A Pati–Salam model from branes

Abstract We explore the possibility of embedding the Pati–Salam model in the context of Type I brane models. We study a generic model with U (4) C × U (2) L × U (2) R gauge symmetry and matter fields compatible with a Type I brane configuration. Examining the anomaly cancellation conditions of the surplus abelian symmetries we find an alternative hypercharge embedding that is compatible with a low string/brane scale of the order of 5–7 TeV, when the U (4) C and U (2) R brane stack couplings are equal. Proton stability is assured as baryon number is associated to a global symmetry remnant of the broken abelian factors. It is also shown that this scenario can accommodate an extra low energy abelian symmetry that can be associated to lepton number. The issue of fermion and especially neutrino masses is also discussed.