The tadpole conjecture at large complex-structure

Abstract

The tadpole conjecture by Bena, Blaback, Grana and Lust effectively states that for string-theory compactifications with a large number of complex-structure moduli, not all of these moduli can be stabilized by fluxes. In this note we study this conjecture in the large complex-structure regime using statistical data obtained by Demirtas, Long, McAllister and Stillman for the Kreuzer-Skarke list. We estimate a lower bound on the flux number in type IIB Calabi-Yau orientifold compactifications at large complex-structure and for large $h^{2,1}$, and our results support the tadpole conjecture in this regime.