Metastable Domains of the Landscape

TL;DR

Most flux vacua with small cosmological constant are unstable, except for large volume, supersymmetric, or approximately supersymmetric states, with stability not guaranteed by weak coupling, warping, or light particles.

Contribution

The paper analyzes the stability of flux vacua, identifying conditions under which they are metastable or unstable, and discusses potential cosmological attractors.

Findings

Most flux vacua are unstable to rapid decay.

Large volume and supersymmetric states are exceptions with increased stability.

Weak coupling, warping, or light particles alone do not ensure metastability.

Abstract

We argue that the vast majority of flux vacua with small cosmological constant are unstable to rapid decay to a big crunch. Exceptions are states with large compactification volume and supersymmetric and approximately supersymmetric states. Neither weak string coupling, warping, or the existence of very light particles are, by themselves, enough to render states reasonably metastable. We speculate, as well, about states which might be cosmological attractors.