image corrections to heterotic M-theory Original Research Article

We study image corrections in heterotic M-theory. We derive to order image the induced modification to the Kähler potential of the universal moduli and its implications for the soft supersymmetry breaking terms. The soft scalar field masses still remain small for breaking in the T-modulus direction. We investigate the deformations of the background geometry due to the image term. The warp-factor deformation of the background image can no longer be integrated to a fully non-linear solution, unlike when neglecting higher derivative corrections. We find explicit solutions to order image and, in particular, find the expected shift of the Calabi–Yau volume by a constant proportional to the Euler number. We also study the effect induced by the image terms on the de Sitter vacua found previously by balancing two non-perturbative contributions to the superpotential, namely open membrane instantons and gaugino condensation. To order image all induced corrections are proportional to the Euler number of the Calabi–Yau three-fold.