Swampland distance conjecture, inflation and α-attractors
Abstract The Swampland Distance Conjecture (SDC) constraints the dynamics emerging at infinite distances in field space of any effective field theory consistent with quantum gravity. It provides a relation between the cut-off in energies and the field range which, as we show, in the context of infla...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2019-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of High Energy Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/JHEP08(2019)160 |
| _version_ | 1818276450313175040 |
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| author | Marco Scalisi Irene Valenzuela |
| author_facet | Marco Scalisi Irene Valenzuela |
| author_sort | Marco Scalisi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Swampland Distance Conjecture (SDC) constraints the dynamics emerging at infinite distances in field space of any effective field theory consistent with quantum gravity. It provides a relation between the cut-off in energies and the field range which, as we show, in the context of inflation it yields a universal upper bound on the inflaton excursion in terms of the tensor-to-scalar ratio, measured at typical CMB scales. In this note, we investigate the interplay between the SDC and the emergent inflationary physics around infinite distances singularities in string theory, with a special look at its significance for the α-attractor scenario of inflation. We show that the conjecture itself suggests that inflation may arise as an infinite distance phenomenon with the asymptotic kinetic structure typical of α-attractors. Furthermore, we argue that a proper string realisation of these cosmological models in Calabi-Yau manifolds should occur around infinite field distance singularities. However, such constructions typically imply that inflation should not take place in the limit where the inflaton kinetic term develops a pole but rather in the opposite regime. Finally, we study the constraints that the SDC poses on α-attractors and show that they still leave considerable room for compatibility with observations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:45:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ba6abd873a1f4139b5cf09a94ea78d02 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1029-8479 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:45:50Z |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of High Energy Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-ba6abd873a1f4139b5cf09a94ea78d022022-12-22T00:09:13ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792019-08-012019812810.1007/JHEP08(2019)160Swampland distance conjecture, inflation and α-attractorsMarco Scalisi0Irene Valenzuela1Institute for Theoretical Physics, KU LeuvenDepartment of Physics, Cornell UniversityAbstract The Swampland Distance Conjecture (SDC) constraints the dynamics emerging at infinite distances in field space of any effective field theory consistent with quantum gravity. It provides a relation between the cut-off in energies and the field range which, as we show, in the context of inflation it yields a universal upper bound on the inflaton excursion in terms of the tensor-to-scalar ratio, measured at typical CMB scales. In this note, we investigate the interplay between the SDC and the emergent inflationary physics around infinite distances singularities in string theory, with a special look at its significance for the α-attractor scenario of inflation. We show that the conjecture itself suggests that inflation may arise as an infinite distance phenomenon with the asymptotic kinetic structure typical of α-attractors. Furthermore, we argue that a proper string realisation of these cosmological models in Calabi-Yau manifolds should occur around infinite field distance singularities. However, such constructions typically imply that inflation should not take place in the limit where the inflaton kinetic term develops a pole but rather in the opposite regime. Finally, we study the constraints that the SDC poses on α-attractors and show that they still leave considerable room for compatibility with observations.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/JHEP08(2019)160Cosmology of Theories beyond the SMSuperstring VacuaFlux compactifications |
| spellingShingle | Marco Scalisi Irene Valenzuela Swampland distance conjecture, inflation and α-attractors Journal of High Energy Physics Cosmology of Theories beyond the SM Superstring Vacua Flux compactifications |
| title | Swampland distance conjecture, inflation and α-attractors |
| title_full | Swampland distance conjecture, inflation and α-attractors |
| title_fullStr | Swampland distance conjecture, inflation and α-attractors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Swampland distance conjecture, inflation and α-attractors |
| title_short | Swampland distance conjecture, inflation and α-attractors |
| title_sort | swampland distance conjecture inflation and α attractors |
| topic | Cosmology of Theories beyond the SM Superstring Vacua Flux compactifications |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/JHEP08(2019)160 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marcoscalisi swamplanddistanceconjectureinflationandaattractors AT irenevalenzuela swamplanddistanceconjectureinflationandaattractors |