Flux backgrounds, AdS/CFT and Generalized Geometry

Overview & Synopsis

The search for string theory vacuum solutions with non-trivial fluxes is of particular importance for the construction of models relevant for particle physics phenomenology. In the framework of the AdS/CFT correspondence, four-dimensional gauge theories which can be considered to descend from N = 4 SYM are dual to ten- dimensional field configurations with geometries having an asymptotically AdS_5 factor. In this Thesis, we study mass deformations that break supersymmetry (partially or entirely) on the field theory side and which are dual to type IIB backgrounds with non-zero fluxes on the gravity side. The supergravity equations of motion constrain the parameters on the gauge theory side to satisfy certain relations. In particular, we find that the sum of the squares of the boson masses should be equal to the sum of the squares of the fermion masses, making these set-ups problematic for phenomenology applications. The study of the supergravity duals for more general deformations of the conformal field theory requires techniques which go beyond the standard geometric tools. Exceptional Generalized Geometry provides a very elegant way to incorporate the supergravity fluxes in the geometry. We study AdS_5 backgrounds with generic fluxes preserving eight supercharges and we show that these satisfy particularly simple relations which admit a geometrical interpretation in the framework of Generalized Geometry. This opens the way for the systematic study of supersymmetric marginal deformations of the conformal field theory in the context of AdS/CFT.