Brane/flux annihilation transitions and nonperturbative moduli stabilization

Abstract

By extending the calculation of Kahler moduli stabilization to account for an embiggened antibrane, we reevaluate brane/flux annihilation in a warped throat with one stabilized Kahler modulus. We find that depending on the relative size of various fluxes three things can occur: the decay process proceeds unhindered, the anti-D3-branes are forbidden to decay classically, or the entire space decompactifies. Additionally, we show that the Kahler modulus receives a contribution from the collective 3-brane tension. This allows for a significant change in compactified volume during the transition and possibly mitigates some fine tuning otherwise required to achieve large volume.