Related papers: Gravity and a universal cutoff for field theory
We study the spectrum of $W_3$ strings. In particular, we show that for appropriately chosen space-time signature, one of the scalar fields is singled out by the spin-3 constraint and is ``frozen'': no creation operators from it can appear…
Using relationships between open and closed strings, we present a construction of tree-level scattering amplitudes for gravitons minimally coupled to matter in terms of gauge theory partial amplitudes. In particular, we present examples of…
The origin of the graviton from string theory is well understood: it corresponds to a massless state in closed string spectra, whose low-energy effective action, as extracted from string scattering amplitudes, is that of Einstein-Hilbert.…
Self-interacting massive particles with spin $\geq 1$ unavoidably violate unitarity; the question is at what scale. For spin-$1$ the strong coupling scale (at which perturbative unitarity is lost) cannot be raised by any finite tuning of…
Perturbative spectra and related factorization properties of one-loop open string amplitudes in the presence of a constant external background B are analysed in detail. While the pattern of the closed string spectrum, obtained after a…
We study infinite-distance limits in the moduli space of perturbative string vacua. The remarkable interplay of string dualities seems to determine a highly non-trivial dichotomy, summarized by the emergent string conjecture, by which in…
In this letter, we consider effective field theories for light fields transforming under the fundamental or adjoint representation of a continuous group. We demonstrate that in the presence of gravity, crossing symmetry combined with two…
A covariant path integral calculation of the even spin structure contribution to the one-loop N-graviton scattering amplitude in the type-II superstring theory is presented. The apparent divergence of the $N=5$ amplitude is resolved by…
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 $\Lambda_s$.…
We evaluate the one-loop four-graviton scattering amplitude in type-II superstring theory exactly in $\alpha'$. This result is achieved by combining physical insights into the $i\varepsilon$ prescription in string theory with a new…
We extend the $2\rightarrow2$ gravitino scattering amplitude computed in [1] to an arbitrary $\mathcal{N}=1$ supergravity model of one chiral and one vector multiplet, in a Minkowski background with supersymmetry breaking driven by both…
In this paper we study three point functions of the Type II superstring involving one graviton and two massive states, focusing in particular on the spin-7/2 fermions at the first mass level. Defining a gravitational quadrupole…
We study the null orbifold singularity in 2+1 d flat space higher spin theory as well as string theory. Using the Chern-Simons formulation of 2+1 d Einstein gravity, we first observe that despite the singular nature of this geometry, the…
We develop a formalism, based on spinor-helicity techniques, to generalize the formulation of partial wave unitarity bounds. We discuss unitarity bounds for $N \to M$ (with $N,M \geq 2$) scattering processes -- relevant for high-energy…
An important unsolved problem that affects practically all attempts to connect string theory to cosmology and phenomenology is how to distinguish effective field theories belonging to the string landscape from those that are not consistent…
Quantum gravity coupled to scalar massive matter fields is investigated within the framework of causal perturbation theory. One-loop calculations include matter loop graviton self-energy and matter self-energy and yield ultraviolet finite…
We analyse one-loop graviton amplitudes in the field theory limit of a genus-one string theory computation. The considered amplitudes can be dimensionally reduced to lower dimensions preserving maximal supersymmetry. The particular case of…
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 prove in two ways that, for a special class of nonlocal field theories consistent with linear and non-linear stability at the classical level, and with unitarity and super-renormalizability or finiteness at the quantum level, the…
Superstring field theory gives expressions for heterotic and type II string loop amplitudes that are free from ultraviolet and infrared divergences when the number of non-compact space-time dimensions is five or more. We prove the…