D(-1)-Instanton Superpotential In String Theory

TL;DR

This paper investigates the non-perturbative superpotential generated by D(-1)-branes in type IIB string theory, showing that in a specific limit, these instanton contributions vanish exactly, providing insights into non-perturbative effects in string compactifications.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of the global Sen-limit in F-theory compactifications and demonstrates that D(-1)-instanton contributions to the superpotential vanish exactly in this limit.

Findings

Picard-Fuchs equations split into three parts in the global Sen-limit.

Fourform periods do not contain exponentially suppressed terms in this limit.

D(-1)-instanton contributions to the superpotential vanish exactly in the global Sen-limit.

Abstract

We study the non-perturbative superpotential generated by D(-1)-branes in type IIB compactifications on orientifolds of Calabi-Yau threefold hypersurfaces. To compute the D-instanton superpotential, we study F-theory compactification on toric complete intersection elliptic Calabi-Yau fourfolds. We take the Sen-limit, but with finite $g_s,$ in F-theory compactification with a restriction that all D7-branes are carrying SO(8) gauge groups, which we call the global Sen-limit. In the global Sen-limit, the axio-dilaton is not varying in the compactification manifold. We compute the Picard-Fuchs equations of elliptic Calabi-Yau fourfolds in the global Sen-limit, and show that the Picard-Fuchs equations of the elliptic fourfolds split into that of the underlying Calabi-Yau threefolds and of the elliptic fiber. We then demonstrate that this splitting property of the Picard-Fuchs equation implies that the fourform period of the elliptic Calabi-Yau fourfolds in the global Sen-limit does not contain exponentially suppressed terms $\mathcal{O}(e^{-\pi/g_s})$. With this result, we finally show that in the global Sen-limit, the superpotential of the underlying type IIB compactification does not receive D(-1)-instanton contributions. This result is exact in $g_s.$