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In string theory, the traditional picture of a Universe that emerges from the inflation of a very small and highly curved space-time patch is a possibility, not a necessity: quite different initial conditions are possible, and not…
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…
A low-energy effective theory is said to be in the swampland if it does not have any consistent UV completion inside a theory of quantum gravity. The natural question is if the standard model of particle physics, possibly with some minimal…
In this review we argue that four-dimensional effective field theory descriptions with de Sitter isometries are allowed in the presence of time-dependent internal degrees of freedom in type IIB string landscape. Both moduli stabilizations…
We initiate the program of bottom-up derivation of string theory dualities using Swampland principles. In particular, we clarify the relation between Swampland arguments and all the string theory dualities in $d\geq9$ dimensional…
In what has become a standard eternal inflation picture of the string landscape there are many problematic consequences and a difficulty defining probabilities for the occurrence of each type of universe. One feature in particular that…
Superstring theories are very promising theoretically, but the enormous landscape of string vacua and the (likely) very large underlying string scale imply that they may never be tested directly. Nevertheless, concrete constructions…
In this talk we present a model of the universe in which dark energy is modelled explicitely with both a dynamical quintessence field and a cosmological constant. Our results confirm the possibility of a collapsing universe (for a given…
We present a toy metric of spacetime travel from topological change. A bubble-like baby universe is detached and re-attached from our universe. Depending on where the bubble is re-attached, matter may travel superluminally or…
We review recent progress in our understanding of the physics of black holes. In particular, we discuss the ideas from string theory that explain the entropy of black holes from a counting of microstates of the hole, and the related…
We provide further motivation for the string lamppost principle in 9d supergravities. Using a blend of ideas which includes Swampland conjectures, finiteness of black hole entropy, and classification of SCFTs, we show that infinite distance…
The effective vacuum energy density contributed by the non-trivial contortion distribution and the bare vacuum energy density can be viewed as the energy density of the auxiliary quintessence field potential. We find that the negative bare…
There are two important examples of physical systems which violate the strong energy condition : Universes (like, it would seem, our own) with a positive cosmological constant, and wormholes. We suggest that a positive cosmological constant…
A vast array of (metastable) vacuum solutions arise from string compactifications, each leading to different 4-d laws of physics. The space of these solutions, known as the string landscape, allows for an environmental solution to the…
We develop the effective worldvolume theory for the dynamics of black branes with charges of the kind that arise in many supergravities and low-energy limits of string theory. Using this theory, we construct numerous new rotating black…
Infinite distance limits in the moduli space of a quantum gravity theory are characterized by having infinite towers of states becoming light, as dictated by the Distance Conjecture in the Swampland program. These towers imply a drastic…
The late-time behavior of our universe is one of accelerated expansion, or that of a de Sitter space, and therefore motivates us to look for time-dependent backgrounds. Finding such backgrounds in string theory has always been a challenging…
Chain inflation takes place in the string theory landscape as the universe tunnels rapidly through a series of ever lower energy vacua such as may be characterized by quantized changes in four form fluxes. The string landscape may be well…
We critically assess the twin prospects of describing the observed universe in string theory, and using cosmological experiments to probe string theory. For the purposes of this short review, we focus on the limitations imposed by our…
We discuss the Swampland Distance Conjecture in the framework of black hole thermodynamics. In particular, we consider black holes in de Sitter space and we show that the Swampland Distance Conjecture is a consequence of the fact that…