Hybrid inflation and waterfall field in string theory from D7-branes

We present an explicit string realisation of a cosmological inflationary scenario we proposed recently within the framework of type IIB flux compactifications in the presence of three magnetised D7-brane stacks. Inflation takes place around a metastable de Sitter vacuum. The inflaton is identified with the volume modulus and has a potential with a very shallow minimum near the maximum. Inflation ends due to the presence of “waterfall” fields that drive the evolution of the Universe from a nearby saddle point towards a global minimum with tuneable vacuum energy describing the present state of our Universe.

A new de Sitter solution with a weakly warped deformed conifold

We revisit moduli stabilisation for type IIB flux compactifications that include a warped throat region corresponding to a warped deformed conifold, with an anti-D3-brane sitting at its tip. The warping induces a coupling between the conifold’s deformation modulus and the bulk volume modulus in the Kähler potential. Previous works have studied the scalar potential assuming a strong warping such that this coupling term dominates, and found that the anti-D3-brane uplift may destabilise the conifold modulus and/or volume modulus, unless flux numbers within the throat are large, which makes tadpole cancellation a challenge. We explore the regime of parameter space corresponding to a weakly-but-still warped throat, such that the coupling between the conifold and volume moduli is subdominant. We thus discover a new metastable de Sitter solution within the four-dimensional effective field theory. We discuss the position of this de Sitter vacuum in the string theory landscape and swampland.

Regular electrically charged objects in Nonlinear Electrodynamics coupled to Gravity

We present a brief review of the basic properties of regular electrically charged black holes and electromagnetic solitons, predicted by analysis of regular solutions to dynamical equations of Nonlinear Electrodynamics minimally coupled to Gravity (NED-GR). The fundamental generic feature of regular NED-GR objects is the de Sitter vacuum interiors and the relation of their masses to spacetime symmetry breaking from the de Sitter group. Regular spinning NED-GR objects have interior de Sitter vacuum disk with the properties of a perfect conductor and ideal diamagnetic. The disk is confined by the ring with the superconducting current which provides the non-dissipative source of the electromagnetic fields and of the intrinsic magnetic momentum.

Resolving spacetime singularities in flux compactifications & KKLT

In flux compactifications of type IIB string theory with D3 and seven-branes, the negative induced D3 charge localized on seven-branes leads to an apparently pathological profile of the metric sufficiently close to the source. With the volume modulus stabilized in a KKLT de Sitter vacuum this pathological region takes over a significant part of the entire compactification, threatening to spoil the KKLT effective field theory. In this paper we employ the Seiberg-Witten solution of pure SU(N) super Yang-Mills theory to argue that wrapped seven-branes can be thought of as bound states of more microscopic exotic branes. We argue that the low-energy worldvolume dynamics of a stack of n such exotic branes is given by the (A1, An−1) Argyres-Douglas theory. Moreover, the splitting of the perturbative (in α′) seven-brane into its constituent branes at the non-perturbative level resolves the apparently pathological region close to the seven-brane and replaces it with a region of $$ \mathcal{O} $$ O (1) Einstein frame volume. While this region generically takes up an $$ \mathcal{O} $$ O (1) fraction of the compactification in a KKLT de Sitter vacuum we argue that a small flux superpotential dynamically ensures that the 4d effective field theory of KKLT remains valid nevertheless.

Image of the Electron Suggested by Nonlinear Electrodynamics Coupled to Gravity

We present a systematic review of the basic features that were adopted for different electron models and show, in a brief overview, that, for electromagnetic spinning solitons in nonlinear electrodynamics minimally coupled to gravity (NED-GR), all of these features follow directly from NED-GR dynamical equations as model-independent generic features. Regular spherically symmetric solutions of NED-GR equations that describe electrically charged objects have obligatory de Sitter center due to the algebraic structure of stress–energy tensors for electromagnetic fields. By the Gürses-Gürsey formalism, which includes the Newman–Janis algorithm, they are transformed to axially symmetric solutions that describe regular spinning objects asymptotically Kerr–Newman for a distant observer, with the gyromagnetic ratio g=2. Their masses are determined by the electromagnetic density, related to the interior de Sitter vacuum and to the breaking of spacetime symmetry from the de Sitter group. De Sitter center transforms to the de Sitter vacuum disk, which has properties of a perfect conductor and ideal diamagnetic. The ring singularity of the Kerr–Newman geometry is replaced with the superconducting current, which serves as the non-dissipative source for exterior fields and source of the intrinsic magnetic momentum for any electrically charged spinning NED-GR object. Electromagnetic spinning soliton with the electron parameters can shed some light on appearance of a minimal length scale in the annihilation reaction e+e−→γγ(γ).

$$\alpha $$-attractors from supersymmetry breaking

We construct new models of inflation and spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in de Sitter vacuum, with a single chiral superfield, where inflaton is the superpartner of the goldstino. Our approach is based on hyperbolic Kähler geometry, and a gauged (non-axionic) $$U(1)_R$$ U ( 1 ) R symmetry rotating the chiral scalar field by a phase. The $$U(1)_R$$ U ( 1 ) R gauge field combines with the angular component of the chiral scalar to form a massive vector, and single-field inflation is driven by the radial part of the scalar. We find that in a certain parameter range they can be approximated by simplest Starobinsky-like (E-model) $$\alpha $$ α -attractors, thus predicting $$n_s$$ n s and r within $$1\sigma $$ 1 σ CMB constraints. Supersymmetry (and R-symmetry) is broken at a high scale with the gravitino mass $$m_{3/2} > rsim 10^{14}$$ m 3 / 2 ≳ 10 14 GeV, and the fermionic sector also includes a heavy spin-1/2 field. In all the considered cases the inflaton is the lightest field of the model.

Inflation near a metastable de Sitter vacuum from moduli stabilisation

We study the cosmological properties of a metastable de Sitter vacuum obtained recently in the framework of type IIB flux compactifications in the presence of three D7-brane stacks, based on perturbative quantum corrections at both world-sheet and string loop level that are dominant at large volume and weak coupling. In the simplest case, the model has one effective parameter controlling the shape of the potential of the inflaton which is identified with the volume modulus. The model provides a phenomenological successful small-field inflation for a value of the parameter that makes the minimum very shallow and near the maximum. The horizon exit is close to the inflection point while most of the required e-folds of the Universe expansion are generated near the minimum, with a prediction for the ratio of tensor-to-scalar primordial fluctuations $$r\simeq 4\times 10^{-4}$$ r ≃ 4 × 10 - 4 . Despite its shallowness, the minimum turns out to be practically stable. We show that it can decay only through the Hawking–Moss instanton leading to an extremely long decay rate. Obviously, in order to end inflation and obtain a realistic model, new low-energy physics is needed around the minimum, at intermediate energy scales of order $$10^{12}$$ 10 12 GeV. An attractive possibility is by introducing a “waterfall” field within the framework of hybrid inflation.

The Higgs Mechanism and Spacetime Symmetry

In this review, we summarize the results of the analysis of the inherent relation between the Higgs mechanism and spacetime symmetry provided by generic incorporation of the de Sitter vacuum as a false vacuum with the equation of state p=−ρ. This relation has been verified by the application for the interpretation of the experimental results on the negative mass squares for neutrinos, and of the appearance of the minimal length in the annihilation reaction e+e−→γγ(γ). An additional verification is expected for the dark matter candidates with the interior de Sitter vacuum of the GUT scale, whose predicted observational signatures include the induced proton decay in the matter of an underground detector, such as IceCUBE.

The Fundamental Roles of the de Sitter Vacuum

We overview the fundamental roles of the de Sitter vacuum in cosmology where it is responsible for powering the early inflationary stage(s) and the present accelerated expansion, in black hole physics where it provides the existence of a wide class of regular black holes and self-gravitating solitons replacing naked singularities, and in particle physics where it ensures the intrinsic relation of the Higgs mechanism with gravity and spacetime symmetry breaking.

Dark Matter Candidates with Dark Energy Interiors Determined by Energy Conditions

We outline the basic properties of regular black holes, their remnants and self-gravitating solitons G-lumps with the de Sitter and phantom interiors, which can be considered as heavy dark matter (DM) candidates generically related to a dark energy (DE). They are specified by the condition T t t = T r r and described by regular solutions of the Kerr-Shild class. Solutions for spinning objects can be obtained from spherical solutions by the Newman-Janis algorithm. Basic feature of all spinning objects is the existence of the equatorial de Sitter vacuum disk in their deep interiors. Energy conditions distinguish two types of their interiors, preserving or violating the weak energy condition dependently on violation or satisfaction of the energy dominance condition for original spherical solutions. For the 2-nd type the weak energy condition is violated and the interior contains the phantom energy confined by an additional de Sitter vacuum surface. For spinning solitons G-lumps a phantom energy is not screened by horizons and influences their observational signatures, providing a source of information about the scale and properties of a phantom energy. Regular BH remnants and G-lumps can form graviatoms binding electrically charged particles. Their observational signature is the electromagnetic radiation with the frequencies depending on the energy scale of the interior de Sitter vacuum within the range available for observations. A nontrivial observational signature of all DM candidates with de Sitter interiors predicted by analysis of dynamical equations is the induced proton decay in an underground detector like IceCUBE, due to non-conservation of baryon and lepton numbers in their GUT scale false vacuum interiors.