Supersymmetry Breaking by Fluxes
Savdeep Sethi
TL;DR
The paper argues that SUSY-breaking flux backgrounds in Type II/M-theory do not generally admit static space-time solutions at weak coupling; instead they are driven to time-dependent rolling backgrounds that require the full tower of higher-derivative corrections and quantum effects to understand their potentials. It shows that a nonzero W0 flux superpotential generically breaks no-scale structure via corrections to the Kähler potential, with leading contributions in various corners (IIB, M-theory, F-theory) producing a physical potential and undermining static solutions. The authors emphasize that truncating to a finite subset of higher-derivative terms is inadequate for flux vacua and that nonperturbative effects in time-dependent backgrounds remain poorly understood, while loop effects may play a more significant stabilizing role than conventional instantons. These insights help reconcile no-go theorems with landscape constructions and reshape expectations for moduli stabilization in flux-based cosmologies.
Abstract
Type II string theory and M-theory admit flux configurations that break supersymmetry below the Kaluza-Klein scale. These backgrounds play a central role in most models of the string landscape. I argue that the behavior of such backgrounds at weak coupling is generically a rolling solution, not a static space-time. Quantum corrections to the space-time potential are computed around this classical time-dependent background. This is particularly important for non-perturbative corrections. This change in perspective offers an explanation for why there appear to be many effective field theory models that seemingly evade the known no-go theorems forbidding de Sitter space-times. This has interesting implications for type IIB string landscape models.