Four-dimensional effective supergravity and soft terms in M theory

Abstract

We provide a simple macroscopic analysis of the four-dimensional effective supergravity of the Horava-Witten M theory which is expanded in powers of kappa(2/3)/rho V-1/3 and kappa(2/3)rho/V-2/3 where kappa(2), V, and rho denote the eleven-dimensional gravitational coupling, the Calabi-Yau volume, and the eleventh length, respectively. Possible higher order terms in the Kahler potential are identified and matched with the heterotic string corrections. In the context of this M-theory expansion, we analyze the soft supersymmetry-breaking terms under the assumption that supersymmetry is spontaneously broken by the auxiliary components of the built moduli superfields. It is examined how the pattern of soft terms changes when one moves from the weakly coupled heterotic string limit to the M-theory limit.