The Swampland program aims to determine the constraints that an effective field theory must satisfy to be consistent with a UV embedding in a quantum gravity theory. Different proposals have been formulated in the form of Swampland conjectures. In these lecture notes, we provide a pedagogical introduction to the most important Swampland conjectures, their connections and their realization in string theory compactifications. The notes are based on the series of lectures given by Irene Valenzuela at the online QFT and Geometry summer school in July 2020.
Recently it has been conjectured that string theory does not allow for dS vacua or dS extrema. To scrutinize such a conjecture, it is important to study concrete string theory compactifications and spell out their assumptions and potential shortcomings. We do so for one particular class of string compactifications, namely classical compactifications of type II string theory with fluxes, D-branes and O-planes on manifolds with SU(3) structure. In particular, we revisit previously found dS critical points, construct many new ones and check whether they invalidate the dS swampland conjecture.
We provide an overview of the string landscape and the Swampland program. Our review of the string landscape covers the worldsheet and spacetime perspectives, including vacua and string dualities. We then review and motivate the Swampland program from the lessons learned from the string landscape. These lecture notes are aimed to be self-contained and thus can serve as a starting point for researchers interested in exploring these ideas. These notes are an expanded version of two courses "The String Landscape and the Swampland" taught by C.~Vafa at Harvard University in 2018 with a focus on th…
The landscape of possible four-dimensional low-energy effective theories arising from compactifications of string/M-theory seems vast. This might lead one to believe that any consistent-looking effective field theory coupled to gravity can be obtained as a low-energy limit of string theory. However, a set of "swampland" conjectures suggests that this is not true and that, in fact, there is an even larger set of effective field theories that cannot be obtained in this way. In particular, the AdS instability swampland conjecture asserts that nonsupersymmetric anti-de Sitter vacua are unstable. T…
We study the weak gravity conjecture, the swampland distance conjecture and the emergence proposal for $\mathcal{N}=1$ orientifold compactifications of type IIB string theory with O3-/O7-planes. We allow for orientifold projections with $h^{2,1}_+\neq 0$ which gives rise to closed-string $U(1)$ gauge fields, and our findings show that certain structures present for $\mathcal N=2$ compactifications are not present for $\mathcal N=1$. In particular, assumptions about stability have to be relaxed and we encounter an ambiguity for the emergence of gauge symmetries associated with the $h^{2,1}_+$ s…
We discuss the properties of massive type IIA flux compactifications. In particular, we investigate in which case one can obtain dS vacua at large volume and small coupling. We support a general discussion of scaling symmetries with the analysis of a concrete example. We find that the large volume and weak coupling limit requires a large number of O6-planes. Since these are bound for any given compactification space one cannot get arbitrarily good control over $α'$ and string loop corrections.
We analyze the anomaly constraints on 6D supergravity theories with a single abelian U(1) gauge factor. For theories with charges restricted to $q = \pm1, \pm2$ and no tensor multiplets, anomaly-free models match those models that can be realized from F-theory compactifications almost perfectly. For theories with tensor multiplets or with larger charges, the F-theory constraints are less well understood. We show, however, that there is an infinite class of distinct massless charge spectra in the "swampland" of theories that satisfy all known quantum consistency conditions but do not admit a re…
In this thesis we have studied various applications of asymptotic Hodge theory in string compactifications. This mathematical framework captures how physical couplings of the resulting effective theories behave near field space boundaries where the internal Calabi-Yau manifold degenerates. Below we summarize the three parts in which this thesis is divided. Part I introduces the techniques from asymptotic Hodge theory we used throughout this thesis. We review the results of the nilpotent orbit theorem of Schmid and the multi-variable sl(2)-orbit theorem of Cattani, Kaplan and Schmid. This discu…
In this work we provide a self-contained and modern introduction to some of the tools, obstacles and open questions arising in string compactifications. Techniques and current progress are illustrated in the context of smooth heterotic string compactifications to 4-dimensions. Progress is described on bounding and enumerating possible string backgrounds and their properties. We provide an overview of constructions, partial classifications, and moduli problems associated to Calabi-Yau manifolds and holomorphic bundles over them.
The Swampland Distance Conjecture suggests that an infinite tower of modes becomes exponentially light when approaching a point that is at infinite proper distance in field space. In this paper we investigate this conjecture in the Kähler moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau threefold compactifications and further elucidate the proposal that the infinite tower of states is generated by the discrete symmetries associated to infinite distance points. In the large volume regime the infinite tower of states is generated by the action of the local monodromy matrices and encoded by an orbit of D-brane charge…
We discuss some aspects of swampland constraints - especially the swampland distance conjecture - in a large number of space-time dimensions $D$. We analyze Kaluza-Klein (KK) states at large $D$ and find that some KK spectra possess an interesting dependence on $D$. On the basis of these observations we propose a new large dimension conjecture. We apply it to KK states of compactifications to anti-de Sitter backgrounds where it predicts an upper bound on the dimension of space-time as a function of its characteristic radius. We also apply our conjecture to black hole spacetimes, whose entropie…
We address a quantization mechanism that can allow us to understand why the cosmological constant is not large under the quantum corrections from studying the circle compactification solution of the Standard Model coupled to Einstein gravity which is subject to the constraint of the Swampland conjectures. A novel result in the present work compared to the previous investigations in the literature is that the radius of the compactified dimension and the 4D cosmological constant $Λ_4$ must in fact be quantized. The quantization rule of the cosmological constant is given by $Λ_4\propto n^2$ with …
The Swampland Distance Conjecture claims that effective theories derived from a consistent theory of quantum gravity only have a finite range of validity. This will imply drastic consequences for string theory model building. The refined version of this conjecture says that this range is of the order of the naturally built in scale, namely the Planck scale. It is investigated whether the Refined Swampland Distance Conjecture is consistent with proper field distances arising in the well understood moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau compactification. Investigating in particular the non-geometric phases…
We give a brief overview of the string landscape and techniques used to construct string compactifications. We then explain how this motivates the notion of the swampland and review a number of conjectures that attempt to characterize theories in the swampland. We also compare holography in the context of superstrings with the similar, but much simpler case of topological string theory. For topological strings, there is a direct definition of topological gravity based on a sum over a "quantum gravitational foam." In this context, holography is the statement of an identification between a gravi…
We initiate the systematic study of flux scalar potentials and their vacua by using asymptotic Hodge theory. To begin with, we consider F-theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau fourfolds with four-form flux. We argue that a classifications of all scalar potentials can be performed when focusing on regions in the field space in which one or several fields are large and close to a boundary. To exemplify the constraints on such asymptotic flux compactifications, we explicitly determine this classification for situations in which two complex structure moduli are taken to be large. Our classificati…
We revisit flux compactifications of type IIB string theory on `spaces' dual to rigid Calabi-Yau manifolds. This rather unexplored part of the string landscapes harbors many interesting four-dimensional solutions, namely supersymmetric $\mathcal{N}=1$ Minkowski vacua without flat direction and infinite families of AdS vacua, some potentially with unrestricted rank for the gauge group. We also comment on the existence of metastable dS solutions in this setup. We discuss how these solutions fit into the web of swampland conjectures.
We investigate the swampland distance conjecture (SDC) in the complex moduli space of type II compactifications on one-parameter Calabi-Yau threefolds. This class of manifolds contains hundreds of examples and, in particular, a subset of 14 geometries with hypergeometric differential Picard-Fuchs operators. Of the four principal types of singularities that can occur - specified by their limiting mixed Hodge structure - only the K-points and the large radius points (or more generally the M-points) are at infinite distance and therefore of interest to the SDC. We argue that the conjecture is ful…
We show that one can find de Sitter critical points (saddle points) in models of flux compactification of Type IIB String Theory without any uplifting terms and in the presence of several moduli. We demonstrate this by giving explicit examples following some of the ideas recently presented by Conlon in [1], as well as more generic situations where one can violate the strong form of the de Sitter Swampland Conjecture. We stabilize the complex structure and the dilaton with fluxes, and we introduce a racetrack potential that fixes the Kähler moduli. The resultant potentials generically exhibit d…
We investigate swampland conjectures for quantum gravity in the context of M-theory compactified on Calabi-Yau threefolds which admit infinite sequences of flops. Naively, the moduli space of such compactifications contains paths of arbitrary geodesic length traversing an arbitrarily large number of Kähler cones, along which the low-energy spectrum remains virtually unchanged. In cases where the infinite chain of Calabi-Yau manifolds involves only a finite number of isomorphism classes, the moduli space has an infinite discrete symmetry which relates the isomorphic manifolds connected by flops…
We study runaway, kination-dominated epochs in string cosmology. We show how the apparent classical decompactification runaway of the volume modulus, described by a kination epoch in the 4-dimensional EFT, can be uplifted to a classical Kasner solution in 10d in which the non-compact dimensions collapse towards a Big Crunch. This can also be generalised for arbitrary spacetime and compactification dimensions. We conclude with some comments on how this picture is modified by quantum effects, and the need for both dynamical and kinematical Swampland constraints.
Recent string theory tests of swampland ideas like the distance or the dS conjectures have been performed at weak coupling. Testing these ideas beyond the weak coupling regime remains challenging. We propose to exploit the modular symmetries of the moduli effective action to check swampland constraints beyond perturbation theory. As an example we study the case of heterotic 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ compactifications, whose non-perturbative effective action is known to be invariant under modular symmetries acting on the Kähler and complex structure moduli, in particular $SL(2,Z)$ T-dualities (or subg…
We investigate the vacuum structure of four-dimensional effective theory arising from Type IIB flux compactifications on a mirror of the rigid Calabi-Yau threefold, corresponding to a T-dual of the DeWolfe-Giryavets-Kachru-Taylor model in Type IIA flux compactifications. By analyzing the vacuum structure of this interesting corner of string landscape, it turns out that there exist perturbatively unstable de Sitter (dS) vacua in addition to supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric anti-de Sitter vacua. On the other hand, the stable dS vacua appearing in the low-energy effective action violate the …
The Swampland program aims to distinguish effective theories which can be completed into quantum gravity in the ultraviolet from those which cannot. This article forms an introduction to the field, assuming only a knowledge of quantum field theory and general relativity. It also forms a comprehensive review, covering the range of ideas that are part of the field, from the Weak Gravity Conjecture, through compactifications of String Theory, to the de Sitter conjecture.
We present a conjecture for the massless sector of perturbative 4D $N=1$ heterotic $(0,2)$ string vacua, including $U(1)^n$ gauge symmetries,one of them possibly anomalous (like in standard heterotic compactifications). Mathematically it states that the positive hull generated by the charges of the massless chiral multiplets spans a sublattice of the full charge lattice. We have tested this conjecture in many heterotic $N=1$ compactifications in 4D. Our motivation for this conjecture is that it allows to understand a very old puzzle in $(0,2)$ $N=1$ heterotic compactification with an anomalous…
The Swampland Distance Conjecture states that at infinite distance in the scalar moduli space an infinite tower of particles become exponentially massless. We study this issue in the context of 4d type IIA and type IIB Calabi-Yau compactifications. We find that for large moduli not only towers of particles but also domain walls and strings become tensionless. We study in detail the case of type IIA and IIB ${\cal N}=1$ CY orientifolds and show how for infinite Kähler and/or complex structure moduli towers of domain walls and strings become tensionless, depending on the particular direction in …
Perhaps the greatest challenge for fundamental theories based on compactification from extra dimensions is accommodating a period of accelerated cosmological expansion. Previous studies have identified constraints imposed by the existence of dark energy for two overlapping classes of compactified theories: (1) those in which the higher dimensional picture satisfies certain metric properties selected to reproduce known low energy phenomenology; or (2) those derived from string theory assuming they satisfy the Swampland conjectures. For either class, the analyses showed that dark energy is only …
One of the main goals of the field of string phenomenology is to describe the properties of our spacetime in low-energy effective models related to and consistent with string theory. It is known that our universe undergoes accelerated expansion, which can be described in Einstein's theory of general relativity as a positive cosmological constant. Within string theory descriptions, this is realized by a scalar field with a positive value of its potential. Oftentimes, this is modeled by having the scalar at a stable, positive minimum. One then obtains a de Sitter spacetime. Constructions of de S…
We consider Type IIB compactifications on an isotropic torus $T^6$ threaded by geometric and non geometric fluxes. For this particular setup we apply supervised machine learning techniques, namely an artificial neural network coupled to a genetic algorithm, in order to obtain more than sixty thousand flux configurations yielding to a scalar potential with at least one critical point. We observe that both stable AdS vacua with large moduli masses and small vacuum energy as well as unstable dS vacua with small tachyonic mass and large energy are absent, in accordance to the Refined de Sitter Con…
Recent studies on swampland conjectures (e.g. non-SUSY AdS conjecture or AdS distance conjecture) predict that the (lightest) neutrino must be Dirac and the mass must be cosmologically small $m < c Λ^{1/4}_{\text{cc}}\sim 10 \ \text{meV}$. The Dirac neutrino naturally accompanies a $U(1)$ symmetry that can be embedded in the anomaly-free $U(1)_{B-L}$ global symmetry of the standard model. We point out that the swampland conjectures applied to a circle compactification with the $U(1)$ symmetry twisting lead to further constraints. In particular, the $U(1)$ symmetry must be broken down to $\math…
We provide evidence that slow roll is not possible in any parametrically controlled regime of the moduli space of string theory. This is proven in full generality in the asymptotic limit of the moduli space of type II and heterotic Calabi-Yau compactifications for the dilaton and any number of Kähler moduli. Our results suggest that in order to build quintessence into string theory one must work in the interior of moduli space where numerical, even if not parametric, control could still be achieved.
We study the charge-to-mass ratios of BPS states in four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supergravities arising from Calabi-Yau threefold compactifications of Type IIB string theory. We present a formula for the asymptotic charge-to-mass ratio valid for all limits in complex structure moduli space. This is achieved by using the sl(2)-structure that emerges in any such limit as described by asymptotic Hodge theory. The asymptotic charge-to-mass formula applies for sl(2)-elementary states that couple to the graviphoton asymptotically. Using this formula, we determine the radii of the ellipsoid that …
[Abridged] We realize the Agrawal-Obied-Vafa (AOV) swampland proposal of fading dark matter by the model of Salam-Sezgin and its string realization of Cvetic-Gibbons-Pope. The model describes a compactification of 6-dimensional supergravity with a monopole background on a 2-sphere. In 4 dimensions, there are 2 scalar fields, $X$ and $Y $, and the effective potential in the Einstein frame is an exponential with respect to $Y$ times a quadratic polynomial in the field $e^{-X}$. When making the volume of the 2-sphere large, namely for large values of $Y$, there appears a tower of states, which ac…
The Swampland Program aims to address the question, "when does an effective field theory model of quantum gravity have an ultraviolet complete embedding in string theory?", and can be regarded as a bottom-up approach to investigations of quantum gravity. An alternative top-down approach aim to explore the imprints and the constraints imposed by the string theory dualities and symmetries on the effective field theory representations of quantum gravity. The most celebrated example of this approach is mirror symmetry. Mirror symmetry was first observed in worldsheet contructions of string compact…
We propose Swampland constraints on consistent 5-dimensional ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity theories. We focus on a special class of BPS magnetic monopole strings which arise in gravitational theories. The central charges and the levels of current algebras of 2d CFTs on these strings can be calculated by anomaly inflow mechanism and used to provide constraints on the low-energy particle spectrum and the effective action of the 5d supergravity based on unitarity of the worldsheet CFT. In M-theory, where these theories are realized by compactification on Calabi-Yau 3-folds, the special monopole strin…
We consider string theory vacua with tadpoles for dynamical fields and uncover universal features of the resulting spacetime-dependent solutions. We argue that the solutions can extend only a finite distance $Δ$ away in the spacetime dimensions over which the fields vary, scaling as $Δ^n\sim {\cal T}$ with the strength of the tadpole ${\cal T}$. We show that naive singularities arising at this distance scale are physically replaced by ends of spacetime, related to the cobordism defects of the swampland cobordism conjecture and involving stringy ingredients like orientifold planes and branes, o…
We study a Type IIB isotropic toroidal compactification with non-geometric fluxes. Under the assumption of a hierarchy on the moduli, an effective scalar potential is constructed showing a runaway direction on the real part of the Kähler modulus while the rest of the moduli are stabilized. For the effective model to be consistent it is required that displacements in the field space are finite. Infinite distances in field space would imply a breakdown in the hierarchy assumption on the moduli. In this context, the Swampland Distance Conjecture is satisfied suggesting the possibility of leaving …
