AdS scale separation and the distance conjecture

It has been proposed that flux compactifications of supercritical string theories (i.e., with spacetime dimension D > 10) have dS vacua, with large D acting as a control parameter for corrections to the classical spacetime effective action. In this paper, we provide a detailed analysis of the self-consistency of such models, focussing on α′ and backreaction corrections. We first show that all supercritical AdS, Minkowski and dS vacua in this setting have $$ \gtrsim \mathcal{O}(1) $$ ≳ O 1 curvature and/or field strengths in the string frame. This may be in tension with suppressing α′ corrections unless the coefficients of the higher-derivative terms have a sufficiently strong large-D suppression. We then argue that an additional and more severe problem arises in the dS case due to the backreaction of O-planes. In particular, we argue using a combination of geometric bounds and string-theory constraints that the O-plane backreaction is large in supercritical dS models. This implies that a large part of the naive classical geometry is eaten up by singular holes and thus indicates a breakdown of the classical description. Our finding resonates with several other recent results suggesting that string theory does not admit dS vacua in regimes where string and backreaction corrections are under control. As byproducts of our analysis, we derive a number of technical results that are useful beyond the specific applications in this paper. In particular, we compute the leading backreaction corrections to the smeared solution in a general flux compactification from D to d dimensions for an arbitrary distribution of O-planes and D-branes. We further argue for a general estimate for Green’s functions on compact manifolds (and therefore for the backreaction corrections) in terms of their diameter, volume and dimension.

Section: Jhep12(2023)196mentioning

confidence: 99%

de Sitter-eating O-planes in supercritical string theory

Junghans

2023

“…Meanwhile, there are several counterexamples in string models allowing the scale separation (see, for example, [15] and references therein). Moreover, in the language of the low energy effective supergravity, the size of Λ is determined by the amount of supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uplift and towers of states in warped throat

Seo

2023

We investigate the connection between the distance conjecture and the uplift potential. For this purpose, we consider the concrete model, the warped deformed conifold embedded into Type IIB flux compactifications, with the uplift potential produced by $$ \overline{\textrm{D}3} $$ D 3 ¯ -branes at the tip of the throat. Whereas the various mass scales associated with towers of states can be found, it turns out that the lightest tower mass scale satisfies the scaling behavior with respect to the uplift potential, which is meaningful provided the number of $$ \overline{\textrm{D}3} $$ D 3 ¯ -branes is nonzero. This indicates that the effective theory becomes invalid in the vanishing limit of the uplift potential by the descent of an infinite tower of states from UV, as predicted in the distance conjecture. Since too large uplift potential is also problematic due to the runaway behavior of the moduli potential as well as the sizeable backreaction of $$ \overline{\textrm{D}3} $$ D 3 ¯ -branes, the uplift potential is bounded from both above and below. In the simple model like the KKLT or the large volume scenario in which non-perturbative effect is dominatd by the single term, this bound can be rewritten as the bound on the size of the superpotential.

Domain walls and distances in discrete landscapes

Basile,

Montella

2024

We explore a notion of distance between vacua of a discrete landscape that takes into account scalar potentials and fluxes via transitions mediated by domain walls. Such settings commonly arise in supergravity and string compactifications with stabilized moduli. We derive general bounds and simple estimates in supergravity which constrain deviations from the ordinary swampland distance conjecture based on moduli space geodesics, and we connect this picture to renormalization group flows via holography.