Flux Compactifications, dS Vacua and the Swampland

Abstract

One of the main goals of the field of string phenomenology is to describe the properties of our spacetime in low-energy effective models related to and consistent with string theory. It is known that our universe undergoes accelerated expansion, which can be described in Einstein's theory of general relativity as a positive cosmological constant. Within string theory descriptions, this is realized by a scalar field with a positive value of its potential. Oftentimes, this is modeled by having the scalar at a stable, positive minimum. One then obtains a de Sitter spacetime. Constructions of de Sitter spaces from string theory are not straightforward and face many criticisms. In this thesis, we address several aspects related to this topic. We investigate the description of general branes in supergravity and in particular describe the uplifting anti-D3-brane of the KKLT model, including all world-volume fields. Additionally, we translate the type IIB based KKLT model into type IIA and introduce a mechanism that allows for the rapid construction of many de Sitter solutions. Related to this, we investigate models based on twisted 7-tori from M-theory and their relation to type II supergravity. These setups can also yield de Sitter solutions using the same mass production mechanism. One of the more recent and serious claims against the construction of de Sitter spaces in string theory, the de Sitter swampland conjecture, is also addressed here. We highlight the difficulty of obtaining a stable, positive vacuum energy in classical type IIA flux compactifications and their reliance on O-plane sources. Then, we turn our attention to the conjecture itself. Contrary to the initial claim, we find many unstable de Sitter points in numerical searches and go on to present our own refined conjecture that differs in several key aspects from the refined version of the original conjecture.