Non-supersymmetric AdS$_6$ and the swampland

TL;DR

This paper explores non-supersymmetric AdS6 solutions in Type IIB string theory, analyzing their stability, decay channels, and the absence of scale separation, thereby contributing to the understanding of the swampland constraints.

Contribution

It introduces infinite families of non-supersymmetric AdS6 solutions related to supersymmetric ones, and studies their stability and decay mechanisms within the swampland framework.

Findings

Identified perturbative and non-perturbative decay channels for non-supersymmetric solutions.

Excluded scale separation by constructing universal spin 2 modes with comparable masses.

Connected non-supersymmetric solutions to supersymmetric ones via RG flows.

Abstract

We discuss infinite families of non-supersymmetric AdS$_6$ solutions in Type IIB string theory. They are siblings of supersymmetric solutions which are associated with $(p,q)$ 5-brane webs and holographically dual to 5d SCFTs engineered by those brane webs. The non-supersymmetric backgrounds carry identical 5-brane charges and are connected to the supersymmetric ones by RG flows. We study the stability of the non-supersymmetric solutions, identifying perturbative and non-perturbative decay channels for all the backgrounds explicitly available. We also identify likely decay mechanisms for solutions that have not been constructed explicitly but may be expected to exist based on brane web considerations. Finally, we exclude scale separation by constructing universal spin 2 modes with masses comparable to the mass-scale of the cosmological constant.