Stable Non-Supersymmetric Vacua in the Moduli Space of Non-Critical Superstrings

We study a set of asymmetric deformations of non-critical superstring theories in various dimensions. The deformations arise as Kähler and complex structure deformations of an orthogonal two-torus comprising of a parallel and a transverse direction in the near-horizon geometry of NS5-branes. The resulting theories have the following intriguing features: Spacetime supersymmetry is broken in a continuous fashion and the masses of the lightest modes are lifted. In particular, no bulk or localized tachyons are generated in the nonsupersymmetric vacua. We discuss the effects of these deformations in the context of the holographic duality between non-critical superstrings and Little String Theories and find solutions of rotating fivebranes in supergravity. We also comment on the generation of a one-loop cosmological constant and determine the effects of the one-loop backreaction to leading order.