared. Such a configuration is a candidate gravity dual of a non-supersymmetric state in a large-rank cascading gauge theory. Although D 3 ¯ -branes do not directly couple to the 3-form flux, we argue that, due to the presence of the background imaginary self-dual flux, D 3 ¯ -branes in the Klebanov–Strassler geometry necessarily produce singular non-imaginary self-dual flux. Moreover, since conformally Calabi–Yau geometries cannot be supported by non-imaginary self-dual flux, the D 3 ¯ -branes squash the geometry as our explicit solution shows. We also briefly discuss supersymmetry-breaking perturbations at large radii and the effect of the non-supersymmetric perturbations on the gravitino mass.

Aligned Natural Inflation in String Theory

The authors discuss type IIB string theory realizations of Kim-Nilles-Peloso (KNP) multiple axion inflation, which provides a super-Planckian effective axion decay constant, necessary for UV stable realistic slow roll inflation.

Open string wavefunctions in warped compactifications

We analyze the wavefunctions for open strings in warped compactifications, and compute the warped Kahler potential for the light modes of a probe D-brane. This analysis not only applies to the dynamics of D-branes in warped backgrounds, but also allows to deduce warping corrections to the closed string Kahler metrics via their couplings to open strings. We consider in particular the spectrum of D7-branes in warped Calabi-Yau orientifolds, which provide a string theory realizations of the Randall-Sundrum scenario. We find that certain background fluxes, necessary in the presence of warping, couple to the fermionic wavefunctions and qualitatively change their behavior. This modified dependence of the wavefunctions are needed for consistency with supersymmetry, though it is present in non-supersymmetric vacua as well. We discuss the deviations of our setup from the RS scenario and, as an application of our results, compute the warping corrections to Yukawa couplings in a simple model. Our analysis is performed both with and without the presence of D-brane world-volume flux, as well as for the case of backgrounds with varying dilaton.

Chiral matter wavefunctions in warped compactifications

We analyze the wavefunctions for open strings stretching between intersecting 7-branes in type IIB/F-theory warped compactifications, as a first step in understanding the warped effective field theory of 4d chiral fermions. While in general the equations of motion do not seem to admit a simple analytic solution, we provide a method for solving the wavefunctions in the case of weak warping. The method describes warped zero modes as a perturbative expansion in the unwarped spectrum, the coefficients of the expansion depending on the warping. We perform our analysis with and without the presence of worldvolume fluxes, illustrating the procedure with some examples. Finally, we comment on the warped effective field theory for the modes at the intersection.

Soft branes in supersymmetry-breaking backgrounds

A bstractWe revisit the analysis of effective field theories resulting from nonsupersymmetric perturbations to supersymmetric flux compactifications of the type-IIB superstring with an eye towards those resulting from the backreaction of a small number of

Heavy tails in Calabi-Yau moduli spaces

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Hidden-sector current-current correlators in holographic gauge mediation

-branes. Independently of the background, we show that the low-energy Lagrangian describing the fluctuations of a stack of probe D3-branes exhibits soft supersymmetry breaking, despite perturbations to marginal operators that were not fully considered in some previous treatments. We take this as an indication that the breaking of supersymmetry by

Falling flavors in AdS/CFT

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On chiral mesons in AdS/CFT

-branes or other sources may be spontaneous rather than explicit. In support of this, we consider the action of an

DNA knots reveal a chiral organization of DNA in phage capsids

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