Large Field Inflation/Quintessence and the Refined Swampland Distance Conjecture

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent progress in understanding why large field inflation models derived from string theory face control issues, focusing on axion monodromy and the Swampland Distance Conjecture, and discusses implications for quintessence.

Contribution

It clarifies the conceptual reasons behind the difficulties in constructing UV-complete large field inflation models within string theory, emphasizing the role of the Swampland Distance Conjecture.

Findings

Identifies key conceptual barriers to large field inflation in string theory.

Highlights the relation between axion monodromy models and the Swampland Distance Conjecture.

Discusses challenges for axionic quintessence models.

Abstract

Attempts to construct string derived effective field theory models realizing large field inflation are plagued by control issues. Targeted at a broader audience, in this article we review recent progress in isolating the underlying conceptual reasons for this failure. Special emphasis is given to models of axion monodromy inflation and their relation to the Swampland Distance Conjecture. This discriminates effective actions that admit a UV completion, the landscape, from those that do not, the swampland. Since they are conceptually very similar, we also comment on implied challenges for axionic quintessence models.