Related papers: On the Stability of String Theory Vacua
We find de Sitter and flat space solutions with all moduli stabilized in four dimensional supergravity theories derived from the heterotic and type II string theories, and explain how all the previously known obstacles to finding such…
We study gauge theories which are associated with classical vacua of perturbative Type II string theory that allows for a conformal field theory description. We show that even if we compactify seven spatial dimensions (allowing for one…
We analyse geometric type IIA flux compactifications leading to N=4 gauged supergravities in four dimensions. The complete landscape of isotropic vacua is presented, which turns out to belong to a unique theory. The solutions admit an…
It has been recently argued that an embedding of the SM into a consistent theory of quantum gravity may imply important constraints on the mass of the lightest neutrino and the cosmological constant $\Lambda_{4}$. The constraints come from…
The scalar potential of recombination fields of magnetized branes in Type IIB orientifold compactifications is analyzed in the absence of any closed string fluxes. Considering its perturbative F and D-term contributions in a quadratic…
We revisit the problem of stability of string vacua involving hyperbolic orbifolds using methods from homotopy theory and K-homology. We propose a definition of Type II string theory on such backgrounds that further carry stratified systems…
Negative mass brane-like objects known as orientifolds are crucial in the construction of all presently understood realistic string compactifications and I review in general the link between negative energy objects and the existence of a…
We revisit the possibility of de Sitter vacua and slow-roll inflation in type II string theory at the level of the classical two-derivative supergravity approximation. Previous attempts at explicit constructions were plagued by ubiquitous…
Flux compactifications of IIA supergravity on orientifolded G$_2$-manifolds have been argued to allow for classical Minkowski$_3$ vacua with moduli and scale-separated AdS$_3$ vacua with full moduli stabilisation. To further uplift these…
We study the restrictions imposed by cancellation of the tadpoles for two, three, and four-form gauge fields in string theory, M-theory and F-theory compactified to two, three and four dimensions, respectively. For a large class of…
We discuss two types of instabilities which may arise in string theory compactified to asymptotically AdS spaces: perturbative, due to discrete modes in the spectrum of the Laplacian, and non-perturbative, due to brane nucleation. In the…
We classify the non-supersymmetric, and perturbatively stable within $D=4$, AdS vacua of maximal $D=4$ supergravity with a dyonic ISO(7) gauging in a large sector of the supergravity. Seven such vacua are established within this sector, all…
We construct configurations of NS-, D4-, and D6-branes in type IIA string theory, realizing the recently discussed non-supersymmetric meta-stable minimum of 4d N=1 SU(N_c) super-Yang-Mills theories with massive flavors. We discuss their…
We review some of the features of Type IIA compactifications in the presence of fluxes. In particular, the case of $T^6/(\Omega (-1)^{F_L} \sigma)$ orientifolds with RR, NS and metric fluxes is considered. This has revealed to possess…
After a short introduction to Matrix theory, we explain how can one generalize matrix models to describe toroidal compactifications of M-theory and the heterotic vacua with 16 supercharges. This allows us, for the first time in history, to…
String theory has few or no stable nonsupersymmetric or de Sitter vacua, only metastable ones. Antibranes are a simple source of supersymmetry breaking, as in the KKLT model, but various arguments have been given that these fail to produce…
The search for classically stable Type IIA de-Sitter vacua typically starts with an ansatz that gives Anti-de-Sitter supersymmetric vacua and then raises the cosmological constant by modifying the compactification. As one raises the…
We derive new consistency conditions for string compactifications with generic fluxes (RR, NSNS, geometrical) and localized sources (D-branes, NS-branes, KK-monopoles). The constraints are all related by string dualities and share a common…
We discuss a novel strategy to construct 4D N=0 stable flux vacua of type II string theory, based on the existence of BPS bounds for probe D-branes in some of these backgrounds. In particular, we consider compactifications where D-branes…
We consider known examples of non-supersymmetric AdS$_7$ and AdS$_4$ solutions arising from compactifications of massive type IIA supergravity and study their stability, taking into account the coupling between closed- and open-string…