Recognition: unknown
Species and Strings
read the original abstract
Based on well-known properties of semi-classical black holes, we show that weakly-coupled string theory can be viewed as a theory of N = 1/g_s^2 particle species. This statement is a string theoretic realization of the fact that the fundamental scale in any consistent D-dimensional theory of gravity is not the Planck length l_D, but rather the species scale L_N = N^1/(D-2) l_D. Using this fact, we derive the bound on semi-classical black hole entropy in any consistent theory of gravity as S > N, which when applied to string theory provides additional evidence for the former relation. This counting also shows that the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy can be viewed as the entanglement entropy, without encountering any puzzle of species. We demonstrate that the counting of species extends to the M-theory limit. The role of the species scale is now played by the eleven-dimensional Planck length, beyond which resolution of distances is gravitationally-impossible. The conclusion is, that string theory is a theory of species and gets replaced by a pure gravitational theory in the limit when species become strongly coupled and decouple.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
Forward citations
Cited by 5 Pith papers
-
Taxonomy of Instanton Corrections in Infinite Distance Limits
The Schwinger integral over light towers captures precisely the instantons with actions in the window (Λ_sp/M_light)^{-1} ≤ S_inst ≤ Λ_sp/M_light, as verified in eight- and seven-dimensional toroidal compactifications.
-
Optimal paths across potentials on scalar field space
Optimal transport yields a generalized Wasserstein distance on field space, obtained from a WKB expansion of a Schrödinger equation and extended to dynamical gravity via the Wheeler-DeWitt equation in the ADM formalism.
-
Taxonomy of Instanton Corrections in Infinite Distance Limits
The Schwinger integral over light towers captures precisely those instantons with actions in the window (Λ_sp/M_light)^{-1} ≤ S_inst ≤ Λ_sp/M_light.
-
How to deal with conformal and pure scale-invariant theories of gravity in d dimensions?
Conformal and scale-invariant gravity theories in d dimensions have distinct properties from 4D analogues, enabled by a new formulation method.
-
String theory in the infrared
Worldsheet analysis shows that string theory effective theories obey UV/IR scaling relations between Wilson coefficients and vacuum energy, producing holographic bounds invisible to standard effective field theory.
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.