Universality of gauge thresholds in non-supersymmetric heterotic vacua

Abstract

We compute one-loop threshold corrections to non-abelian gauge couplings in four-dimensional heterotic vacua with spontaneously broken N=2→N=0 supersymmetry, obtained as Scherk–Schwarz reductions of six-dimensional K3 compactifications. As expected, the gauge thresholds are no-longer BPS protected, and receive contributions also from the excitations of the RNS sector. Remarkably, the difference of thresholds for non-abelian gauge couplings is BPS saturated and exhibits a universal behaviour independently of the orbifold realisation of K3. Moreover, the thresholds and their difference develop infra-red logarithmic singularities whenever charged BPS-like states, originating from the twisted RNS sector, become massless at special loci in the classical moduli space.