Banks-Zaks stabilisation of non-SUSY strings

Abel, Steven; Basile, Ivano; Matyas, Viktor G.

Abstract

It appears to be difficult within string theory to obtain genuine scale separation between spacetime and the internal sector. In this paper, we propose a novel mechanism for scale-separated vacua which hinges on stringy effects that are invisible at the level of effective field theory. We show that (meta)stable vacua can form if a super no-scale one-loop potential combines with generic two-loop contributions to the vacuum energy, in a manner analogous to Banks-Zaks fixed points. Weak string coupling and scale separation arise from the accidental smallness of the one-loop term, which receives contributions only from massive states, relative to the two-loop term. We provide a proof of concept of this mechanism in explicit non-supersymmetric heterotic toroidal orbifolds by balancing the complete one-loop contribution against the estimated two-loop term and numerically minimizing the resulting effective potential in a restricted sector of moduli space. We note that this mechanism is generically possible within any fundamental theory that has a one-loop energy that gets contributions only from massive modes.

Citation

Abel, S., Basile, I., & Matyas, V. G. (2025). Banks-Zaks stabilisation of non-SUSY strings. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2025(4), Article 107. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep04%282025%29107

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 14, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Apr 15, 2025
• Publication Date: 2025-04
• Deposit Date: May 12, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: May 12, 2025
• Journal: Journal of High Energy Physics
• Print ISSN: 1126-6708
• Electronic ISSN: 1029-8479
• Publisher: Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2025
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 107
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep04%282025%29107
• Keywords: Supersymmetry Breaking, String and Brane Phenomenology, Extra Dimensions, Superstring Vacua
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3795600