Publications (4)
Fencing in the Swampland: Quantum Gravity Constraints on Large Field Inflation
Jon Brown, William Cottrell, Gary Shiu +1
In this note we show that models of natural inflation based on closed string axions are incompatible with the weak gravity conjecture (WGC). Specifically, we use T-duality in order…
Gravitational Decoupling and Picard-Lefschetz
Jon Brown, Alex Cole, William Cottrell +1
In this work, we consider tunneling between non-metastable states in gravitational theories. Such processes arise in various contexts, e.g., in inflationary scenarios where the inf…
Tunneling in Axion Monodromy
Jon Brown, William Cottrell, Gary Shiu +1
The Coleman formula for vacuum decay and bubble nucleation has been used to estimate the tunneling rate in models of axion monodromy in recent literature. However, several of Colem…
On Axionic Field Ranges, Loopholes and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
Jon Brown, William Cottrell, Gary Shiu +1
In this short note we clarify some aspects of the impact that the Weak Gravity Conjecture has on models of (generalized) natural inflation. We address in particular certain technic…