Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We describe a fully explicit, four-dimensional, top-down de Sitter saddle, constructed via compactification of M-theory on the Riemann-flat manifold $T^7/\mathbb{Z}_8$. The solution has a vacuum energy of $5.02\cdot 10^{-10}\,M_\text{Pl}^4$, a hierarchy $m_{KK}/H\sim 10^{2}$, and is under control with respect to higher loop and higher-derivative corrections. The solution has an internal manifold with a diameter of a few Planck lengths, and it may be unstable due to loops of virtual 11d black hole microstates. While the solution is the first example of a top-down dS maximum from Riemann-flat manifolds in four dimensions and is realised explicitly enough to compute the vacuum energy precisely and the spectrum of light fields, it is far from being phenomenologically viable. The solution also suggests several promising directions in the search for higher quality dS saddles in the Riemann-flat Landscape, which we describe.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Agencia Estatal de Investigación
OpenAlex ID: W7213408785