Related papers: Non-BPS path to the string lamppost
Recently, Kim, Shiu and Vafa proposed general consistency conditions for six dimensional supergravity theories with minimal supersymmetry coming from couplings to strings. We test them in explicit perturbative orientifold models in order to…
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…
The Swampland Distance Conjecture (SDC) states that, for any infinite-distance limit in the moduli space of a quantum gravity effective field theory (EFT), there should exist an infinite tower of states that become exponentially light.…
We review the recent developments in our understanding of non-BPS states and branes in string theory. The topics include 1) construction of unstable non-BPS D-branes in type IIA and type IIB string theories, 2) construction of stable…
In the previous paper [hep-th/9904112], we argued that there exist BPS bound states of Dp branes carrying certain units of quantized constant electric field for every $p$ (with $1 \le p \le 8$). Each of these bound states preserves one half…
The landscape of possible four-dimensional low-energy effective theories arising from compactifications of string/M-theory seems vast. This might lead one to believe that any consistent-looking effective field theory coupled to gravity can…
Motivated by the recently proposed bounds on the slow-roll parameters for scalar potentials arising from string/M-theory compactifications, a.k.a. the Refined de Sitter Swampland conjecture, we explore the sharpness of such constraints…
In extended supergravity theories there are $p$-brane solutions preserving different numbers of supersymmetries, depending on the charges, the spacetime dimension and the number of original supersymmetries (8, 16 or 32). We find U-duality…
The axion Weak Gravity Conjecture implies that when parametrically increasing the axion decay constants, instanton corrections become increasingly important. We provide strong evidence for the validity of this conjecture by studying the…
The most natural expectation away from asymptotic limits in moduli space of supergravity theories is the desert scenario, where there are few states between massless fields and the quantum gravity cutoff. In this paper we initiate a…
In recent times, a considerable effort has been dedicated to identify certain conditions -- the so-called swampland conjectures -- with an eye on identifying effective theories which have no consistent UV-completions in string theory. In…
Via a series of Kaluza-Klein (KK) and Scherk-Schwarz (SS) compactifications we relate BPS attractors and their complete (in general non-BPS) flows to a Minkowski vacuum in gauged supergravities with vanishing scalar potential in 4, 5, and 6…
We determine, in two independent ways, the number of BPS quantum states arising from supergravity degrees of freedom in a system with fixed total D4D0 charge. First, we count states generated by quantizing the spacetime degrees of freedom…
We study the mass and different RR charge distributions of the BPS (p,p-2)-brane bound states in the closed string brane-like $\sigma$-model. We show that such brane bound states can be realized by introducing a constant B field in the…
We investigate the global structure of the states becoming light at perturbative limits of 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ string and M-theory compactifications, identifying the different duality frames that emerge asymptotically and how they fit…
In this work we investigate the Swampland Cobordism Conjecture in the context of type IIB string theory geometries with non-trivial duality bundle. Quite remarkably, we find that many non-trivial bordism classes with duality bundles in…
We study a class of Little String Theories (LSTs) of A type, described by $N$ parallel M5-branes spread out on a circle and which in the low energy regime engineer supersymmetric gauge theories with $U(N)$ gauge group. The BPS states in…
It has recently been realised that there are supersymmetry-preserving non-relativistic decoupling limits associated with each half-BPS object in String Theory and M-Theory. We argue that, given a $p$-brane and a $q$-brane for which there is…
We consider an embedding of the extremal four-dimensional Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole into type $IIB$ string theory. The equivalent type $IIB$ configuration, in the D-brane weak-coupling picture, is a bound state of D1- and D5-branes…
Supersymmetric closed string theories contain an infinite tower of BPS-saturated, oscillating, macroscopic strings in the perturbative spectrum. When these theories have dual formulations, this tower of states must exist nonperturbatively…