Related papers: Bumping into the species scale with the scalar pot…
The concept of the species scale as the quantum gravity cut-off has been recently emphasised in the context of the Swampland program. Along these lines, we continue the quest for a precise understanding of its role within effective field…
In a quantum theory of gravity, the species scale $\Lambda_s$ can be defined as the scale at which corrections to the Einstein action become important or alternatively as codifying the "number of light degrees of freedom", due to the fact…
We study the scalar potentials that arise from higher curvature corrections in general $f(R)$ theories of gravity and their connection to a dynamical species scale. Starting from general considerations in arbitrary dimensions, we show that…
We present a novel way in which effective field theory (EFT) can break down in cosmological string backgrounds depending on the behavior of the quantum gravity cutoff in infinite distance limits, known as the species scale $\Lambda_s$.…
The species scale $\Lambda_s\leq M_{pl}$ serves as a UV cutoff in the gravitational sector of an EFT and can depend on the moduli of the theory as the spectrum of the theory varies. We argue that the dependence of the species scale…
The species scale is a field-dependent UV cut-off for any effective field theory weakly coupled to gravity. In this letter we show that, in the context of inflationary cosmology, a detection of primordial gravitational waves will set an…
Recently the notion that quantum gravity effects could manifest at scales much lower than the Planck scale has seen an intense Swamplandish revival. Dozens of works have explored how the so-called species scale -- at which an effective…
Quantum gravity (QG) has a natural cutoff given by the Planck scale $M_{\rm pl}$. However, it is known that the EFT of gravity can break down at a lower scale, the species scale $\Lambda_s\lesssim M_{\rm pl}$, if there are light species of…
This thesis investigates the role of the quantum gravity cut-off for effective field theories (EFTs) coupled to Einstein gravity, with an emphasis on its implications at low energies within the context of the Swampland program. Part I…
In the context of quantum gravitational systems, we place bounds on regions in field space with slowly varying positive potentials. Using the fact that $V<\Lambda_s^2$, where $\Lambda_s(\phi)$ is the species scale, and the emergent string…
We derive the scalar potential in zero mode effective action arising from a de Sitter brane embedded in five dimensions with bulk cosmological constant $\Lambda$. The scalar potential for a scalar field canonically normalized is given by…
Dynamics of gravity interaction with matter at one-loop level of effective quantum field theory naturally sets the cut-off scale $\Lambda_E$ in a sub-Planckian region through incorporating the gauge coupling constant $\alpha(\Lambda_E)$ and…
Quantum gravitational effects become significant at a cut-off species scale that can be much lower than the Planck scale whenever we get a parametrically large number of fields becoming light. This is expected to occur at any perturbative…
We analyze the one-loop effects of massive fields on 2-to-2 scattering processes involving gravitons. It has been suggested that in the presence of gravity, any local effective field theory description must break down at the "species…
The species scale provides an upper bound for the ultraviolet cutoff of effective theories of gravity coupled to a number of light particle species. We point out that modular invariant (super-)potentials provide a simple and computable…
The 'Species Scale' has proved to be an important concept when studying consistent effective actions in Quantum Gravity. This is a short summary of my contribution to the Corfu Summer Institute in September 2025, in which I covered two…
We study late-time acceleration scenarios using a quintessence field initially trapped in a metastable false vacuum state. The false vacuum has non-zero vacuum energy and could drive exponential expansion if not coupled with gravity. Upon…
All quintessence potentials that are either monotonic with negative interval or have a minimum at negative values of the potential, generically predict a future collapse of the scale factor to a "doomsday" singularity. We show that this…
In string models with "brane supersymmetry breaking" exponential potentials emerge at (closed-string) tree level but are not accompanied by tachyons. Potentials of this type have long been a source of embarrassment in flat space, but can…
Weak gravity conjecture can be formulated as a statement that gravity must be the weakest force, compared to the other interactions in low energy effective field theory (EFT). Several arguments in favor of this statement were presented from…