D branes in background fluxes and Nielsen-Olesen instabilities

Abstract

In quantum field theory, charged particles with spin ≥ 1 may become tachyonic in the present of magnetic fluxes above some critical field, signaling an instability of the vacuum. The phenomenon is generic, in particular, similar instabilities are known to exist in open and closed string theory, where a spinning string state can become tachyonic above a critical field. In compactifications involving RR fluxes F p+2, the quantum states which could become tachyonic by the same Nielsen-Olesen mechanism are Dp branes. By constructing an appropriate background with RR magnetic flux that takes into account back-reaction, we identify the possible tachyonic Dp brane states and compute the formula for the energy spectrum in a sector. More generally, we argue that in any background RR magnetic flux, there are high spin Dp quantum states which become very light at critical fields.