Related papers: Theta-problem and the String Swampland

We address the issue of topological angles in the context of two dimensional SU(N) Yang-Mills theory coupled to massive fermions in the adjoint representation. Classification of the resulting multiplicity of vacua is carried outin terms of…

Double Field Theory suggests to view the whole massless sector of closed strings as the gravitational unity. The fundamental symmetries therein, including the $\mathbf{O}(D,D)$ covariance, can determine unambiguously how the Standard Model…

String theory has strong implications for cosmology: it tells us that we cannot have a cosmological constant, that single-field slow-roll inflation is ruled out, and that black holes decay. We elucidate the origin of these statements within…

This study toward quantum gravity (QG) introduces an SU(N) gauge theory with the \Theta vacuum term for gravitational interactions, which leads to a group SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y x SU(3)_C for weak and strong interactions through dynamical…

Completeness of the spectrum of charged branes in a quantum theory of gravity naturally motivates the question of whether consistency of what lives on the branes can be used to explain some of the Swampland conditions. In this paper we…

We recently proposed a solution to the hierarchy problem not relying on low-energy supersymmetry or technicolor. Instead, the problem is nullified by bringing quantum gravity down to the TeV scale. This is accomplished by the presence of $n…

We study string theory in supersymmetric time-dependent backgrounds. In the framework of general relativity, supersymmetry for spacetimes without flux implies the existence of a covariantly constant null vector, and a relatively simple form…

We invoke probe brane arguments to classify the asymptotic behavior of general five-dimensional supergravity theories with eight supercharges near infinite distance boundaries of the vector multiplet moduli space. Imposing consistency of…

The particle spectrum of the supersymmetric extension of the standard model with a gauge singlet is studied. Soft supersymmetry breaking terms are explicitly chosen to be non-universal according to orbifold string theory. they depend on…

In this thesis, two aspects of string theory are discussed, tensionless strings and supersymmetric sigma models. The equivalent to a massless particle in string theory is a tensionless string. Even almost 30 years after it was first…

We study supergravity duals of strongly coupled four dimensional gauge theories formulated on compact quotients of hyperbolic spaces. The resulting background geometries are represented by Euclidean wormholes, which complicates establishing…

The Einstein-Proca system is studied in the case of a complex vector-field self-interacting through an appropriate potential with a global U(1) symmetry. The corresponding equations for a static, cylindrically symmetric metric and matter…

The consistency of string theory as a theory of gravity does not rely on the presence of spacetime supersymmetry; however, its absence leads to the emergence of tadpole diagrams in the on-shell worldsheet formulation, thus undermining our…

We investigate the possibility of false vacuum decay in $N=1$ supergravity theories. By establishing a Bogomol'nyi bound for the energy density stored in the domain wall of the $O(4)$ invariant bubble, we show that supersymmetric vacua…

We deform the standard four dimensional $\N=1$ superspace by making the odd coordinates $\theta$ not anticommuting, but satisfying a Clifford algebra. Consistency determines the other commutation relations of the coordinates. In particular,…

Vacuum compactifications may suffer from instabilities under small perturbations or tunnel effects; both are difficult to analyze. In this paper we consider the issue from a higher-dimensional perspective. We first look at how stability…

Compactifying the Standard Model (SM) on a circle may lead to AdS 3D vacua, depending on the character (Majorana or Dirac) and the mass of the lightest neutrino. It has been shown that, imposing the Ooguri-Vafa conjecture that no stable…

The general form of N=2 supergravity coupled to an arbitrary number of vector multiplets and hypermultiplets, with a generic gauging of the scalar manifold isometries is given. This extends the results already available in the literature in…

We consider the implications of the swampland conjectures on scalar-tensor theories defined in the Einstein frame in which the scalar interaction is screened. We show that chameleon models are not in the swampland provided the coupling to…

We consider static, spherically symmetric, electrically or/and magnetically charged configurations of a minimally coupled scalar field with an arbitrary potential $V(\phi)$ in general relativity. Using the inverse problem method, we obtain…