Related papers: Sharp Boundaries for the Swampland
In light of null results from New Physics searches at the LHC, we look at unification of the gauge couplings as a model-building principle. As a first step, we consider extensions of the Standard Model with vector-like fermions. We present…
We systematically construct flipped SU(5) X U(1)_X models without and with bulk vector-like particles from F-theory. To realize the decoupling scenario, we introduce sets of vector-like particles in complete SU(5) X U(1) multiplets at the…
Supergravity theories in more than four dimensions with grand unified gauge symmetries are an important intermediate step towards the ultraviolet completion of the Standard Model in string theory. Using toric geometry, we classify and…
The swampland is the set of seemingly consistent low-energy effective field theories that cannot be consistently coupled to quantum gravity. In this review we cover some of the conjectural properties that effective theories should possess…
We demonstrate that interacting ultraviolet fixed points in four dimensions exist at strong coupling, and away from large-$N$ Veneziano limits. This is established exemplarily for semi-simple supersymmetric gauge theories with chiral matter…
In the Horndeski's most general scalar-tensor theories the equations of scalar density perturbations are derived in the presence of non-relativistic matter minimally coupled to gravity. Under a quasi-static approximation on sub-horizon…
We show that in the quadratic curvature theory of gravity, or simply $R_{\mu \nu} ^2$ gravity, the tree-level unitariy bound (tree unitarity) is violated in the UV region but an analog for $S$-matrix unitarity ($SS^{\dagger} = 1$) is…
In a scalar-coupled-gravity model, the quadratically divergent counter term appearing in the mass renormalization of the scalar fields must inherit corrections arising out of gravitational interactions. In this work we have explicitly…
We obtain the matter-graviton scattering amplitude in the gravitational theory of quadratic curvature, which has $R_{\mu\nu}^2$ term in the action. Unitarity bound is not satisfied because of the existence of negative norm states, while an…
We use Swampland principles to theoretically disfavor regions of the parameter space of dark matter and other darkly charged particles that may exist. The Festina Lente bound, the analogue of the Weak-Gravity conjecture in de Sitter, places…
We re-examine positivity bounds on the $2\to2$ scattering of identical massless real scalars with a novel perspective on how these bounds can be used to constrain the spectrum of UV theories. We propose that the entire space of consistent…
An extensive study of the compact $U(1)$ lattice gauge theory with a higher derivative gauge-fixing term and a suitable counter-term has been undertaken to determine the nature of the possible continuum limits for a wide range of the…
We propose a class of multidimensional higher derivative theories of gravity without extra real degrees of freedom besides the graviton field. The propagator shows up the usual real graviton pole and extra complex conjugates poles that do…
We study gauge coupling unification in supersymmetric $E_6$ models where an additional $\mathrm{U}(1)'$ gauge symmetry is broken near the TeV scale and a number of exotic matter fields from the $\bm{27}$ representations have…
We study graviton-graviton scattering in partial-wave amplitudes after unitarizing their Born terms. In order to apply $S$-matrix techniques, based on unitarity and analyticity, we introduce an $S$-matrix associated to this resummation that…
We consider the $\mathcal{N}=2$ quiver gauge theory arising from a $\mathbb{Z}_M$ orbifold of $\mathcal{N}=4$ Super Yang-Mills theory. Over the years, exploiting supersymmetric localization, exact expressions for several observables have…
We review ideas relating the breaking of Supersymmetry in de Sitter (dS) space-time to amplitudes in which gravitinos are reflected from the dS horizon. A self consistent evaluation of such amplitudes leads to the estimate $m_{3/2} = K…
Positivity bounds coming from consistency of UV scattering amplitudes are in general insufficient to prove the weak gravity conjecture for theories beyond Einstein-Maxwell. Additional ingredients about the UV may be necessary to exclude…
Gravitational effective theories are essential for characterizing the space of deviations from General Relativity (GR). Testing these theories against fundamental principles, such as causality and unitarity, can yield constraints on the…
We study constraints from causality and unitarity on $2\to2$ graviton scattering in four-dimensional weakly-coupled effective field theories. Together, causality and unitarity imply dispersion relations that connect low-energy observables…