2009/07/31 by Nasr Ahmed, Ian G. Moss
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Casimir effect #Context (archaeology) #Cosmological constant #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dilaton #Gravitino #Heterotic string theory #Higgs boson #Mathematical physics #Moduli #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Particle physics #Physics #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Supergravity #Supersymmetry #Supersymmetry breaking #Theoretical physics #Vacuum energy #Vacuum expectation value #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2010.03.008
15 pages, 4figures, ReVTeX, v3 stresses some points
arxiv created 2010/01/22 · openalex publication_date 2010/03/17 · arxiv updated 2015/05/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Moduli stabilisation is explored in the context of low-energy heterotic M-theory to show that a small value of the cosmological constant can result from a balance between the negative potential energy left over from stabilising the moduli and a positive Casimir energy from the higher dimensions. Supersymmetry breaking is induced by the fermion boundary conditions on the two branes in the theory. An explicit calculation of the Casimir energy for the gravitino reveals that the energy has the correct sign, although the size of the contribution is close to the edge of the parameter range for which the calculation is valid.