Branes and Dynamical Supersymmetry Breaking

TL;DR

This work uses M-theory fivebrane constructions to study dynamical supersymmetry breaking in four dimensions, centering on the IYIT model realized on a carefully engineered brane system with an orientifold four-plane. Supersymmetric vacua correspond to holomorphic fivebrane curves, while SUSY breaking arises from nonholomorphic minimal-area surfaces, whose stability depends on boundary conditions and brane–orientifold forces; the analysis reveals conditions under which a stable non-supersymmetric vacuum can exist and identifies runaway behavior when flavor groups are gauged. The results connect field-theoretic Seiberg–Witten structures with brane dynamics, reproducing known moduli-space features for N=2 and N=1 Sp theories and providing a brane-based perspective on SUSY breaking in the IYIT model, including limitations due to the supergravity regime and hints that stable vacua may lie beyond its reach. Overall, the paper demonstrates how brane configurations encode complex strong-coupling dynamics and yield qualitative predictions about dynamical SUSY breaking, vacuum structure, and runaway phenomena in theories with symplectic and orthogonal gauge groups.

Abstract

We study dynamical supersymmetry breaking in four dimensions using the fivebrane of M theory, in particular for the Izawa-Yanagida-Intriligator-Thomas (IYIT) model, which we realize as the worldvolume theory of a certain M-theory fivebrane configuration. From the brane point of view, supersymmetry is broken when a holomorphic configuration with the proper boundary conditions does not exist. We discuss the difference between explicit and spontaneous supersymmetry breaking and between runaway behavior and having a stable vacuum. As a preparation for the study of the IYIT model, we examine a realization of the orientifold four-plane in M theory. We derive known as well as new results on the moduli spaces of N=2 and N=1 theories with symplectic gauge groups. These results are based on a hypothesis that a certain intersection of the fivebrane and the Z_2 fixed plane breaks supersymmetry. In the IYIT model, we show that the brane exhibits runaway behavior when the flavor group is gauged. On the other hand, if the flavor group is not gauged, we find that the brane does not run away. We suggest that a stable supersymmetry-breaking vacuum is realized in the region beyond the reach of the supergravity approximation.

Figures (9)

• Figure 1: Type IIA Configuration
• Figure 2: The ${\bf Z}_2$ action for $N_f=2$ case
• Figure 3: A Generic Point on the Coulomb Branch; The number above the ${\bf C}{\rm P}^1$ components stands for the multiplicity.
• Figure 4: Graph of $(10-s)^2/(1-{1\over 3}\log s)$
• Figure 5: The configuration (\ref{['facto']}) near the ${\bf Z}_2$ fixed plane for $m^{N_f}\ne (\lambda\Lambda^2)^{N_f}$ (left) and $m^{N_f}= (\lambda\Lambda^2)^{N_f}$ (right). Note that the left one is a t-configuration.