Theories of gravity with nonminimal matter-curvature coupling and the de Sitter swampland conjectures

Abstract: We discuss, in the context of alternative theories of gravity with nonminimal coupling between matter and curvature, if inflationary solutions driven by a single scalar field can be reconciled with the swampland conjectures about the emergence of de Sitter solutions in string theory. We find that the slow-roll conditions are incompatible with the swampland conjectures for a fairly generic inflationary solution in such alternative theories of gravity.