On the K-point in moduli space
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| author | Hattab, Jarod Palti, Eran Quirant, Joan |
| author_facet | Hattab, Jarod Palti, Eran Quirant, Joan |
| contents | We study a class of infinite-distance loci, referred to as K-points, in one-parameter complex-structure moduli spaces of type IIB string theory compactified on Calabi-Yau manifolds. We show that around K-points the effective four-dimensional supergravity exhibits certain unusual properties. The two most prominent being that the leading order dependence of the prepotential on the gauge couplings is non-perturbative and that the leading gauge kinetic terms in the action vanish when evaluated on an anti self-dual graviphoton background. These properties are shared with the conifold locus in moduli space, rather than the large complex-structure locus. The conifold locus is well-known to arise from integrating out a charged BPS state, and so the similarities suggest that the K-point also arises from integrating out a BPS state. We develop such an interpretation, finding that it corresponds to a BPS state which is extremely light, whose mass in Planck units is doubly-exponentially small in the distance to the K-point. The state behaves as if it had complex charges, or as if it couples to the self-dual and anti self-dual parts of the graviphoton differently. Assuming such an integrating-out scenario is indeed the correct physics for the K-point, we discuss the implications for our understanding of infinite distances in moduli space and for the Swampland Distance Conjecture. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_11949 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | On the K-point in moduli space Hattab, Jarod Palti, Eran Quirant, Joan High Energy Physics - Theory We study a class of infinite-distance loci, referred to as K-points, in one-parameter complex-structure moduli spaces of type IIB string theory compactified on Calabi-Yau manifolds. We show that around K-points the effective four-dimensional supergravity exhibits certain unusual properties. The two most prominent being that the leading order dependence of the prepotential on the gauge couplings is non-perturbative and that the leading gauge kinetic terms in the action vanish when evaluated on an anti self-dual graviphoton background. These properties are shared with the conifold locus in moduli space, rather than the large complex-structure locus. The conifold locus is well-known to arise from integrating out a charged BPS state, and so the similarities suggest that the K-point also arises from integrating out a BPS state. We develop such an interpretation, finding that it corresponds to a BPS state which is extremely light, whose mass in Planck units is doubly-exponentially small in the distance to the K-point. The state behaves as if it had complex charges, or as if it couples to the self-dual and anti self-dual parts of the graviphoton differently. Assuming such an integrating-out scenario is indeed the correct physics for the K-point, we discuss the implications for our understanding of infinite distances in moduli space and for the Swampland Distance Conjecture. |
| title | On the K-point in moduli space |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.11949 |