Compactification Effects in D-brane Inflation

We determine the scalar potential for a D3-brane in a warped conifold background subject to general ultraviolet perturbations. Incorporating the effects of imaginary anti-self-dual (IASD) fluxes and four-dimensional curvature at the nonlinear level, we compute the leading terms in the D3-brane potential. We then provide strong cross-checks of our results by reproducing them in the dual gauge theory. Finally, we observe that the D3-brane potential induced by nonperturbative effects on D7-branes can be represented by a ten-dimensional supergravity solution containing suitable IASD fluxes. Our method allows for the systematic inclusion of compactification effects and serves to constrain the D3-brane effective action in a large class of stabilized compactifications.