Racing through the swampland: de Sitter uplift vs weak gravity

TL;DR

This paper examines the tension between racetrack models for moduli stabilization, the Weak Gravity Conjecture, and the realization of controlled de Sitter vacua, highlighting fundamental conflicts and potential resolutions.

Contribution

It identifies a fundamental conflict between racetrack models, the Weak Gravity Conjecture, and de Sitter vacua, and discusses possible ways to resolve this tension.

Findings

Racetrack models conflict with strong forms of the WGC.

Controlled KKLT-type de Sitter vacua require fine-tuning similar to racetrack models.

The pursuit of large axion decay constants and de Sitter vacua are closely related.

Abstract

We observe that racetrack models for moduli stabilization are in tension with strong forms of the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC). Moreover, recently, it was noted that controlled KKLT-type de Sitter vacua seem to require a racetrack fine-tuning of the type introduced by Kallosh and Linde. We combine these observations and conclude that the quests for realizing parametrically large axion decay constants and controlled de Sitter vacua are intimately related. Finally, we discuss possible approaches to curing the conflict between the racetrack scheme and the WGC.