Related papers: The Fall of Stringy de Sitter
We propose, based on the viewpoint that our three-dimensional space is a stack of BPS D3-branes located at the conifold singularity of the Calabi-Yau three-fold, a new mechanism to address the cosmological constant problem in the framework…
String propagation is investigated in de Sitter and black hole backgrounds using both exact and approximative methods. The circular string evolution in de Sitter space is discussed in detail with respect to energy and pressure, mathematical…
We revisit an effective space-time torsion curvature in a second order formalism, underlying the non-linear $U(1)$ gauge dynamics, of a two form on a $D_4$-brane in type IIA superstring theory. The formalism incorporates the significance of…
Motivated by the lack of consensus on whether or not de Sitter (dS) lies in the Swampland, we use a recently developed braneworld construction and known Anti-de Sitter (AdS) vacua to compute an explicit effective dS cosmology in three…
We consider type IIB compactifications on a general 4D group manifold with different types of possible spacetime filling O-planes and the corresponding D-branes parallel to them. Once fluxes allowed by the associated orientifold projection…
In the five-dimensional Einstein gravity with negative cosmological constant in the presence/absence of a {\it non-fine-tuned} 3-brane, we have investigated the classical stability of black string solutions which are foliations of…
In this note, we present a scenario in which the existence of dS vacua is jeopardized by topological transitions between non-BPS branes and fluxes in type IIB toroidal compactifications. We focus our study on a six-dimensional torus…
Type II string theory and M-theory admit flux configurations that break supersymmetry below the Kaluza-Klein scale. These backgrounds play a central role in most models of the string landscape. I argue that the behavior of such backgrounds…
In this note, we study D-brane instantons which intersect N=1 supersymmetric configurations of space-filling D-branes in general Calabi-Yau compactifications of type IIB string theory. Our focus is on rigid ``stringy instantons'' -- those…
We give examples of string compactifications to 4d Minkowski space with different amounts of supersymmetry that can be connected by spherical domain walls. The tension of these domain walls is tunably lower than the 4d Planck scale. The…
We consider a five-dimensional theory with a scalar field non-minimally-coupled to gravity, and we look for novel black-string solutions in the bulk. By appropriately choosing the non-minimal coupling function of the scalar field, we…
I discuss conceptual issues associated with the presence of metastable AdS vacua in the string landscape. The geometry of the decay from one AdS to another is presented in detail, and various subtleties that are not present for flat or dS…
The Romans type IIA supergravity allows fundamental strings to have explicit mass term at the tree level. We show that there exists a (F1,D2,D8) brane configuration which gives rise to $Lif_4^{(2)}\times {R}^1\times S^5$ vacua supported by…
A while ago, examples of N=1 vacua in D=6 were constructed as orientifolds of Type IIB string theory compactified on the K3 surface. Among the interesting features of those models was the presence of D5-branes behaving like small…
With no free parameter (except the string scale $M_S$), dynamical flux compactification in Type IIB string theory determines both the cosmological constant (vacuum energy density) $\Lambda$ and the Planck mass $M_P$ in terms of $M_S$, thus…
Recent results on classical and quantum strings in a variety of black hole and cosmological spacetimes, in various dimensions, are presented. The curved backgrounds under consideration include the $2+1$ black hole anti de Sitter spacetime…
We study properties of flux vacua in type IIB string theory in several simple but illustrative models. We initiate the study of the relative frequencies of vacua with vanishing superpotential W=0 and with certain discrete symmetries. For…
We consider compactifications of M-theory and type IIA string theory to four dimensions. For Minkowski space-time, a supergravity no-go theorem forbids flux supported in the internal space. We show how to evade this no-go theorem by…
The perturbative vacuum of type 0 string theory is unstable due to the existence of the closed string tachyon. This instability can be removed by S^1 compactification with twisted boundary condition for the tachyon field. We show that even…
In hep-th/0703135, they have found the type IIA intersecting brane configuration where there exist three NS5-branes, D4-branes and anti-D4-branes. By analyzing the gravitational interaction for the D4-branes in the background of the…