Challenges for Moduli Stabilization and String Cosmology near the Conifold

Abstract

This brief article reviews a recently proposed scenario of moduli stabilization constructed in the vicinity of a conifold locus in the complex structure moduli space. We discuss typical features of moduli stabilization due to the logarithmic structure of the periods over the Calabi-Yau threefold. Integrating out heavy moduli implies exponential terms in the superpotential very reminiscent of non-perturbative contributions. Ultimately, these terms can lead to an alignment of axions potentially realizing large-field inflation. Our goal is to investigate common issues appearing for moduli stabilization near the conifold and subsequent applications to string cosmology. Even though this setup needs to be understood as a toy model, a closer look at the validity of the effective theories reveals characteristic obstacles, which are likely to occur in more serious scenarios as well.

Winding uplifts and the challenges of weak and strong SUSY breaking in AdS

“…Specifically, several cosine terms are superimposed if a long winding trajectory of a 'complex-structure axion' appears in the large-complex-structure limit of a Calabi-Yau orientifold. This has been studied in the inflationary context as 'Winding Inflation' [62] (see also [63][64][65][66]), but the potential of this method for realizing weak SUSY breaking with long lifetimes has not been analyzed in detail. We will comment on the technically related uplifting suggestions of [67][68][69] in a moment.…”