Gaugino Condensation and the Cosmological Constant

Abstract

The existence of de Sitter solutions in string theory is strongly constrained by no-go theorems. We continue our investigation of corrections to the heterotic effective action, with the aim of either strengthening or evading the these constraints. We consider the combined effects of H-flux, gauge bundles, higher derivative corrections and gaugino condensation. The only consistent solutions we find with maximal symmetry in four dimensions are Minkowski spacetimes, ruling out both de Sitter and anti-de Sitter solutions constructed from these ingredients alone.

21 pages; minor clarifications and references added