Supergravity description of spacetime instantons

Abstract

We present and discuss BPS instanton solutions that appear in type II string theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds. From an effective action point of view these arise as finite action solutions of the Euclidean equations of motion in four-dimensional N = 2 supergravity coupled to tensor multiplets. As a solution generating technique we make use of the c-map, which produces instanton solutions from either Euclidean black holes or from Taub-NUT like geometries.