Related papers: A Framework for the Landscape
We consider the question of asymptotic observables in cosmology. We assume that string theory contains a landscape of vacua, and that metastable de Sitter regions can decay to zero cosmological constant by bubble nucleation. The asymptotic…
The string theory landscape consists of many metastable de Sitter vacua, populated by eternal inflation. Tunneling between these vacua gives rise to a dynamical system, which asymptotically settles down to an equilibrium state. We…
Recent developments in string theory suggest that string theory landscape of vacua is vast. It is natural to ask if this landscape is as vast as allowed by consistent-looking effective field theories. We use universality ideas from string…
A quantum mechanical formulation of de Sitter cosmological spacetimes still eludes string theory. In this paper we conjecture a potentially rigorous framework in which the status of de Sitter space is the same as that of a resonance in a…
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…
There is evidence that string theory possesses a large discretuum of stable and/or metastable ground states, with zero or four supersymmetries in four dimensions. I discuss critically the nature of this evidence. Assuming this "landscape"…
I discuss conceptual issues associated with the presence of metastable AdS vacua in the string landscape. The geometry of the decay from one AdS to another is presented in detail, and various subtleties that are not present for flat or dS…
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…
A new quantization scheme for a massive scalar field in de Sitter spacetime is proposed, based on the general boundary formulation of quantum field theory. We show that the general interacting theory can be consistently described in terms…
There have been many attempts to construct de Sitter space-times in string theory. While arguably there have been some successes, this has proven challenging, leading to the de Sitter swampland conjecture: quantum theories of gravity do not…
Progress in string theory has resulted in a whole landscape of vacua solutions.In this talk I describe a proposal for exploring the cosmological implications of the landscape, based on the dynamics of the wavefunction of the universe…
The much-discussed swampland conjectures suggest significant constraints on the properties of string theory landscape and on the nature of the multiverse that this landscape can support. The conjectures are especially constraining for…
We construct purely non-perturbative anti-de Sitter vacua in string theory which, on uplifting to a de Sitter (dS) one, have a decay time many orders of magnitude smaller than those of standard constructions, such as the KKLT and LVS…
$S$-matrix formulation of gravity excludes de Sitter vacua. In particular, this is organic to string theory. The $S$-matrix constraint is enforced by an anomalous quantum break-time proportional to the inverse values of gravitational and/or…
We demonstrate a first-principle analysis of the string theory landscapes in the framework of non-critical string/matrix models. In particular, we discuss non-perturbative instability, decay rate and the true vacuum of perturbative string…
We solve the equation of motion of boundary string field theory allowing generic boundary operators quadratic in $X$, and explore string theory non-perturbative vacua with massive state condensation. Using numerical analysis, a large number…
We discuss the obstacles for defining a set of observable quantities analogous to an S-matrix which are needed to formulate string theory in an accelerating universe. We show that the quintessence models with the equations of state $-1 < w…
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…
The apparent observation of dark energy poses problems for string theory. In de Sitter space, or in quintessence models, one cannot define a gauge-invariant S-matrix. We argue that eternal quintessence does not arise in weakly coupled…
The cosmological constant puzzle, traditionally viewed as a naturalness problem, is evidently nullified by the $S$-matrix formulation of quantum gravity/string theory. We point out an implication of this fact for another naturalness puzzle,…