Effective Theory of Warped Compactifications and the Implications for KKLT

TL;DR

This paper reveals that the effective potential in warped compactifications, such as the Klebanov-Strassler solution, can significantly differ from naive calculations due to constraint equations, impacting the stability analysis in KKLT scenarios.

Contribution

It provides a detailed computation showing how constraint equations alter the effective potential, challenging previous instability claims in KKLT models.

Findings

Naive effective potential overestimates instability risk.

Constraint equations remove destabilizing features.

Revised potential suggests greater stability in KKLT uplift.

Abstract

We argue that effective actions for warped compactifications can be subtle, with large deviations in the effective potential from naive expectations owing to constraint equations from the higher-dimensional metric. We demonstrate this deviation in a careful computation of the effective potential for the conifold deformation parameter of the Klebanov-Strassler solution. The uncorrected naive effective potential for the conifold was previously used to argue that the Klebanov-Strassler background would be destabilized by antibranes placed at the conifold infrared tip unless the flux was uncomfortably large. We show this result is too strong because the formerly neglected constraint equations eliminate the features of the potential that allowed for the instability in the de Sitter uplift of the KKLT scenario.