A Barren Landscape?

TL;DR

This paper investigates conditions for non-perturbative superpotential generation in F-theory flux compactifications, revealing limitations on volume modulus stabilization and implications for the rarity of metastable de Sitter vacua.

Contribution

It derives a necessary condition for superpotential generation in F-theory and shows volume moduli are not stabilized by certain non-perturbative effects in simple models.

Findings

Volume modulus not stabilized by abelian instantons or gaugino condensation

Necessary condition for superpotential generation in F-theory derived

Metastable de Sitter vacua are likely non-generic in large volume compactifications

Abstract

We consider the generation of a non-perturbative superpotential in F-theory compactifications with flux. We derive a necessary condition for the generation of such a superpotential in F-theory. For models with a single volume modulus, we show that the volume modulus is never stabilized by either abelian instantons or gaugino condensation. We then comment on how our analysis extends to a larger class of compactifications. From our results, it appears that among large volume string compactifications, metastable de Sitter vacua (should any exist) are non-generic.