Related papers: Planckian Axions and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
We generalize the embedding of induced-gravity inflation beyond the no-scale Supergravity presented in arXiv:1403.5486 employing two gauge singlet chiral superfields, a superpotential uniquely determined by applying a continuous R and a…
We consider the class of effective supergravity theories from the weakly coupled heterotic string in which local supersymmetry is broken by gaugino condensation in a hidden sector, with dilaton stabilization achieved through corrections to…
With the Planck 2015 result, most of the well known canonical large field inflation models turned out to be strongly disfavored. Axion inflation is one of such models which is becoming marginalized with the increasing precession of CMB…
In four-dimensional axion electrodynamics, a Chern-Simons coupling of the form $\theta F \wedge F$ leads to a higher-group global symmetry between background gauge fields. At the same time, such a Chern-Simons coupling leads to a mixing…
We search for effective axions with super-Planckian decay constants in type IIB string models. We argue that such axions can be realised as long winding trajectories in complex-structure moduli space by an appropriate flux choice. Our main…
The axionic weak gravity conjecture predicts the existence of instantons whose actions are less than their charges in appropriate units. We show that the conjecture is satisfied for the axion-dilaton-gravity system if we assume duality…
Within the known landscape of quantum gravity, most theories satisfy the Lattice Weak Gravity Conjecture (LWGC), which requires a superextremal particle at every site in the electric charge lattice $\Gamma$. However, counterexamples to the…
String theory axions are interesting candidates for fields whose potential might be controllable over super-Planckian field ranges and therefore as possible candidates for inflatons in large field inflation. Axion monodromy scenarios are…
In this paper we explored in detail a phenomenological model of modified single field natural inflation in light of recent cosmological experiments, BICEP2. Our main goal is to construct an inflationary model which not only predicts the…
We study implications of the weak gravity conjecture in the AdS/CFT correspondence. Unlike in Minkowski spacetime, AdS spacetime has a physical length scale, so that the conjecture must be generalized with an additional parameter. We…
We explore the notion of approximate global symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity. We show that a variety of conjectures about quantum gravity, including the weak gravity conjecture, the distance conjecture, and the…
In this talk, I review briefly a scenario for the evolution of a string-inspired cosmological model, in which condensates of primordial gravitational waves (GW), formed at the very early eras after the Big Bang, are considered responsible…
In the presence of large extra dimensions, the fundamental Planck scale can be much lower than the apparent four-dimensional Planck scale. In this setup, the weak gravity conjecture implies a much more stringent constraint on the UV cutoff…
There exists a widely spread notion that gravitational effects can strongly violate global symmetries. It may lead to many important consequences. We will argue, in particular, that nonperturbative gravitational effects in the axion theory…
We discuss the gravitational waves (GW) in the context of vector inflation. We derive the action for tensor perturbations and find that tachyonic instabilities are present in most (but not all) of the inflationary models with large fields.…
We initiate the analysis of the inflationary dynamics in Weyl-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity nonminimally coupled to the Standard Model of particle physics. We take the axion-like particle of gravitational origin to be heavy and show…
Almost all known theories of quantum gravity satisfy the Lattice Weak Gravity Conjecture (LWGC), which posits that a consistent theory of quantum gravity must have a superextremal particle at every site in the charge lattice. However, a…
We study pseudoscalar inflation in the Einstein-Cartan-Palatini (first-order) formulation of gravity while allowing for torsion. We introduce two non-minimal interactions in the gravitational sector: pseudoscalar couplings to the Pontryagin…
The $S$-matrix formulation of gravity suggests that the $\theta$-vacuum structure must not be sustained by the theory. We point out that, when applied to the vacuum of general relativity, this criterion hints to supersymmetry. The…
Large field inflation is arguably the simplest and most natural variant of slow-roll inflation. Axion monodromy may be the most promising framework for realising this scenario. As one of its defining features, the long-range polynomial…