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Causality Constraints on Gravitational Effective Field Theories

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arxiv 2112.05054 v4 pith:Q45C2MPZ submitted 2021-12-09 gr-qc astro-ph.COhep-th

Causality Constraints on Gravitational Effective Field Theories

classification gr-qc astro-ph.COhep-th
keywords causalitydimension-8operatorsconsistentconstraintseffectivefieldobservable
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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We consider the effective field theory of gravity around black holes, and show that the coefficients of the dimension-8 operators are tightly constrained by causality considerations. Those constraints are consistent with -- but tighter than -- previously derived causality and positivity bounds and imply that the effects of one of the dimension-8 operators by itself cannot be observable while remaining consistent with causality. We then establish in which regime one can expect the generic dimension-8 and lower order operators to be potentially observable while preserving causality, providing a theoretical prior for future observations. We highlight the importance of "infrared causality" and show that the requirement of "asymptotic causality" or net (sub)luminality would fail to properly diagnose violations of causality.

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Cited by 10 Pith papers

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