We present a mechanism for accelerated expansion of the universe in the generic case of negative-curvature compactifications of M-theory, with minimal ingredients. M-theory on a hyperbolic manifold with small closed geodesics supporting Casimir energ
y -- along with a single classical source (7-form flux) -- contains an immediate 3-term structure for volume stabilization at positive potential energy. Hyperbolic manifolds are well-studied mathematically, with an important rigidity property at fixed volume. They and their Dehn fillings to more general Einstein spaces exhibit explicit discrete parameters that yield small closed geodesics supporting Casimir energy. The off-shell effective potential derived by M. Douglas incorporates the warped product structure via the constraints of general relativity, screening negative energy. Analyzing the fields sourced by the localized Casimir energy and the available discrete choices of manifolds and fluxes, we find a regime where the net curvature, Casimir energy, and flux compete at large radius and stabilize the volume. Further metric and form field deformations are highly constrained by hyperbolic rigidity and warping effects, leading to calculations giving strong indications of a positive Hessian, and residual tadpoles are small. We test this via explicit back reacted solutions and perturbations in patches including the Dehn filling regions, initiate a neural network study of further aspects of the internal fields, and derive a Maldacena-Nunez style no-go theorem for Anti-de Sitter extrema. A simple generalization incorporating 4-form flux produces axion monodromy inflation. As a relatively simple de Sitter uplift of the large-N M2-brane theory, the construction applies to de Sitter holography as well as to cosmological modeling, and introduces new connections between mathematics and the physics of string/M theory compactifications.
In a broad class of gravity theories, the equations of motion for vacuum compactifications give a curvature bound on the Ricci tensor minus a multiple of the Hessian of the warping function. Using results in so-called Bakry--Emery geometry, we put ri
gorous general bounds on the KK scale in gravity compactifications in terms of the reduced Planck mass or the internal diameter. We reexamine in this light the local behavior in type IIA for the class of supersymmetric solutions most promising for scale separation. We find that the local O6-plane behavior cannot be smoothed out as in other local examples; it generically turns into a formal partially smeared O4.
Computational complexity is a new quantum information concept that may play an important role in holography and in understanding the physics of the black hole interior. We consider quantum computational complexity for $n$ qubits using Nielsens geomet
rical approach. We investigate a choice of penalties which, compared to previous definitions, increases in a more progressive way with the number of qubits simultaneously entangled by a given operation. This choice turns out to be free from singularities. We also analyze the relation between operator and state complexities, framing the discussion with the language of Riemannian submersions. This provides a direct relation between geodesics and curvatures in the unitaries and the states spaces, which we also exploit to give a closed-form expression for the metric on the states in terms of the one for the operators. Finally, we study conjugate points for a large number of qubits in the unitary space and we provide a strong indication that maximal complexity scales exponentially with the number of qubits in a certain regime of the penalties space.
We analyze the stability of four-dimensional de Sitter vacua constructed by compactifying massive Type IIA supergravity in the presence of two O8 sources [1]. When embedded in String Theory the first source has a clear interpretation as an O8$_-$ pla
ne, but the second one could correspond to either an O8$_+$ plane or to an O8$_-$ plane with 16 D8-branes on top. We find that this latter solution has a tachyonic instability, corresponding to the D8-branes moving away from the O8$_-$ plane. We comment on the possible ways of distinguishing between these sources.
AdS$_7$ supersymmetric solutions in type IIA have been classified, and they are infinitely many. Moreover, every such solution has a non-supersymmetric sister. In this paper, we study the perturbative and non-perturbative stability of these non-super
symmetric solutions, focusing on cases without orientifolds. Perturbatively, we first look at the KK spectrum of spin-2 excitations. This does not exhibit instabilities, but it does show that there is no separation of scales for either the BPS and the non-BPS case, thus proving for supersymmetric AdS$_7$ a well-known recent conjecture. We then use 7d gauged supergravity and a brane polarization computation to access part of the spectrum of KK scalars. The result signals an instability for all non-supersymmetric solutions except those that have a single D8 on each side. We finally look at non-perturbative instabilities, and find that NS5 bubbles make these remaining solutions decay.
In previous work, we found ten-dimensional solutions to the supergravity equations of motion with a dS$_4$ factor and O8-planes. We generalize this analysis and obtain other solutions in the same spirit, with an O8$_+$ and an O6$_-$. We examine our o
riginal solutions in more detail, focusing in particular on the O8$_-$ singularities and on the issues created by their boundary conditions. We also point out some previously known supersymmetric AdS solutions with the same local behavior at their O8$_-$ singularity.
We find four-dimensional de Sitter compactifications of type IIA supergravity by directly solving the ten-dimensional equations of motion. In the simplest examples, the internal space has the topology of a circle times an Einstein manifold of negativ
e curvature. An orientifold acts on the circle with two fixed loci, at which an O8$_-$ and an O8$_+$ plane sit. These orientifold planes are fully backreacted and localized. While the solutions are numerical, the charge and tension of the orientifold planes can be verified analytically. Our solutions have moduli at tree level and can be made parametrically weakly-coupled and weakly-curved. Their fate in string theory depends on quantum corrections.
We find non-supersymmetric AdS$_8$ solutions of type IIA supergravity. The internal space is topologically an $S^2$ with a U(1) isometry. The only non-zero flux is $F_0$; an O8 sourcing it is present at the equator of the $S^2$. The warping function
and dilaton are non-constant. It is also possible to add D8-branes on top of the O8. Possible destabilizing brane bubbles (whose presence would be suggested by the weak-gravity conjecture) are either absent or collapsing. Our solutions are candidate holographic duals to unitary interacting CFTs in seven dimensions with exceptional global symmetry. We also present analogous non-supersymmetric AdS$_{d}$ solutions for general $d$ which are supported only by $F_0$.
A notable class of superconformal theories (SCFTs) in six dimensions is parameterized by an integer $N$, an ADE group $G$, and two nilpotent elements $mu_mathrm{L,R}$ in $G$. Nilpotent elements have a natural partial ordering, which has been conjectu
red to coincide with the hierarchy of renormalization-group flows among the SCFTs. In this paper we test this conjecture for $G=mathrm{SU}(k)$, where AdS$_7$ duals exist in IIA. We work with a seven-dimensional gauged supergravity, consisting of the gravity multiplet and two $mathrm{SU}(k)$ non-Abelian vector multiplets. We show that this theory has many supersymmetric AdS$_7$ vacua, determined by two nilpotent elements, which are naturally interpreted as IIA AdS$_7$ solutions. The BPS equations for domain walls connecting two such vacua can be solved analytically, up to a Nahm equation with certain boundary conditions. The latter admit a solution connecting two vacua if and only if the corresponding nilpotent elements are related by the natural partial ordering, in agreement with the field theory conjecture.
The geometry of the ${cal N} = 3$, SO(4)--invariant, AdS$_4$ solution of massive type IIA supergravity that uplifts from the ${cal N} = 3 $ vacuum of $D=4$ ${cal N} = 8$ dyonic ISO(7) supergravity is investigated. Firstly, a $D=4$, SO(4)--invariant r
estricted duality hierarchy is constructed and used to uplift the entire, dynamical SO(4)--invariant sector to massive type IIA. The resulting consistent uplift formulae are used to obtain a new local expression for the ${cal N} = 3 $ AdS$_4$ solution in massive IIA and analyse its geometry. Locally, the internal $S^6$ geometry corresponds to a warped fibration of $S^2$ and a hemisphere of $S^4$. This can be regarded as a warped generalisation of the usual twistor fibration geometry. Finally, the triplet of Killing spinors corresponding to the ${cal N}=3$ solution are constructed and shown to obey the massive type IIA Killing spinor equations.
