Anomaly-free supergravity theories remain anomaly-free after dimensional reduction

We show that the anomaly after compactification of a supergravity theory coupled to Yang-Mills matter is usually given by an integral of the original anomaly over the compact space, as long as there are no isometries for the compact space. This means that a supergravity theory, whose anomaly vanishes identically (i.e., without the addition of local counter terms to the action), will remain anomaly-free after compactification to any lower dimension, subject to some restrictions on self-dual antisymmetric tensors. We next consider the case where the original anomaly cancels by the Green-Schwarz mechanism. In this case, again subject to the restrictions on self-dual antisymmetric tensors, the anomaly will still cancel after compactification to any lower dimension D > 2, provided that: (1) There are no U(1) gauge groups after compactification. (2) There exists a three-form field strength H such that dH = (TrR₀² + kTrF₀²), or that the compact space is chosen such that (TrR₀² + kTrF₀²) = 0.     

Vector field effective action in the open superstring theory

Using a path integral technique we find a closed expression (to all orders in α′) for the abelian, constant field strenght limit of the (tree) effective action for the massless vector field in the open superstring theory. The result is a modification of the Born-Infeld action found in the Bose string theory case. One-loop correction to the effective action is computed and shown to be finite if the gauge group is SO(32). It is demonstrated how the on-shell superstring scattering amplitudes can be calculated in the path-integral approach. We determine the leading (O(α') and O(α′²)) terms in the full non-abelian effective action starting from the known results for the 3-point and 4-point amplitudes. We find that because of the equivalence theorem the coefficients of some of the invariant structures in the effective lagrangian cannot be fixed from the S-matrix. In the path integral approach this ambiguity manifests itself as a 2d renormalization scheme (and Weyl gauge choice) ambiguity. We also discuss the leading terms in the gravitational effective actions in the closed (super) string theories and point out that whether or not the R² terms form the “Gauss-Bonnet” combination depends on choice of a renormalization (massless exchange subtraction) scheme.     

Anomaly cancelling terms from the elliptic genus

We calculate the heterotic string one-loop diagram in 2n + 2 dimensions with one external B_μν and n external gravitons and/or gauge bosons. The result is a modular integral over the weight zero terms of the character valued partition function (or elliptic genus) of the theory, and can be directly expressed in terms of the factor which multiplies TrF² − TrR² in the field theory anomaly. The integrands have a non-trivial dependence on the modular parameter τ, reflecting contributions not only from the physical massless states but also from an infinity of “unphysical” modes. Some of them are identical to integrands which have been discussed recently in relation with Atkin-Lehner symmetry and the cosmological constant. As a corollary we find a method to compute these integrals without using Atkin-Lehner transformations.     

Catoptric tadpoles

Fermionic string perturbation theory is known to suffer from an ambiguity in the form of a total derivative in the moduli space. For a class of backgrounds (including R¹⁰, orbifolds and theories with no U(1) factors in gauge group) we show that these ambiguities for the partition function of heterotic string theory at any genus are proportional to massless physical tadpoles in the theory at lower genera and hence vanish in stable vacua. We also find that in R¹⁰ the cosmological constant at a given genus is proportional to the cosmological constant at lower genera. This enables us to give an inductive argument for the vanishing of the cosmological constant in R¹⁰ to all orders in string perturbation theory. We also address the ambiguity and finiteness of n-point functions. Our results indicate that in R¹⁰ the ambiguity can be absorbed by a renormalization of the string coupling constant and the string tension. The expected sources of divergence in the n-point function in arbitrary tachyon-free backgrounds, besides the usual infrared divergences for d ≤ 4, are shown to be proportional to tadpoles of physical massless fields. For type II strings in arbitrary backgrounds, we show by explicit calculations that the ambiguity vanishes at g = 2.     

Einstein–Maxwell gravity with additional corrections

Motivated by the E ₈×E ₈ heterotic string theory, we obtain topological black hole solutions of Einstein–Maxwell gravity with additional corrections. We consider the Gauss–Bonnet (GB) and (F _μν F ^μν )² terms as an effective quartic order Lagrangian of gauge–gravity coupling and investigate geometric and thermodynamic properties of the black hole solutions. We also analyze the effects of the GB term as well as the correction of Maxwell field on the properties of the solutions.     

A possibility of asymptotic freedom without non-Abelian gauge theories

We discuss solutions of the renormalization group equations for a Yukawa field theory. For an increasing effective boson mass we find that the leading terms in the vertex functions in the high-energy region are given by diagrams which contain no internal boson lines. In e⁺e^? annihilation into hadrons we get the parton model formula R(s) = Σ_iQ_i², whereas in the deep inelastic e^?p scattering the simple parton model behaviour is modified by the (in general) non-canonical dimension of the quark field.     

Instanton strings and hyper-Kähler geometry

We discuss two-dimensional sigma models on moduli spaces of instantons on K3 surfaces. These N = (4, 4) superconformal field theories describe the near-horizon dynamics of the D1-D5-brane system and are dual to string theory on AdS³. We derive a precise map relating the moduli of the K3 type 1113 string compactification to the moduli of these conformal field theories and the corresponding classical hyper-Kahler geometry. We conclude that in the absence of background gauge fields, the metric on the instanton moduli spaces degenerates exactly to the orbifold symmetric product of K3. Turning on a self-dual NS B-field deforms this symmetric product to a manifold that is diffeomorphic to the Hilbert scheme. We also comment on the mathematical applications of string duality to the global issues of deformations of hyper-Kähler manifolds.     

Supersymmetry breaking for the observable sector in superstring models

We discuss the supersymmetry breaking in four-dimensional supergravity models from superstrings including perturbative or non-perturbative string σ-model corrections. It is found that various soft supersymmetry breaking terms can appear with values of the order ofm _3/2 even at the tree level of effective field theory and of string theory.     

EVH black hole solutions with higher derivative corrections

We analyze the effect of higher derivative corrections to the near horizon geometry of the extremal vanishing horizon (EVH) black hole solutions in four dimensions. We restrict ourselves to a Gauss–Bonnet correction with a dilation dependent coupling in an Einstein–Maxwell-dilaton theory. This action may represent the effective action as it arises in tree level heterotic string theory compactified to four dimensions or the K3 compactification of type II string theory. We show that EVH black holes, in this theory, develop an AdS₃ throat in their near horizon geometry.     

On loop corrections to string theory effective actions

We make some comments concerning the structure of loop corrections to the effective action (EA) for massless fields of a string. The singular part of the α′→0 limit of the one-loop EA in the open (super)string theory is studied and is shown to be in correspondence with the ultraviolet divergent part of the one-loop effective action in the (super) Yang-Mills theory. In particular, we reproduce the known result about the absence of Λ^D−4 F_μν² one-loop infinities in D = 26 Yang-Mills theory starting from the open Bose string theory. We also discuss the path integral representation for EA (EA = generalized partition function for the σ-model) and use it to compute the open string theory EA on the disc and the annulus.     

On the vacuum structure of an SU(2) Yang-Mills theory

By using a compactification of the spatial part R³ of Minkowski-space different from the one-point compactification to S³, we get a new classification of the vacua for an SU(2) gauge theory. It contains, besides the vacua arising in the S³ compactification, the Gribov vacua as new classes. We discuss the role of pseudoparticle solutions within this framework and comment on the problem of the Coulomb gauge degeneracy.     

Fractional charges and the renormalization group in theSU(4)×O(4) string model

We study the renormalization group equations of the gauge couplings in theSU(4)×O(4)～SU(4)×SU(2) _L ×SU(2_ _R string model, derived in the context of the free fermionic formulation of the four dimensional superstring. We calculate the effective string unification scale taking into account string threshold corrections and we consider the consequences of then _L andn _R fractionally charged states, sitting in the (1, 2, 1) and (1, 1, 2) representations correspondingly, of the gauge symmetry of the model. Some of these states become massive at a very high scale, when a number of singlet fields acquire vev's. However, many of them (the precise number depends on the specific choice of the flat direction) remain in the massless spectrum. We consider various cases and find that, for specific choices of flat directions, the physical parameters of the model, like the grand unification scale and the low energy parameters sin²θ _W and α₃, depend only on the differencen _?=n_L-n_R. We study more general cases where remnants of the exotic doublets remain below theSU(4) breaking scale. We also solve the coupled differential system of the renormalization group equations for the gauge and the Yukawa couplings and estimate the range of the top quark mass which is found to lie in the range 140 GeV<m _t<190GeV.     

Exactly solvable string compactifications on manifolds of SU(N) holonomy

A variety of heterotic string compactifications on the K3 surface, manifolds of SU(3) holomony, and higher holomony manifolds, are solved exactly. An example of the quintic hypersurface in CP₄ is worked out in detail. It is conjectured, and demonstrated in part, that any supersymmetric compactification of the heterotic string with an N=2 superconformal theory is equivalent to a compactification on a manifold of SU(N) holonomy, and in particular an arbitrary gluing of the discrete models with c=9 gives a solvable heterotic string compactification on some Calabi-Yau manifold. Calabi-Yau compactifications are seen to be exact vacua of string theory, retaining their topological and geometrical characteristics. Previously unknown enhanced gauge symmetries are found to arise for certain backgrounds.     

No renormalization of the N=1 supergravity theory derived from the heterotic string

We show that one-loop string effects do not alter the form of the leading terms in the low-energy effective ten-dimensional N=1 supergravity theory derived from the heterotic string. We extend this result to the four-dimensional N=1 supergravity theory obtained after compactification, showing in particular that its Kähler potential is not renormalized by string loop effects or by the exchange of Kaluza-Klein modes. We also demonstrate that the Kähler potential and the gauge kinetic function are not renormalized by one-loop string effects in a wide class of four-dimensional formulations of superstring theories.     

The β function,scaling, and improved action forSU(3) lattice gauge theory

We present a detailed analysis of the nonperturbativeβ function along the Wilson axis for theSU(3) pure gauge theory using the Monte Carlo renormalization group method. The scaling behavior of the string tension, the deconfinement transition temperature, and the O⁺⁺ glueball mass obtained from published data is compared. The results show that there is no asymptotic scaling forK _F=(6/g ²)<6.1. We also estimate the renormalized action generated by the √3 block transformation for use in future calculations.     

Three-loop β-functions for the superstring and heterotic string

The β-function for the (1,1) superstring is calculated explicitly up to three loops, using two different choices of the fermion quantum field. In both cases the bosonic contribution is exactly cancelled by the fermionic contribution. The calculation is repeated for the heterotic string and the non-vanishing β-function is shown to be compatible with an O(α′²) effective action in which there are no terms cubic in the Riemann tensor- or gauge-field strength. A renormalization group equation for the gauge field is constructed and its β-function is shown to vanish at the two-loop level.     

On inflation in the heterotic superstring model

The possibility is considered of achieving inflation in the field-theory limit of the E₈ X E₈ superstring model, which is an N = 1 supergravity theory possessing a “no-scale” SU(n, 1)/SU(n) × U(1) structure. It is shown that neither type I inflation (due to higher-derivative terms O(R²)), nor inflation due to a SUSY-breaking gaugino-condensation potential, is possible, essentially because of the absence of free dimensionless parameters. Kaluza-Klein type inflation is ruled out because the internal space is Ricci flat. The occurence of type II inflation (due to some gauge singlet “inflation” field φ) depends upon the form of the superpotential F and of the Kähler potential G, but this also seems not to be possible, unless the >SU(n, 1) symmetry can be broken in a particular way. Hence, some new type of compactification scheme may be called for, or a different type of inflation.     

Some phenomenological implications of string loop effects

We investigate low energy implications of string loop corrections to supergravity couplings which break a possible flavor universality of the tree level. If supersymmetry is broken by the dilaton F-term, universal soft scalar masses arise at the leading order but string loop corrections generically induce flavor-non-diagonal soft terms. Constraints from flavor changing neutral currents (FCNC) and CP violation then require a large supersymmetry breading scale and thus heavy gluinos and squarks. If supersymmetry is broken by moduli F-terms, universality at the string tree level can only be guaranteed by extra conditions on the Kahler potential. A large hierarchy between the gluino and squark masses ensures that FCNC and CP-violation constraints are satisfied. If the soft scalar masses vanish at the string tree level, the cosmological problems related to light moduli can be evaded. However, generic string loop corrections violate FCNC bounds and require very heavy squark masses (∼ 100 TeV).     

CompleteO(α s 2 ) corrections to (2 + 1) jet cross sections in deep inelastic scattering

Complete next-to leading order QCD predictions for (2+1) jet cross sections and jet rates in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) based on a new parton level Monte Carlo program are presented. All relevant helicity contributions to the total cross section are included. Results on total jet cross sections as well as differential distributions in the basic kinematical variablesx, W ² andQ ² are shown for HERA energies and for the fixed target experiment E665 at FERMILAB. We study the dependence on the choices of the renormalization scale μ _R and the factorization scale μ _F and show that the NLO results are much less sensitive to the variation of μ=μ _F =μ _R than the LO results. The effect of an additionalp _T cut to our jet definition scheme is investigated.