String Corrected Spacetimes and SU(N)-Structure Manifolds

TL;DR

This paper investigates how higher derivative corrections affect the geometry of string and M-theory compactifications using SU(N)-structures, revealing that certain geometries can be corrected while maintaining supersymmetry.

Contribution

It provides a general target space analysis of higher derivative corrections to supersymmetry constraints without relying on specific theory details.

Findings

Internal geometry remains flat for n<4.

Kahler manifolds with SU(N)-holonomy can become SU(N)-structure with corrections for n=4,6.

Abstract

Using an effective field theory approach and the language of SU(N)-structures, we study higher derivative corrections to the supersymmetry constraints for compactifications of string or M-theory to Minkowski space. Our analysis is done entirely in the target space and is thus very general, and does not rely on theory-dependent details such as the amount of worldsheet supersymmetry. For manifolds of real dimension n<4 we show that the internal geometry remains flat and uncorrected. For n=4, 6, Kahler manifolds with SU(N)-holonomy can become corrected to SU(N)-structure, while preserving supersymmetry, once corrections are included.