Simple metastable de Sitter vacua in N=2 gauged supergravity

Abstract

We construct a simple class of N=2 gauged supergravity theories that admit metastable de Sitter vacua, generalizing the recent work done in the context of rigid supersymmetry. The setup involves one hypermultiplet and one vector multiplet spanning suitably curved quaternionic-Kahler and special-Kahler geometries, with an Abelian gauging based on a single triholomorphic isometry, but neither Fayet-Iliopoulos terms nor non-Abelian gauge symmetries. We construct the most general model of this type and show that in such a situation the possibility of achieving metastable supersymmetry breaking vacua crucially depends on the value of the cosmological constant V relative to the gravitino mass squared m_{3/2}^2 in Planck units. In particular, focusing on de Sitter vacua with positive V, we show that metastability is only possible when V >= 2.17 m_{3/2}^2. We also derive an upper bound on the lightest scalar mass in this kind of model relative to the gravitino mass m_{3/2} as a function of the cosmological constant V, and discuss its physical implications.