Related papers: A Framework for the Landscape

A radiatively stable de Sitter spacetime is constructed by considering an intrinsically non-commutative and generalized-geometric formulation of string theory, which is related to a family of F-theory models endowed with non-trivial…

Recently, it has become clear that neighboring multiple vacua might have interesting consequences for the physics of the early universe. In this paper we investigate the topography of the string landscape corresponding to complex structure…

Theories of the cosmological constant fall into two classes, those in which the vacuum energy is fixed by the fundamental theory and those in which it is adjustable in some way. For each class we discuss key challenges. The string theory…

We consider new cosmological solutions with a collapsing, an intermediate and an expanding phase. The boundary between the expanding (collapsing) phase and the intermediate phase is seen by comoving observers as a cosmological past (future)…

We show that four-dimensional de Sitter space is a Glauber-Sudarshan state, i.e. a coherent state, over a supersymmetric solitonic background in full string theory. We argue that such a state is only realized in the presence of temporally…

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 use the S-matrix bootstrap to carve out the space of unitary, crossing symmetric and supersymmetric graviton scattering amplitudes in ten dimensions. We focus on the leading Wilson coefficient $\alpha$ controlling the leading correction…

After reviewing the cosmological constant problem - why is Lambda not huge? - I outline the two basic approaches that had emerged by the late 1980s, and note that each made a clear prediction. Precision cosmological experiments now indicate…

It has recently been argued that string theory does not admit de Sitter vacua. This would imply that the current accelerated expansion of the universe is not driven by a cosmological constant (or vacuum energy) but by other means such as a…

We argue that the study of the statistics of the landscape of string vacua provides the first potentially predictive -- and also falsifiable -- framework for string theory. The question of whether the theory does or does not predict low…

For landscapes of field theory vacua, we identify an effect that can greatly enhance the decay rates to wildly distant minima--so much so that such transitions may dominate over transitions to near neighbors. We exhibit these 'giant leaps'…

I examine some non-anthropic approaches to the string landscape. These approaches are based on finding the initial conditions of the universe using the wavefunction of the multiverse to select the most probable vacuum out of this landscape.…

We propose that the existence of the string landscape suggests the universe can be in a quantum glass state, where an extremely large viscosity is generated, and long distance dynamics slows down. At the same time, the short distance…

It was shown by Garriga and Vilenkin that the circular shape of nucleated cosmic strings, of zero loop-energy in de Sitter space, is stable in the sense that the ratio of the mean fluctuation amplitude to the loop radius is constant. This…

The suggestion that there exist causally disconnected universes or sub-universes to explain the values of physical parameters such as the cosmological constant is discussed. A statistical model of the string landscape/topography is…

The existence of de-Sitter solutions and their stability within string theory became, in recent years, one of the central research questions within the string theory community. The so-called de-Sitter conjecture states that the de-Sitter…

We discuss the problem of introducing background spacetimes of the de Sitter type (quintessential backgrounds) in the context of fundamental theories involving supersymmetry. The role of a model presented in 1984, showing that these…

String geometry theory is one of the candidates of the non-perturbative formulation of superstring theory. In this paper, in string geometry theory, we identify perturbative heterotic vacua, which include general heterotic backgrounds. From…

The higher-derivative $\alpha'$ corrections consistent with $O(d,d)$ duality invariance can be completely classified for cosmological, purely time-dependent backgrounds. This result is used to show that there are duality invariant theories…

In a recent paper [1] we showed that N=1 supersymmetric QCD in the presence of certain superpotential deformations has a rich landscape of supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric vacua. In this paper we embed this theory in string theory as a…