Sharp Boundaries for the Swampland

Abstract: I will discuss the problem of bounding higher derivative couplings in consistent weakly coupled gravitational theories. The starting point will be general assumptions about analyticity and Regge growth of the S-matrix. Higher derivative couplings are expected to be of order one in the units of the UV cutoff. Our approach justifies this expectation and allows us to prove precise bounds on the order one coefficients. I will explain that the notorious difficulties presented by the graviton pole can be overcome by measuring couplings at small impact parameter, rather than in the forward limit. I will illustrate the method in theories containing a massless scalar coupled to gravity, and in theories with maximal supersymmetry. My talk will be based on arxiv.org/pdf/2102.08951.pdf

HEP - theory

Audience: advanced learners

East Asian String Webinars

Series comments: For the link to the online webinar, see the webpage of East Asian String Webinars, eastasianstrings.org