Related papers: An update on moduli stabilization with antibrane u…
In SO(32) heterotic string theory, the space-time at the core of N coincident NS-fivebranes is an infinite throat, R x S^3. As shown by Witten, the throat signals a singularity in the usual heterotic string conformal field theory and a…
Previous work on DBI inflation, which achieves inflation through the motion of a $D3$ brane as it moves through a warped throat compactification, has focused on the region far from the tip of the throat. Since reheating and other observable…
We study moduli stabilization and a realization of de Sitter vacua in generalized F-term uplifting scenarios of the KKLT-type anti-de Sitter vacuum, where the uplifting sector X directly couples to the light K\"ahler modulus T in the…
We argue that effective actions for warped compactifications can be subtle, with large deviations in the effective potential from naive expectations owing to constraint equations from the higher-dimensional metric. We demonstrate this…
The KKLT construction of de Sitter vacua includes an uplifting term coming from an anti-D3-brane. Here we show how this term can arise via spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry, based on the emergence of a nilpotent chiral supermultiplet on…
We study the mediation of supersymmetry breaking in string compactifications whose moduli are stabilized by nonperturbative effects. We begin with a critical review of arguments for sequestering in supergravity and in string theory. We then…
In the orbifold limit of K3, one can give exact conformal field theory description of D-branes wrapped on certain non-supersymmetric cycles of K3. We study the effect of switching on the `non-geometric blow up modes' corresponding to…
We consider $\alpha'^2$ curvature corrections to the action of an NS5-brane which plays the key role in the metastability analysis of warped anti-D3-brane uplifts by Kachru, Pearson and Verlinde (KPV). Such corrections can dramatically…
We show that the large $N$ limit of certain conformal field theories in various dimensions include in their Hilbert space a sector describing supergravity on the product of Anti-deSitter spacetimes, spheres and other compact manifolds. This…
We propose a mechanism of reheating after inflation in multi-throat scenarios of warped extra dimensions. Validity of an effective field theory on the standard model (SM) brane requires that the position of the SM brane during inflation be…
An interesting feature of type IIB flux compactifications is the natural presence of strongly warped regions or `throats'. These regions allow for a 5d Randall-Sundrum model interpretation with a large hierarchy between the UV and IR brane.…
We discuss various realizations of the four dimensional braneworld inflation in warped geometries of string theory. In all models the inflaton field is represented by a Dp probe brane scalar specifying its position in the warped throat of…
We study a supersymmetry breaking deformation of the M-theory background found in arXiv:hep-th/0012011. The supersymmetric solution is a warped product of R^{2,1} and the 8-dimensional Stenzel space, which is a higher dimensional…
We study supersymmetry breaking by Scherk-Schwarz compactifications in type I string theory. While in the gravitational sector all mass splittings are proportional to a (large) compactification radius, supersymmetry remains unbroken for the…
We study D-branes on Calabi-Yau manifolds, carrying charges which are torsion elements of the K-theory. Interesting physics ensues when we follow these branes into nongeometrical phases of the compactification. On the level of K-theory, we…
We investigate the dynamical stability of warped, axially symmetric compactifications in anomaly free 6D gauged supergravity. The solutions have conical defects, which we source by 3-branes placed on orbifold fixed points, and a smooth…
We extend previous results on generalized calibrations to describe supersymmetric branes in supergravity backgrounds with diverse fields turned on, and provide several new classes of examples. As an important application, we show that…
We derive constraints on the tensor to scalar ratio and on the background charge of the warped throat for DBI inflation driven by D5- and D7-branes wrapped over cycles of the throat. It is shown that the background charge well beyond the…
In this paper we find examples of moduli stabilization and runaway behavior which can be treated exactly. This is shown for supersymmetric field theories which can be realized on the world volume of D-branes. From a geometric point of view,…
Dark radiation is a compelling extension to $\Lambda$CDM: current experimental results hint at $\Delta N_{\rm eff} \gtrsim 0.5$, which is increased to $\Delta N_{\rm eff} \simeq 1$ if the recent BICEP2 results are included. In recent years…