Compact T-branes

Abstract

We analyse global aspects of 7-brane backgrounds with a non-commuting profile for their worldvolume scalars, also known as T-branes. In particular, we consider configurations with no poles and globally well-defined over a compact K\"ahler surface. We find that such T-branes cannot be constructed on surfaces of positive or vanishing Ricci curvature. For the existing T-branes, we discuss their stability as we move in K\"ahler moduli space at large volume and provide examples of T-branes splitting into non-mutually-supersymmetric constituents as they cross a stability wall.