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Where Is String Theory in the Space of Scattering Amplitudes?

Andrea Guerrieri

João Penedones

Pedro Vieira

  • School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel and Instituto de Física Teórica, UNESP, ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research, Rua Dr Bento Teobaldo Ferraz 271, 01140-070 São Paulo, Brazil

  • Fields and String Laboratory, Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Rte de la Sorge, BSP 728, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

  • Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline St N Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada and Instituto de Física Teórica, UNESP, ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research, Rua Dr Bento Teobaldo Ferraz 271, 01140-070 São Paulo, Brazil

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 081601 – Published 18 August, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.081601

Abstract

We use the S-matrix bootstrap to carve out the space of unitary, crossing symmetric and supersymmetric graviton scattering amplitudes in ten dimensions. We focus on the leading Wilson coefficient α controlling the leading correction to maximal supergravity. The negative region α<0 is excluded by a simple dual argument based on linearized unitarity (the desert). A whole semi-infinite region α≳0.14 is allowed by the primal bootstrap (the garden). A finite intermediate region is excluded by nonperturbative unitarity (the swamp). Remarkably, string theory seems to cover all (or at least almost all) the garden from very large positive α—at weak coupling—to the swamp boundary—at strong coupling.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 081601– Published 18 August, 2021
  • Received 30 March 2021
  • Accepted 22 July 2021
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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