We outline the construction of metastable de Sitter vacua of type IIB string theory. Our starting point is highly warped IIB compactifications with nontrivial NS and RR three-form fluxes. By incorporating known corrections to the superpotential from Euclidean D-brane instantons or gaugino condensation, one can make models with all moduli fixed, yielding a supersymmetric AdS vacuum. Inclusion of a small number of $\overline{\mathrm{D}3}$-branes in the resulting warped geometry allows one to uplift the AdS minimum and make it a metastable de Sitter ground state. The lifetime of our metastable de Sitter vacua is much greater than the cosmological time scale of ${10}^{10}\mathrm{yr}.$ We also prove, under certain conditions, that the lifetime of dS space in string theory will always be shorter than the recurrence time.

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De Sitter vacua in string theory

This article reviews the generalization of field theory to space-time with noncommuting coordinates, starting with the basics and covering most of the active directions of research. Such theories are now known to emerge from limits of M theory and string theory and to describe quantum Hall states. In the last few years they have been studied intensively, and many qualitatively new phenomena have been discovered, on both the classical and the quantum level.

Noncommutative field theory

Superstring theoryをめぐって(放談室)

Quantum field theory on noncommutative spaces

Generalized complex geometry, as developed by Hitchin, contains complex and symplectic geometry as its extremal special cases. In this thesis, we explore novel phenomena exhibited by this geometry, such as the natural action of a B-field. We provide new examples, including some on manifolds admitting no known complex or symplectic structure. We prove a generalized Darboux theorem which yields a local normal form for the geometry. We show that there is an elliptic deformation theory and establish the existence of a Kuranishi moduli space. 
We then define the concept of a generalized Kahler manifold. We prove that generalized Kahler geometry is equivalent to a bi-Hermitian geometry with torsion first discovered by physicists. We then use this result to solve an outstanding problem in 4-dimensional bi-Hermitian geometry: we prove that there exists a Riemannian metric on the complex projective plane which admits exactly two distinct Hermitian complex structures with equal orientation. 
Finally, we introduce the concept of generalized complex submanifold, and show that such sub-objects correspond to D-branes in the topological A- and B-models of string theory.

Generalized complex geometry

We characterize = 1 vacua of type-II theories in terms of generalized complex structure on the internal manifold M. The structure group of T(M)⊕T*(M) being SU(3) × SU(3) implies the existence of two pure spinors Φ1 and Φ2. The conditions for preserving = 1 supersymmetry turn out to be simple generalizations of equations that have appeared in the context of = 2 and topological strings. They are (d+H∧)Φ1 = 0 and (d+H∧)Φ2 = FRR. The equation for the first pure spinor implies that the internal space is a twisted generalized Calabi-Yau manifold of a hybrid complex-symplectic type, while the RR-fields serve as an integrability defect for the second.

http://ipht.cea.fr/Docspht/articles/t05/079/public/1126-6708_2005_11_020.pdf

Generalized structures of N=1 vacua

We show that the supersymmetry transformations for type II string theories on six-manifolds can be written as differential conditions on a pair of pure spinors, the exponentiated Kahler form eiJ and the holomorphic form Ω. The equations are explicitly symmetric under exchange of the two pure spinors and a choice of even or odd-rank RR field. This is mirror symmetry for manifolds with torsion. Moreover, RR fluxes affect only one of the two equations: eiJ is closed under the action of the twisted exterior derivative in IIA theory, and similarly Ω is closed in IIB. Modulo a different action of the B–field, this means that supersymmetric SU(3)-structure manifolds are all generalized Calabi-Yau manifolds, as defined by Hitchin. An equivalent, and somewhat more conventional, description is given as a set of relations between the components of intrinsic torsions modified by the NS flux and the Clifford products of RR fluxes with pure spinors, allowing for a classification of type II supersymmetric vacua on six-manifolds. We find in particular that supersymmetric six-manifolds are always complex for IIB backgrounds while they are twisted symplectic for IIA.

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Supersymmetric backgrounds from generalized Calabi-Yau manifolds

We perform a systematic search for = 1 Minkowski vacua of type II string theories on compact six-dimensional parallelizable nil- and solvmanifolds (quotients of six-dimensional nilpotent and solvable groups, respectively). Some of these manifolds have appeared in the construction of string backgrounds and are typically called twisted tori. We look for vacua directly in ten dimensions, using the a reformulation of the supersymmetry condition in the framework of generalized complex geometry. Certain algebraic criteria to establish compactness of the manifolds involved are also needed. Although the conditions for preserved = 1 supersymmetry fit nicely in the framework of generalized complex geometry, they are notoriously hard to solve when coupled to the Bianchi identities. We find solutions in a large-volume, constant-dilaton limit. Among these, we identify those that are T-dual to backgrounds of IIB on a conformal T6 with self-dual three-form flux, and hence conceptually not new. For all backgrounds of this type fully localized solutions can be obtained. The other new solutions need multiple intersecting sources (either orientifold planes or combinations of O-planes and D-branes) to satisfy the Bianchi identities; the full list of such new solution is given. These are so far only smeared solutions, and their localization is yet unknown. Although valid in a large-volume limit, they are the first examples of Minkowski vacua in supergravity which are not connected by any duality to a Calabi-Yau. Finally, we discuss a class of flat solvmanifolds that may lead to AdS4 vacua of type IIA strings.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1126-6708/2007/05/031/pdf

A scan for new N = 1 vacua on twisted tori

A single M5-brane probing G, an ADE-type singularity, leads to a system which has G × G global symmetry and can be viewed as “bifundamental” (G, G) matter. For the A
 N
 series, this leads to the usual notion of bifundamental matter. For the other cases it corresponds to a strongly interacting (1, 0) superconformal system in six dimensions. Similarly, an ADE singularity intersecting the Hořava-Witten wall leads to a superconformal matter system with E
 8 × G global symmetry. Using the F-theory realization of these theories, we elucidate the Coulomb/tensor branch of (G, G′) conformal matter. This leads to the notion of fractionalization of an M5-brane on an ADE singularity as well as fractionalization of the intersection point of the ADE singularity with the Hořava-Witten wall. Partial Higgsing of these theories leads to new 6d SCFTs in the infrared, which we also characterize. This generalizes the class of (1, 0) theories which can be perturbatively realized by suspended branes in IIA string theory. By reducing on a circle, we arrive at novel duals for 5d affine quiver theories. Introducing many M5-branes leads to large N gravity duals.

6d Conformal matter

In M-theory, the only AdS7 supersymmetric solutions are AdS7�S 4 and its orbifolds. In this paper, wend and classify new supersymmetric solutions of the type AdS7� M3 in type II supergravity. While in IIB none exist, in IIA with Romans mass (which does not lift to M-theory) there are many new ones. We use a pure spinor approach reminiscent of generalized complex geometry. Without the need for any Ansatz, the system determines uniquely the form of the metric and uxes, up to solving a system of ODEs. Namely, the metric on M3 is that of an S 2 �bered over an interval; this is consistent with the Sp(1) R-symmetry of the holographically dual (1,0) theory. By including D8 brane sources, one can numerically obtain regular solutions, where topologically M3 � S 3 .

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Alessandro Tomasiello

Papers

Generalized structures of N=1 vacua

Supersymmetric backgrounds from generalized Calabi-Yau manifolds

A scan for new N = 1 vacua on twisted tori

6d Conformal matter

All AdS7 solutions of type II supergravity