Orbifold matrix model Original Research Article

We study a matrix model describing type IIB superstring in orbifold backgrounds. We particularly consider a C3/Z3 orbifold model whose six-dimensional transverse space is orbifolded by Z3 discrete symmetry. This model is chiral and has d=4 N=1 supersymmetry of Yang–Mills type as well as an inhomogeneous supersymmetry specific to matrix models. We calculate one-loop effective action around some backgrounds, and the result can be interpreted as interactions mediated by massless particles in IIB supergravity in orbifold background, if the background is in the Higgs branch. If the background is in the Coulomb branch, the dynamics is effectively governed by the reduced model of d=4 super Yang–Mills theory, which might be interpreted as exchange of massless particles in the twisted sector. But the perturbative calculation cannot reproduce the supergravity result. We also show that this model with a large Higgs vacuum expectation value becomes IIB (IKKT) matrix model.