On the existence of meta-stable vacua in Klebanov-Strassler

• Published in: The journal of high energy physics 2010-09, Vol.2010 (9), Article 87
• Main Authors: Bena, Iosif, Graña, Mariana, Halmagyi, Nick
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Branes; Classical and Quantum Gravitation; Deformation; Elementary Particles; Field theory; Flux density; High energy physics; Perturbation; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Field Theories; Quantum Field Theory; Quantum Physics; Relativity Theory; Singularities; String Theory
• ISSN: 1029-8479; 1029-8479
• DOI: 10.1007/JHEP09(2010)087

We solve for the complete space of linearized deformations of the Klebanov-Strassler background consistent with the symmetries preserved by a stack of anti-D3 branes smeared on the S 3 of the deformed conifold. We find that the only solution whose UV physics is consistent with that of a perturbation produced by anti-D3 branes must have a singularity in the infrared, coming from NS and RR three-form field strengths whose energy density diverges. If this singularity is admissible, our solution describes the backreaction of the anti-D3 branes, and is thus likely to be dual to the conjectured metastable vacuum in the Klebanov-Strassler field theory. If this singularity is not admissible, then our analysis strongly suggests that anti-D3 branes do not give rise to metastable Klebanov-Strassler vacua, which would have dramatic consequences for some string theory constructions of de Sitter space. Key to this result is a simple, universal form for the force on a probe D3-brane in our ansatz.