Superpotentials From Stringy Instantons Without Orientifolds

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how to derive non-perturbative superpotential terms from stringy instantons without using orientifold planes, by analyzing Euclidean D branes on orbifold singularities.

Contribution

It introduces a method to obtain superpotentials from stringy instantons without orientifolds, expanding the understanding of non-perturbative effects in string theory.

Findings

Explicit evaluation of instanton moduli space integral.

Derivation of a baryonic mass term superpotential.

Avoidance of neutral fermionic zero mode issues.

Abstract

In this paper we show that it is possible to derive non-perturbative superpotential terms from a stringy instanton without introducing orientifold planes. The instanton is realized by a Euclidean D brane wrapping a non-trivial cycle upon which we also wrap a single space-filling D brane. The standard problem of unwanted neutral fermionic zero modes is evaded by the appearance of couplings to charged bosonic zero modes in the instanton moduli action. Since the Euclidean D brane wraps a cycle which is not associated to any low energy gauge dynamics, it can not be interpreted as an ordinary gauge instanton, but rather as a stringy one. By considering such a brane configuration at an orbifold singularity, we can explicitly evaluate the instanton moduli space integral and find a holomorphic superpotential term with the structure of a baryonic mass term.