Related papers: String Tension between de Sitter vacua and Curvatu…
We argue that the heterotic string does not have classical vacua corresponding to de Sitter space-times of dimension four or higher. The same conclusion applies to type II vacua in the absence of RR fluxes. Our argument extends prior…
The first quantum correction to the IIA string effective action arises at the eight-derivative level and takes the schematic form (t_8 t_8 - 1/8 \epsilon\epsilon)R^4 + B_2 \wedge X_8. This correction, however, cannot be complete by itself,…
It has been speculated in the literature that the effective actions of string theories at any order of $\alpha'$ should be invariant under the Buscher rules plus their higher covariant derivative corrections. This may be used as a…
We present a class of static, spherically symmetric, non-singular solutions of the tree-level string effective action, truncated to first order in $\alpha'$. In the string frame the solutions approach asymptotically (at $r\to 0$ and $r\to…
Using the stationary formulation of the toroidally compactified heterotic string theory in terms of a pair of matrix Ernst potentials we consider the four-dimensional truncation of this theory with no U(1) vector fields excited. Imposing…
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…
The classical effective action in string theory is background-independent, and its invariance under the Buscher rules constrains its form up to a few parameters. This work investigates how this picture changes at the quantum level, where…
We review the prospect of obtaining tree-level de Sitter (dS) vacua and slow-roll inflation models in string compactifications. Restricting ourselves to the closed string sector and assuming the absence of NSNS-sources, we classify the…
We examine to what extent perturbative alpha'-corrections can generate a small cosmological constant in warped string compactifications. Focusing on the heterotic string at lowest order in the string loop expansion, we show that, for a…
It has been notoriously difficult to construct a meta-stable de Sitter (dS) vacuum in string theory in a controlled approximation. This suggests the possibility that meta-stable dS belongs to the swampland. In this paper, we propose a…
We review various aspects of de Sitter spacetime in string theory: its status as an effective field theory spacetime solution, its relation to the vacuum energy problem in string theory, its (global) holographic definition in terms of two…
The search for classically stable Type IIA de-Sitter vacua typically starts with an ansatz that gives Anti-de-Sitter supersymmetric vacua and then raises the cosmological constant by modifying the compactification. As one raises the…
The string theory swampland proposes that there is no UV-completion for an effective field theory with an exact (metastable) de Sitter vacua, thereby ruling out standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmology if the conjecture is taken seriously. The…
Higher-derivative interactions and transformation rules of the fields in the effective field theories of the massless string states are strongly constrained by space-time symmetries and dualities. Here we use an exact formulation of ten…
The cosmology of the fully $\alpha'$-corrected duality-invariant action for the Neveu-Schwarz sector of string theory is revisited, with special emphasis on its coupling to matter sources. The role of the duality covariant pressure and…
We argue that dS vacua in the LARGE-volume scenario of type IIB string theory are vulnerable to various unsuppressed curvature, warping and $g_s$ corrections. We work out in general how these corrections affect the moduli vevs, the vacuum…
We revisit the classical theory of ten-dimensional two-derivative gravity coupled to fluxes, scalar fields, D-branes, anti D-branes and Orientifold-planes. We show that such set-ups do not give rise to a four-dimensional positive curvature…
We report two surprising results on $\alpha'$ corrections in string theory restricted to massless fields. First, for critical dimension Bianchi type I cosmologies with $q$ scale factors only $q-1$ of them have non-trivial $\alpha'$…
We ask to what extent are the higher-derivative corrections of string theory constrained by T-duality. The seminal early work by Meissner tests T-duality by reduction to one dimension using a distinguished choice of field variables in which…
The spacetime physics of bulk closed string tachyon condensation is studied at the level of a two-derivative effective action. We derive the unique perturbative tachyon potential consistent with a full class of linearized tachyonic…