Gravitational positivity bounds
read the original abstract
We study the validity of positivity bounds in the presence of a massless graviton, assuming the Regge behavior of the amplitude. Under this assumption, the problematic $t$-channel pole is canceled with the UV integral of the imaginary part of the amplitude in the dispersion relation, which gives rise to finite corrections to the positivity bounds. We find that low-energy effective field theories (EFT) with "wrong" sign are generically allowed. The allowed amount of the positivity violation is determined by the Regge behavior. This violation is suppressed by $M_{\rm pl}^{-2}\alpha'$ where $\alpha'$ is the scale of Reggeization. This implies that the positivity bounds can be applied only when the cutoff scale of EFT is much lower than the scale of Reggeization. We then obtain the positivity bounds on scalar-tensor EFT at one-loop level. Implications of our results on the degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor (DHOST) theory are also discussed.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
Forward citations
Cited by 7 Pith papers
-
Thermal Positivity
Lorentz invariance and unitarity imply strictly positive low-temperature interaction corrections of the form T^{2D-4+4k} (k>0) to the pressure in perturbative massless boson theories.
-
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 ...
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Positivity bounds from thermal field theory entropy
Thermodynamic consistency in thermal scalar EFTs requires the Wilson coefficient of the leading dimension-8 operator to be strictly positive.
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.