Instanton Moduli, Topology and the Bosonic/Heterotic String Origins

Abstract

We construct new supersymmetric NS(-1)-branes supported by the $SU(2)\times SU(2)$ 't Hooft instantons in ${\cal N}=1$, $D=4$ supergravity. We show that although the magnetic 3-form string flux is invariant under the variation of instanton moduli, the string-frame metric can change topology, giving rise to either $\mathbb R^4$ or the new $\mathbb R\times S^3$ bolt topologies. We uplift the solutions to both heterotic and bosonic strings, where the instanton moduli become parameters of pure geometry. We find that the Killing spinors exist in both theories. The transformation of the Killing spinors from one theory to the other is consistent with the recently proposed bosonic/heterotic string duality. We further construct new BPS solutions in the $D=6$ Salam-Sezgin model, employing the technique developed in the paper.