Orientifolds of String Theory Melvin backgrounds

Abstract

We study the dynamics of type I strings on Melvin backgrounds, with a single or multiple twisted two-planes. We construct two inequivalent types of orientifold models that correspond to (non-compact) irrational versions of Scherk-Schwarz type breaking of supersymmetry. In the first class of vacua, D-branes and O-planes are no longer localized in space-time but are smeared along the compact Melvin coordinate with a characteristic profile. On the other hand, the second class of orientifolds involves O-planes and D-branes that are both rotated by an angle proportional to the twist. In case of ``multiple Melvin spaces'', some amount of supersymmetry is recovered if the planes are twisted appropriately and part of the original O-planes are transmuted into new ones. The corresponding boundary and crosscap states are determined.