Tachyon condensation in magnetic compactifications

Buchmuller, Wilfried; Tatsuta, Yoshiyuki; Dudas, Emilian

Preprint

PUBDB-2020-04185

Tachyon condensation in magnetic compactifications

Buchmuller, W.DESY* ; Dudas, E.DESY* ; Tatsuta, Y. (Corresponding author)DESY*

2020

1-29 (2020) [10.3204/PUBDB-2020-04185]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.3204/PUBDB-2020-04185

Report No.: CPHT-RR066.092020; DESY-20-163; arXiv:2010.10891

Abstract: Intersecting D-brane models and their T-dual magnetic compactifications provide an attractive framework for particle physics, allowing for chiral fermions and supersymmetry breaking. Generically, magnetic compactifications have tachyons that are usually removed by Wilson lines. However, quantum corrections prevent local minima for Wilson lines. We therefore study tachyon condensation in the simplest case, the magnetic compactification of type I string theory on a torus to eight dimensions. We find that tachyon condensation restores supersymmetry, which is broken by the magnetic flux, and we compute the mass spectrum of vector- and hypermultiplets. The gauge group $\text{SO}(32)$ is broken to $\text{USp}(16)$. We give arguments that the vacuum reached by tachyon condensation corresponds to the unique 8d superstring theory already known in the literature, with discrete $B_{ab}$ background or, in the T-dual version, the type IIB orientifold with three $\text{O}7_-$-planes, one $\text{O}7_+$-plane and eight D7-branes coincident with the $\text{O}7_+$-plane. The ground state after tachyon condensation is supersymmetric and has no chiral fermions.

Keyword(s): tachyon: condensation ; fermion: chiral ; flux: magnetic ; D-brane: 8 ; supersymmetry: symmetry breaking ; correction: quantum ; dimension: 8 ; compactification ; Wilson loop ; T-duality ; mass spectrum ; string model ; ground state ; orientifold ; superstring ; background ; torus