Dynamical Compactification of Extra Dimensions in the Euclidean IKKT Matrix Model via Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Abstract: The IKKT matrix model has been conjectured to provide a promising nonperturbative formulation of superstring theory. In this model, spacetime emerges dynamically from the microscopic matrix degrees of freedom in the large-N limit, and Monte Carlo simulations of the Lorentzian version provide evidence of an emergent (3+1)-dimensional expanding space-time. In this talk, we discuss the Euclidean version of the IKKT matrix model and provide evidence of dynamical compactification of the extra dimensions via the spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) of the 10D rotational symmetry. We perform numerical simulations of a system with a severe complex action problem by using the complex Langevin method (CLM). The CLM suffers from the singular-drift problem and we deform the model in order to avoid it. We study the SSB pattern as we vary the deformation parameter and we conclude that the original model has an SO(3) symmetric vacuum, in agreement with previous calculations using the Gaussian expansion method (GEM). We employ the GEM to the deformed model and we obtain results consistent with the ones obtained by CLM.