Related papers: $H_0$ tension and the String Swampland
If the electroweak Higgs vacuum expectation value $v$ in early universe is $\sim 1 \%$ higher than its present value $v_0=246$ GeV, the $^7$Li puzzle in BBN and the CMB/$\Lambda$CDM tension with late-universe measurements on Hubble…
$\Lambda$CDM provides a leading framework in the interpretation of modern cosmology. Nevertheless, the scientific community still struggles with many open problems in cosmology. Among the most noticeable ones, the tension in the Hubble…
We consider a static open string in arbitrary stationary spacetime, which can represent a heavy quark-antiquark pair within the holographic framework or effective theory. Generally, the string profile is not symmetric with respect to the…
A model of dark energy and dark matter was proposed earlier by one of us (PQH) which involved an unbroken gauge group $SU(2)_Z$ whose coupling $\alpha_Z \equiv g_Z^2/4 \pi\sim O(1)$ at a scale $\Lambda_Z \sim 3 \times 10^{-3} eV$ starting…
The persistent challenge of creating stable de Sitter vacua within string theory undermines the observational validity of the $\Lambda$ cold dark matter (CDM) model. This difficulty suggests that the concordance model of cosmology,…
We review the advanced version of the KKLT construction and pure $d=4$ de Sitter supergravity, involving a nilpotent multiplet, with regard to various conjectures that de Sitter state cannot exist in string theory. We explain why we…
The entire eigenvalue spectrum of the operators on the squashed $S^7$ that appear in the Freund-Rubin compactification of eleven-dimensional supergravity was recently derived in [1 - 4]. Here we give a brief account of this work which…
Inspired by thermodynamical dissipative phenomena, we consider bulk viscosity for dark fluid in a spatially flat two-component Universe. Our viscous dark energy model represents Phantom crossing avoiding Big-Rip singularity. We propose a…
We minimally extend the SM with a Z$_2$ symmetric potential containing a single scalar field, serving as our inflaton with a quartic self-coupling. In the model we have symmetry breaking in both sectors, and with the addition of an…
Mirror symmetry is one of the celebrated developments in pure mathematics that arose from an initial observation in worldsheet string constructions. The profound implications of mirror symmetry in the Effective Field Theory (EFT) limit of…
We study a class of six-dimensional models based on positive curvature surfaces (spherical 2-orbifolds) as extra-spaces. Using the Newman-Penrose formalism, we discuss the particle spectrum in this class of models. The fermion spectrum…
We find a new family of supersymmetric vacuum solutions in the six-dimensional chiral gauged N=(1,0) supergravity theory. They are generically of the form AdS_3 x S^3, where the 3-sphere is squashed homogeneously along its Hopf fibres. The…
Local methods of direct determination of the Hubble constant and $\sigma_8$ seem to conflict with the predictions made from the cosmic microwave background and $\Lambda$CDM. We propose a proof-of-concept model that models portions of the…
In six dimensions, cancellation of gauge, gravitational, and mixed anomalies strongly constrains the set of quantum field theories which can be coupled consistently to gravity. We show that for some classes of six-dimensional supersymmetric…
In this talk I summarize several recent results concerning the four-dimensional effective supergravity obtained using a Calabi-Yau compactification of the $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic string from M-theory. A simple macroscopic study is…
We consider string/M-theory reductions on a compact space $X=X^\text{loc} \cup X^\circ$, where $X^\text{loc}$ contains the singular locus, and $X^\circ$ its complement. For the resulting supergravity theories, we construct a suitable…
We investigate a cosmological model inspired by hybrid inflation, where two scalar fields representing dark energy (DE) and dark matter (DM) interact through a coupling that is proportional to the DE scalar field $1/\phi$. The strength of…
Several interesting Dark Matter (DM) models invoke a dark sector leading to two types of relic particles, possibly interacting with each other: non-relativistic DM, and relativistic Dark Radiation (DR). These models have interesting…
The cosmographic approach is adopted to determine the spatial curvature (i.e., $\Omega_K$) combining the latest released cosmic chronometers data (CC), the Pantheon sample of type Ia supernovae observations, and the baryon acoustic…
Embedding hidden sector supergravity models in the framework of string theory leads to the appearance of axion-like degrees of freedom. Among them is the model independent axion of heterotic string theory. It has a decay constant of order…