Related papers: $H_0$ tension and the String Swampland
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…
The recently proposed de Sitter swampland conjecture excludes local extrema of a scalar potential with a positive energy density in a low energy effective theory. Under the conjecture, the observed dark energy cannot be explained by the…
We investigate dualities between ${\mathbf{Z}}_2$ quotients of recently proposed compactifications of M-theory on `quantum geometries' of the form ${\mathbf{S}}^1\vee{\mathbf{S}}^1$ and 10d orientifolds of type 0A and 0B string theories. In…
The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First we review in detail the geometric aspects of the swampland program for supersymmetric 4d effective theories using a new and unifying language we dub `domestic geometry', the generalization of…
We study the phenomenology of superheavy decaying dark matter with mass around $10^{10}$ GeV which can arise in the low-energy limit of string compactifications. Generic features of string theory setups (such as high scale supersymmetry…
An important unsolved problem that affects practically all attempts to connect string theory to cosmology and phenomenology is how to distinguish effective field theories belonging to the string landscape from those that are not consistent…
We propose a framework for the low-energy realization of supersymmetry which is very predictive, but differs radically in its phenomenological implications from the supersymmetric Standard Model (minimal or otherwise). The proposal consists…
We consider "super no-scale models" in the framework of the heterotic string, where the N=4,2,1 --> 0 spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry is induced by geometrical fluxes realizing a stringy Scherk-Schwarz perturbative mechanism.…
We study the existence and stability of classical de Sitter solutions of type II supergravities with parallel Dp-branes and orientifold Op-planes. Together with the dilaton and volume scalar fields, we consider a third one that…
Axion as a coherently oscillating massive scalar field is known to behave as a zero-pressure irrotational fluid with characteristic quantum stress on a small scale. In relativistic perturbation theory, the case was proved in the…
We explore cosmological implications of a genuinely Weyl invariant (WI) gravitational interaction. The latter reduces to general relativity in a particular conformal frame for which the gravitational coupling and active gravitational masses…
The discrepancy between Planck data and direct measurements of the current expansion rate $H_0$ and the matter fluctuation amplitude $S_8$ has become one of the most intriguing puzzles in cosmology nowadays. The $H_0$ tension has reached…
I argue that the ten dimensional non--supersymmetric tachyonic superstrings may serve as good starting points for the construction of viable phenomenological vacua. Thus, enlarging the space of possible solutions that may address some of…
The Einstein-Hilbert worldspace action is used to investigate the dynamics of extended object. In the Robertson-Walker worldspace, this is seen to introduce a pressureless density which could contribute to dark matter. Such pressureless…
In this paper, using the latest Pantheon+ sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) measurements, and observational Hubble data (OHD), we carry out a joint constraint on the Hubble constant $H_0$, the spatial…
In a recent model of dark energy (with several phenomenological consequences), the universe is assumed to be trapped in a false vacuum with an energy density of the order of (10^{-3} eV)^4, mimicking the presently successful $\Lambda CDM$…
This thesis investigates the role of the quantum gravity cut-off for effective field theories (EFTs) coupled to Einstein gravity, with an emphasis on its implications at low energies within the context of the Swampland program. Part I…
A mechanism for addressing the 'decompactification problem' is proposed, which consists of balancing the vacuum energy in Scherk-Schwarzed theories against contributions coming from non- perturbative physics. Universality of threshold…
Supernova (SN) and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) distance measures have recently provided hints that the dark energy is not only dynamical but apparently evolves from normal to phantom dark energy between redshifts $0<z<1$. A normal…
Presently, we are facing a 3$\sigma$ tension in the most basic cosmological parameter -- the Hubble constant $H_0$. This tension arises when fitting the Lambda-cold-dark-matter model ($\Lambda$CDM) to the high-precision…