Quantum stability in open string theory with broken supersymmetry
We consider the 1-loop effective potential in type I string theory compactified on a torus, with supersymmetry broken by the Scherk-Schwarz mechanism. At fixed supersymmetry breaking scale M, and up to exponentially suppressed terms, we show that the potential admits local minima of arbitrary sign, in dimension d ≤ 5. While the open string Wilson lines are massive, the closed string moduli are flat directions. In a T-dual picture, the relevant backgrounds involve isolated ½-branes, whose positions are frozen on orientifold planes, thus decreasing the rank of the gauge group, and introducing massless fermions in fundamental representations.