Generalizing the Swampland: Embedding $P(X, \varphi)$ Inflationary Theories in a Curved Multi-field Space

Abstract

We study the general embedding of a $ P(X, \varphi) $ inflationary theory into a two-field theory with curved field space metric, which was proposed as a possible way to examine the relation between de Sitter Swampland conjecture and \textit{k}-inflation. We show that this embedding method fits into the special type of two-field model in which the heavy field can be integrated out at the full action level. However, this embedding is not exact due to the upper bound of the effective mass of the heavy field. We quantify the deviation between the speed of sound calculated via the $ P(X, \varphi) $ theory and the embedding two-field picture to next leading order terms. We especially focus on the first potential slow roll parameter defined in the two-field picture and obtain an upper bound on it.