Related papers: Rescuing Massive Photons from the Swampland
The particle nature of dark matter (DM) remains one of the central open problems in modern physics. Among the most extensively studied candidates are weakly interacting massive particles, whose parameter space is now under strong pressure…
Principles are central to physical reasoning, particularly in the search for a theory of quantum gravity (QG), where novel empirical data is lacking. One principle widely adopted in the search for QG is UV completion: the idea that a theory…
The finite-volume spectrum of an integrable massive perturbation of a rational conformal field theory interpolates between massive multi-particle states in infinite volume (IR limit) and conformal states, which are approached at zero volume…
For certain terms in the action, supersymmetry can forbid an infinite number of possible contributions. We study whether such protection can occur in quantum gravity even without sufficient supersymmetry. We focus on whether the…
Bekenstein has proposed the bound S < pi M_P^2 L^2 on the total entropy S in a volume L^3. This non-extensive scaling suggests that quantum field theory breaks down in large volume. To reconcile this breakdown with the success of local…
We argue that in models with several high scales; e.g. in composite Higgs models or in gauge extensions of the Standard Model (SM), vector-like leptons can be likely produced in a relatively large $\sqrt{s}$ region of the phase space.…
We survey operators that can lead to a keV photon line from dark matter decay or annihilation. We are motivated in part by recent claims of an unexplained 3.5 keV line in galaxy clusters and in Andromeda, but our results could apply to any…
Phenomenologically appealing supersymmetric grand unified theories have large gauge representations and thus are not asymptotically free. Their ultraviolet validity is limited by the appearance of a Landau pole well before the Planck scale.…
A quantum theory of massive Abelian vector bosons with non-minimal couplings to gravity has been studied within an evolving, isotropic, and homogeneous gravitational background. The vectors may play a role of dark matter if stabilizing…
We consider electrically neutral complex vector particles $V$ below the GeV mass scale that, from a low energy perspective, couple to the photon via higher dimensional form factor interactions. We derive ensuing astrophysical constraints by…
The gravitational positivity bound gives quantitative "swampland'' constraints on low-energy effective theories inside theories of quantum gravity. We give a comprehensive discussion of this bound for those interested in applications to…
It is widely believed and in part established that exact global symmetries are inconsistent with quantum gravity. One then expects that approximate global symmetries can be quantitatively constrained by quantum gravity or swampland…
Scenarios with axion-like particles of variable masses, from the milli-eV range to ultralight, can be generated in a natural way in the context of effective field theory models with anomalous $U(1)$ gauge symmetries. They include…
In the holographic picture, the Brout-Englert-Higgs (BEH) mechanism in d-dimensional Yang-Mills theories is conjectured to provide a Higgs-like mechanism for gravity in d+1 dimensions, resulting in massive (or massless) gravitons in IR (or…
We discuss aspects of the hierarchy problem in effective theories with light scalars and a large, physical ultraviolet (UV) cutoff. We make two main points: (1) The (naive) fine-tuning observed in an effective theory does not automatically…
We highlight how the existence of an ultraviolet completion for interacting Standard-Model type matter puts constraints on the viable microscopic dynamics of asymptotically safe quantum gravity within truncated Renormalization Group flows.…
We reconsider the case of light vectors coupled to anomalous fermionic currents, focussing on the interplay between UV and IR dynamics. Taking as a general framework the gauging of the Standard Model accidental symmetries, we show that it…
According to a conjecture recently put forward in arXiv:1806.08362, the scalar potential $V$ of any consistent theory of quantum gravity satisfies a bound $|\nabla V|/V \geq {\cal O}(1)$. This forbids dS solutions and supports quintessence…
We construct an effective field theory for complex Stueckelberg dark photon dark matter. Such an effective construction can be realized by writing down a complete set of operators up to dimension six built with the complex dark photon and…
We clearly formulate and study further a conjecture of effective field theory interaction with gravity in the cosmological context. The conjecture stems from the fact that the melding of quantum theory and gravity typically indicates the…