The Heterotic Superpotential and Moduli

Abstract: We study the four-dimensional effective theory arising from ten-dimensional heterotic supergravity compactified on manifolds with torsion. In particular, given the heterotic superpotential appropriately corrected at $\mathcal{O}(\alpha')$ to account for the Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation mechanism, we investigate properties of four-dimensional Minkowski vacua of this theory. Considering the restrictions arising from F-terms and D-terms we identify the infinitesimal massless moduli space of the theory. We show that it agrees with the results that have recently been obtained from a ten-dimensional perspective where supersymmetric Minkowski solutions including the Bianchi identity correspond to an integrable holomorphic structure, with infinitesimal moduli calculated by its first cohomology. As has recently been noted, interplay of complex structure and bundle deformations through holomorphic and anomaly constraints can lead to fewer moduli than may have been expected. We derive a relation between the number of complex structure and bundle moduli removed from the low energy theory in this way, and give conditions for there to be no complex structure moduli or bundle moduli remaining in the low energy theory. The link between Yukawa couplings and obstruction theory is also briefly discussed.