{
  "abstract": "String theory is widely regarded as the only plausible candidate for a consistent UV-complete theory of quantum gravity. Cosmological observations suggest that our universe is undergoing accelerated expansion, pointing towards the presence of a small positive cosmological constant. Since de Sitter space is the maximally symmetric solution of Einstein's equations with a positive cosmological constant, understanding whether four-dimensional de Sitter space can be realized within string theory has become one of the central questions. Following a series of works that realize de Sitter space as an excited state---namely, as a Glauber--Sudarshan (GS) state in type IIB string theory---our goal has been to extend such a construction to heterotic string theories. Realizing de Sitter space as an excited state over a time-independent supersymmetric Minkowski background provides a mechanism for evading the vacuum-based no-go theorems that obstruct de Sitter solutions in string theory. Starting from a generic M-theory configuration, we obtain four-dimensional de Sitter space in the late-time limit of flat-slicing coordinates in both heterotic $SO(32)$ and heterotic $E_8 \\times E_8$ theories through appropriate dynamical duality sequences. The corresponding GS state is constructed by evaluating the expectation value of the metric operator in M-theory using path-integral techniques. We analyse the conditions required for the existence of a well-defined effective field theory description of the setup and find that these conditions are equivalent to satisfying the null energy condition in a 3+1-dimensional FLRW cosmology. Furthermore, the de Sitter GS states are found to lie well within the temporal bound imposed by the Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture, rendering them as transient states. In the case of $E_8\\times E_8$ theory, we also investigate implications arising from axion cosmology.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.20301",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Archana Maji"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/94cx3pvr0z16w.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.20301",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "94cx3pvr0z16w",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20301",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-th"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|Black Holes and Theoretical Physics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222181536",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.20301",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-14",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/94cx3pvr0z16w.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:29:31Z",
      "native_id": "2610.20301",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20301"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-th",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Realisation of de Sitter space as an excited state in string theory",
  "title_text": "Realisation of de Sitter space as an excited state in string theory",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:29:31Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/94cx3pvr0z16w",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}