Giant leaps and minimal branes in multidimensional flux landscapes

Adam R. Brown and Alex Dahlen
Phys. Rev. D 84, 023513 – Published 13 July 2011

Abstract

There is a standard story about decay in multidimensional flux landscapes: that from any state, the fastest decay is to take a small step, discharging one flux unit at a time; that fluxes with the same coupling constant are interchangeable; and that states with N units of a given flux have the same decay rate as those with -N. We show that this standard story is false. The fastest decay is a giant leap that discharges many different fluxes in unison; this decay is mediated by a “minimal” brane that wraps the internal manifold and exhibits behavior not visible in the effective theory. We discuss the implications for the cosmological constant problem.

  • Received 16 December 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.84.023513

© 2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Adam R. Brown1,2,* and Alex Dahlen1,†

  • 1Physics Department, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
  • 2Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

  • *adambro@princeton.edu
  • adahlen@princeton.edu

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Issue

Vol. 84, Iss. 2 — 15 July 2011

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