Moduli stabilization in type IIB orientifolds (I)

We discuss flux quantization and moduli stabilization in toroidal type IIB Z(N)- or Z(N) x Z(M)-orientifolds. focusing mainly on their orbifold limits. After presenting a detailed discussion of their moduli spaces and effective actions, we study the supersymmetric vacuum structure of these models and derive criteria for the existence of stable minima. Furthermore, we briefly investigate the models away from their orbifold points and comment on the microscopic origin of their non-perturbative superpotentials. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.