On Geometrical Interpretation of Non-Abelian Flat Direction Constraints

TL;DR

This paper explores a geometric approach to understanding non-Abelian flat directions in string-derived effective field theories, aiming to classify and recognize supersymmetric vacua involving non-Abelian fields.

Contribution

It introduces a geometric interpretation of non-Abelian flat directions, applying it to SU(2) and SO(2N), and connects it to D-brane configurations in M-theory.

Findings

Geometric language aids in identifying compatible D- and F-flat directions.

Application to SU(2) and SO(2N) groups relevant to MSSM and flipped SU(5).

Potential to inform dual brane models in M-theory.

Abstract

In order to produce a low energy effective field theory from a string model, it is necessary to specify a vacuum state. In order that this vacuum be supersymmetric, it is well known that all field expectation values must be along so-called flat directions, leaving the F- and D-terms of the scalar potential to be zero. The situation becomes particularly interesting when one attempts to realize such directions while assigning VEVS to fields transforming under non-Abelian representations of the gauge group. Since the expectation value is now shared among multiple components of a field, satisfaction of flatness becomes an inherently geometrical problem in the group space. Furthermore, the possibility emerges that a single seemingly dangerous F-term might experience a self-cancellation among its components. The hope exists that the geometric language can provide an intuitive and immediate recognition of when the D and F conditions are simultaneously compatible, as well as a powerful tool for their comprehensive classification. This is the avenue explored in this paper, and applied to the cases of SU(2) and SO(2N), relevant respectively to previous attempts at reproducing the MSSM and the flipped SU(5) GUT. Geometrical interpretation of non-Abelian flat directions finds application to M-theory through the recent conjecture of equivalence between D-term strings and wrapped D-branes of Type II theory. Knowledge of the geometry of the flat direction "landscape" of a D-term string model could yield information about the dual brane model. It is hoped that the techniques encountered will be of benefit in extending the viability of the quasi-realistic phenomenologies already developed.