AdS scale separation and the distance conjecture

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that certain AdS vacua in type IIA string theory, with large fluxes, are consistent with the distance conjecture, challenging the idea that such scale-separated vacua are in the Swampland.

Contribution

It introduces a new scalar field allowing interpolation between flux vacua and confirms the consistency of large flux limits with the distance conjecture.

Findings

Large flux limits are consistent with the distance conjecture.

Scale-separated AdS vacua may not be in the Swampland.

Flux vacua can be connected through open-string field space.

Abstract

It has been argued that orientifold vacua with fluxes in type IIA string theory can achieve moduli stabilisation and arbitrary decoupling between the AdS and KK scales upon sending certain unconstrained RR-flux quanta to infinity. In this paper, we find a novel scalar field in the open-string sector that allows us to interpolate between such IIA vacua that differ in flux quanta and find that the limit of large fluxes is nicely consistent with the distance conjecture. This shows that the massive IIA vacua pass an important Swampland criterion and suggests that scale-separated AdS vacua might not be in the Swampland. Our analysis also naturally suggests a flux analogue of "Reid's fantasy" where flux vacua that differ in quantised flux numbers can be connected through trajectories in open-string field space and not just via singular domain walls.