The four-dimensional null energy condition as a swampland conjecture

Abstract

We analyze four-dimensional Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmologies in type IIB, arising from a M-theory dual, and find that the null energy condition (NEC) has to be obeyed by them (except for the negatively curved case) in order for the M-theory action to have a Wilsonian effective description. However, this does not imply that the M-theory metric has to obey the 11d NEC. Thus, we propose a new swampland conjecture -- the 4d NEC is a consistency condition for any theory to have a completion within M-theory -- with an explicit derivation of it for cosmological backgrounds from a top-down perspective. We briefly discuss the cosmological consequences of such a condition derived from M-theory.

14 pages (including an Appendix); comments welcome; v2: double-columned 8 pages (includes Supplementary Materials), matches published version

References in corpus (9)

• The Swampland: Introduction and Review
• Starting the Universe: Stable Violation of the Null Energy Condition and Non-standard Cosmologies
• Bouncing Universe with Quintom Matter
• A Matter Bounce By Means of Ghost Condensation
• Hidden Negative Energies in Strongly Accelerated Universes
• On the Null Energy Condition and Cosmology
• Relaxing the Cosmological Constant: a Proof of Concept
• Derivation of the Null Energy Condition
• Null Energy Condition and Dark Energy Models