Massive spin-3/2 EFT contact couplings are constrained by positivity to a Planck-suppressed neighborhood of supergravity values whose volume scales as m^6/M_Pl^6 and vanishes as m approaches zero.
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Causality, Analyticity and an IR Obstruction to UV Completion
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We argue that certain apparently consistent low-energy effective field theories described by local, Lorentz-invariant Lagrangians, secretly exhibit macroscopic non-locality and cannot be embedded in any UV theory whose S-matrix satisfies canonical analyticity constraints. The obstruction involves the signs of a set of leading irrelevant operators, which must be strictly positive to ensure UV analyticity. An IR manifestation of this restriction is that the "wrong" signs lead to superluminal fluctuations around non-trivial backgrounds, making it impossible to define local, causal evolution, and implying a surprising IR breakdown of the effective theory. Such effective theories can not arise in quantum field theories or weakly coupled string theories, whose S-matrices satisfy the usual analyticity properties. This conclusion applies to the DGP brane-world model modifying gravity in the IR, giving a simple explanation for the difficulty of embedding this model into controlled stringy backgrounds, and to models of electroweak symmetry breaking that predict negative anomalous quartic couplings for the W and Z. Conversely, any experimental support for the DGP model, or measured negative signs for anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings at future accelerators, would constitute direct evidence for the existence of superluminality and macroscopic non-locality unlike anything previously seen in physics, and almost incidentally falsify both local quantum field theory and perturbative string theory.
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The open string Veneziano amplitude emerges as the unique tree-level completion of N=4 super Yang-Mills when supersymmetry, factorization, and positivity are imposed.
Higgs scattering in SMEFT is analyzed with von Neumann entropy, linear entropy, and concurrence as momentum-isospin entanglement measures, determined by Wilson coefficients of dimension-6 and dimension-8 operators, revealing energy growth, interference cancellations, suppression conditions, and link
Non-negativity of resummed relative entropy imposes sign constraints on coefficients in nonlinear electrodynamics EFTs and diagnoses instabilities in strong coupling.
Bootstrap analysis of meromorphic observables in large-N QCD yields universal and SVZ-type bounds that constrain chiral Lagrangian parameters and link hadronic data to asymptotic freedom.
Complete positivity bounds for the 22 aQGC coefficients in SMEFT restrict the viable parameter space to approximately 0.0313% of the naive total.
Non-minimal three-point interactions induce negative one-loop running of Wilson coefficients in gravitational EFTs, yet graviton loops generate positive IR contributions that dominate the bounds after smearing if the species number is bounded.
RG-improved black hole spacetimes with scale-dependent gravitational coupling are derived as vacuum solutions to 2D Horndeski master field equations, embedding prior works and exposing implementation discrepancies.
Defines IR-finite amplitudes M_E that preserve analyticity and unitarity to derive positivity bounds on EFTs including electromagnetism and gravity in D=4.
Microcausality and positivity constrain Green's functions to be analytic in the forward light-cone with Im(ω G) > 0 in the complex domain for translation-invariant but Lorentz-breaking systems, implying integral constraints and analytic ε(ω,k), μ^{-1}(ω,k).
Non-orientable topological gravity produces a resummed topological expansion whose late-time behavior matches the GOE universality class of random matrix theory for time-reversal invariant chaotic systems.
A primal S-matrix bootstrap framework parameterizes imaginary parts of partial waves, uses dispersion relations to enforce consistency, computes coupling bounds, and handles Regge behavior plus spinning states like glueballs.
A method using ultra-high boost stability analysis and gamma-suppression derives necessary causality conditions for relativistic hydrodynamics, demonstrated in conformal Muller-Israel-Stewart theory.
In D>4, gravitational EFTs with higher-derivative operators allow asymptotic superluminality around black holes, but in D=4 the asymptotic causal structure is identical to Schwarzschild and insensitive to corrections.
Derives conditions for viable screened radial solutions in multi-field de Sitter Galileons, showing curvature can mitigate superluminality at the cost of a finite validity range set by the strong-coupling point.
Several observables in planar N=4 SYM, including the octagon anomalous dimension and Bremsstrahlung function, admit a once-subtracted dispersion representation over a positive measure in the coupling.
Dispersive bootstrap with unitarity, crossing and a Virasoro-inspired ansatz isolates the Virasoro-Shapiro amplitude in a small island for the gravity-pole-subtracted four-point amplitude in 10D supersymmetry.
Mellin transform of superstring amplitude reduces to Riemann zeta function in forward limit and supplies a new closed-form expression for its EFT expansion at finite t.
Multipositivity bounds derived from planar tree-level scattering amplitudes constrain Wilson coefficients of the chiral Lagrangian from below by the chiral anomaly.
Tree-level gravitational scattering under the equivalence principle mandates single-particle states in all irreducible representations constructible from a single seed charge, with equal interaction strengths.
Derives lower bound on collective mean free path ℓ = √(τ D) in Drude-Kadanoff-Martin model from Green's function bounds, implying Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit for lattice models.
Derives the elastic two-body unitarity relation for anisotropic scalar fields with different sound speeds, verifies it at one loop in a quartic model, and shows anisotropy modifies the radiatively generated scalon mass while leaving the Gildener-Weinberg flat direction unchanged.
Links amplitude positivity to S-matrix entanglement consistency for flavored states, analyzes disentanglers, and introduces wave-packet regularization for entanglement expressions.
A sampling-based bootstrap for graviton poles in EFTs yields non-projective bounds that fix the EFT cutoff scale relative to the Planck mass, with M/M_P ≲ 7.8 in D=5.
citing papers explorer
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Positivity in Massive Spin-3/2 EFTs and the Planck-Suppressed Neighbourhood of Supergravity
Massive spin-3/2 EFT contact couplings are constrained by positivity to a Planck-suppressed neighborhood of supergravity values whose volume scales as m^6/M_Pl^6 and vanishes as m approaches zero.
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String Theory from Maximal Supersymmetry
The open string Veneziano amplitude emerges as the unique tree-level completion of N=4 super Yang-Mills when supersymmetry, factorization, and positivity are imposed.
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Higgs Scattering and Entanglement in SMEFT
Higgs scattering in SMEFT is analyzed with von Neumann entropy, linear entropy, and concurrence as momentum-isospin entanglement measures, determined by Wilson coefficients of dimension-6 and dimension-8 operators, revealing energy growth, interference cancellations, suppression conditions, and link
-
Bounds on nonlinear electrodynamics via resummed relative entropy
Non-negativity of resummed relative entropy imposes sign constraints on coefficients in nonlinear electrodynamics EFTs and diagnoses instabilities in strong coupling.
-
Bootstrapping Pion Form Factors at Large $N$
Bootstrap analysis of meromorphic observables in large-N QCD yields universal and SVZ-type bounds that constrain chiral Lagrangian parameters and link hadronic data to asymptotic freedom.
-
Full positivity bounds for anomalous quartic gauge couplings in SMEFT
Complete positivity bounds for the 22 aQGC coefficients in SMEFT restrict the viable parameter space to approximately 0.0313% of the naive total.
-
Negative running of gravitational positivity
Non-minimal three-point interactions induce negative one-loop running of Wilson coefficients in gravitational EFTs, yet graviton loops generate positive IR contributions that dominate the bounds after smearing if the species number is bounded.
-
Effective geometrodynamics for renormalization-group improved black-hole spacetimes in spherical symmetry
RG-improved black hole spacetimes with scale-dependent gravitational coupling are derived as vacuum solutions to 2D Horndeski master field equations, embedding prior works and exposing implementation discrepancies.
-
Positivity with Long-Range Interactions
Defines IR-finite amplitudes M_E that preserve analyticity and unitarity to derive positivity bounds on EFTs including electromagnetism and gravity in D=4.
-
Analyticity and positivity of Green's functions without Lorentz
Microcausality and positivity constrain Green's functions to be analytic in the forward light-cone with Im(ω G) > 0 in the complex domain for translation-invariant but Lorentz-breaking systems, implying integral constraints and analytic ε(ω,k), μ^{-1}(ω,k).
-
Mind the crosscap: $\tau$-scaling in non-orientable gravity and time-reversal-invariant systems
Non-orientable topological gravity produces a resummed topological expansion whose late-time behavior matches the GOE universality class of random matrix theory for time-reversal invariant chaotic systems.
-
Primal S-matrix bootstrap with dispersion relations
A primal S-matrix bootstrap framework parameterizes imaginary parts of partial waves, uses dispersion relations to enforce consistency, computes coupling bounds, and handles Regge behavior plus spinning states like glueballs.
-
Necessary conditions for causality from linearized stability at ultra-high boosts
A method using ultra-high boost stability analysis and gamma-suppression derives necessary causality conditions for relativistic hydrodynamics, demonstrated in conformal Muller-Israel-Stewart theory.
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On the Asymptotic Causal Structure in Gravitational EFTs
In D>4, gravitational EFTs with higher-derivative operators allow asymptotic superluminality around black holes, but in D=4 the asymptotic causal structure is identical to Schwarzschild and insensitive to corrections.
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Radial Solutions of Multi-Field de Sitter Galileons
Derives conditions for viable screened radial solutions in multi-field de Sitter Galileons, showing curvature can mitigate superluminality at the cost of a finite validity range set by the strong-coupling point.
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Positivity properties of observables in planar maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory
Several observables in planar N=4 SYM, including the octagon anomalous dimension and Bremsstrahlung function, admit a once-subtracted dispersion representation over a positive measure in the coupling.
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A Dispersive Bootstrap for the Virasoro-Shapiro Amplitude
Dispersive bootstrap with unitarity, crossing and a Virasoro-inspired ansatz isolates the Virasoro-Shapiro amplitude in a small island for the gravity-pole-subtracted four-point amplitude in 10D supersymmetry.
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Zeta Functions and the Superstring
Mellin transform of superstring amplitude reduces to Riemann zeta function in forward limit and supplies a new closed-form expression for its EFT expansion at finite t.
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Multipositivity Constrains the Chiral Lagrangian
Multipositivity bounds derived from planar tree-level scattering amplitudes constrain Wilson coefficients of the chiral Lagrangian from below by the chiral anomaly.
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The Equivalence Principle at High Energies Completes the Spectrum
Tree-level gravitational scattering under the equivalence principle mandates single-particle states in all irreducible representations constructible from a single seed charge, with equal interaction strengths.
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Bootstrapping transport in the Drude-Kadanoff-Martin model
Derives lower bound on collective mean free path ℓ = √(τ D) in Drude-Kadanoff-Martin model from Green's function bounds, implying Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit for lattice models.
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Disparity in sound speeds: implications for elastic unitarity and the effective potential in quantum field theory theory
Derives the elastic two-body unitarity relation for anisotropic scalar fields with different sound speeds, verifies it at one loop in a quartic model, and shows anisotropy modifies the radiatively generated scalon mass while leaving the Gildener-Weinberg flat direction unchanged.
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Positivity in Amplitudes and Quantum Entanglement
Links amplitude positivity to S-matrix entanglement consistency for flavored states, analyzes disentanglers, and introduces wave-packet regularization for entanglement expressions.
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Sampling the Graviton Pole and Deprojecting the Swampland
A sampling-based bootstrap for graviton poles in EFTs yields non-projective bounds that fix the EFT cutoff scale relative to the Planck mass, with M/M_P ≲ 7.8 in D=5.
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Higgs pair production in gluon fusion to higher orders in Higgs Effective Field Theory
Consistent NLO power counting in HEFT for di-Higgs gluon fusion requires higher-dimensional operators beyond leading order, affecting kinematic benchmarks used in experiments.
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A Compact Story of Positivity in de Sitter
Compares two methods to resolve disagreements and prove positivity of anomalous dimensions for principal series fields coupled to compact scalar operators in de Sitter space.
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IR side of bounds on Theories with Spontaneously Broken Lorentz Symmetry
The analysis shows that analyticity bounds in Lorentz-broken theories require gapped excitations to propagate slower than gapless ones at low momenta relative to the mass gap.
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Theoretical and Observational Bounds on Dynamical Chern-Simons Gravity as an Effective Field Theory
Causality from Shapiro delay and UV species/perturbativity bounds force the dynamical Chern-Simons coupling to be tiny for macroscopic gravitational systems.
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Boulder Lectures on Thermal Dynamics and Hydrodynamic EFTs
Lectures summarizing the construction of hydrodynamic EFTs through strong-to-weak symmetry breaking, with examples from spin chains to relativistic QFTs and UV/IR constraints on transport coefficients.
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On Thermodynamics of Charged Black Holes, Swampland, and Dark Matter
A thermodynamic treatment of charged black holes is proposed to connect swampland conjectures to the dark dimension and dark matter using dynamical cosmological constant and quasi-static scalar fields.
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Modified Gravity and Cosmology
A comprehensive review of modified gravity theories and their cosmological consequences, including a parameterized post-Friedmannian formalism for constraining deviations from General Relativity.
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Scattering Theory
This is a review chapter summarizing the established framework of scattering theory in particle physics.
- Consistent Scattering Amplitudes, Yang-Mills, the Higgs Mechanism and the EFTs Beyond