No Arabic abstract
At low energies, interactions of massless particles in type II strings compactified on a torus $T^d$ are described by an effective Wilsonian action $mathcal{S}(Lambda)$, consisting of the usual supergravity Lagrangian supplemented by an infinite series of higher-derivative vertices, including the much studied $ abla^{4p+6q} mathcal{R}^4$ gravitational interactions. Using recent results on the asymptotics of the integrands governing four-graviton scattering at genus one and two, I determine the $Lambda$-dependence of the coefficient of the above interaction, and show that the logarithmic terms appearing in the limit $Lambdato 0$ are related to UV divergences in supergravity amplitudes, augmented by stringy interactions. This provides a strong consistency check on the expansion of the integrand near the boundaries of moduli space, in particular it elucidates the appearance of odd zeta values in these expansions. I briefly discuss how these logarithms are reflected in non-analytic terms in the low energy expansion of the string scattering amplitude.
We perform a general algebraic analysis on the possibility of realising slow-roll inflation in the moduli sector of string models. This problem turns out to be very closely related to the characterisation of models admitting metastable vacua with non-negative cosmological constant. In fact, we show that the condition for the existence of viable inflationary trajectories is a deformation of the condition for the existence of metastable de Sitter vacua. This condition depends on the ratio between the scale of inflation and the gravitino mass and becomes stronger as this parameter grows. After performing a general study within arbitrary supergravity models, we analyse the implications of our results in several examples. More concretely, in the case of heterotic and orientifold string compactifications on a Calabi-Yau in the large volume limit we show that there may exist fully viable models, allowing both for inflation and stabilisation. Additionally, we show that subleading corrections breaking the no-scale property shared by these models always allow for slow-roll inflation but with an inflationary scale suppressed with respect to the gravitino scale. A scale of inflation larger than the gravitino scale can also be achieved under more restrictive circumstances and only for certain types of compactifications.
This paper considers general features of the derivative expansion of Feynman diagram contributions to the four-graviton scattering amplitude in eleven-dimensional supergravity compactified on a two-torus. These are translated into statements about interactions of the form D^2k R^4 in type II superstring theories, assuming the standard M-theory/string theory duality relationships, which provide powerful constraints on the effective interactions. In the ten-dimensional IIA limit we find that there can be no perturbative contributions beyond k string loops (for k>0). Furthermore, the genus h=k contributions are determined exactly by the one-loop eleven-dimensional supergravity amplitude for all values of k. A plausible interpretation of these observations is that the sum of h-loop Feynman diagrams of maximally extended supergravity is less divergent than might be expected and could be ultraviolet finite in dimensions d < 4 + 6/h -- the same bound as for N=4 Yang--Mills.
We review the question of quantum consistency of N=4 conformal supergravity in 4 dimensions. The UV divergences and anomalies of the standard (minimal) conformal supergravity where the complex scalar $phi$ is not coupled to the Weyl graviton kinetic term can be cancelled by coupling this theory to N=4 super Yang-Mills with gauge group of dimension 4. The same turns out to be true also for the non-minimal N=4 conformal supergravity with the action (recently constructed in arXiv:1609.09083) depending on an arbitrary holomorphic function $f(phi)$. The special case of the non-minimal conformal supergravity with $f= e^{2phi}$ appears in the twistor-string theory. We show that divergences and anomalies do not depend on the form of the function $f$ and thus can be cancelled just as in the minimal $f=1$ case by coupling the theory to four N=4 vector multiplets.
We study string scattering amplitudes by using the deformed cubic string field theory which is equivalent to the string field theory in the proper-time gauge. The four-string scattering amplitudes with three tachyons and an arbitrary string state are calculated. The string field theory yields the string scattering amplitudes evaluated on the world sheet of string scattering whereas the coventional method, based on the first quantized theory brings us the string scattering amplitudes defined on the upper half plane. For the highest spin states, generated by the primary operators, both calculations are in perfect agreement. In this case, the string scattering amplitudes are invariant under the conformal transformation, which maps the string world sheet onto the upper half plane. If the external string states are general massive states, generated by non-primary field operators, we need to take into account carefully the conformal transformation between the world sheet and the upper half plane. We show by an explicit calculation that the string scattering amplitudes calculated by using the deformed cubic string field theory transform into those of the first quantized theory on the upper half plane by the conformal transformation, generated by the Schwarz-Christoffel mapping.
In four spacetime dimensions, all ${cal N} =1$ supergravity-matter systems can be formulated in the so-called $mathsf{U}(1)$ superspace proposed by Howe in 1981. This paper is devoted to the study of those geometric structures which characterise a background $mathsf{U}(1)$ superspace and are important in the context of supersymmetric field theory in curved space. We introduce (conformal) Killing tensor superfields $ell_{(alpha_1 dots alpha_m) ({dot alpha}_1 dots {dot alpha}_n)}$, with $m$ and $n$ non-negative integers, $m+n>0$, and elaborate on their significance in the following cases: (i) $m=n=1$; (ii) $m-1=n=0$; and (iii) $m=n>1$. The (conformal) Killing vector superfields $ell_{alpha dot alpha}$ generate the (conformal) isometries of curved superspace, which are symmetries of every (conformal) supersymmetric field theory. The (conformal) Killing spinor superfields $ell_{alpha }$ generate extended (conformal) supersymmetry transformations. The (conformal) Killing tensor superfields with $m=n>1$ prove to generate all higher symmetries of the (massless) massive Wess-Zumino operator.