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The Quantum Gravity Imprint: New Guiding Principles at Low Energies

Project description

Unifying effective field theories with quantum gravity at high energies

Quantum physics and Einstein's theory of general relativity are the two main pillars that underlie much of modern physics. Ordinary quantum field theories, which combine classical field theory, special relativity and quantum mechanics, are an excellent approximation when describing the behaviour of microscopic particles in weak gravitational fields. At high energies, however, not every quantum field theory can be consistently coupled to gravity at quantum level, unless it satisfies some additional conditions known as Swampland constraints. The EU-funded QGuide project aims to determine the constraints that quantum gravity imposes at low energies. Researchers will uncover the fundamental principles underlying the Swampland conjectures and look for new universal constraints in the context of string theory. This can have profound implications for Particle Physics and Cosmology, providing new guiding principles to progress in High Energy Physics.

Objective

What are the constraints that a low energy Effective Field Theory must satisfy to be consistent with a Quantum Gravity description at higher energies? Can we determine these constraints in a precise way and use them as new guiding principles to progress in High Energy Physics? Recently, novel quantum gravity criteria have been proposed that imply non-trivial constraints on models of Particle Physics and Cosmology and can provide the missing piece to solve the long-standing naturalness issues observed in our universe. However, none of these so-called Swampland constraints have been completely proven yet; and often, they even lack a precise formulation.
The goal of my proposal is to determine the constraints that Quantum Gravity imposes at low energies by uncovering the fundamental principles underlying the Swampland conjectures and looking for new universal constraints in the context of string theory. To achieve this goal, I propose a novel approach based on cutting-edge mathematical techniques of algebraic geometry and the topological cobordism groups that extend the notion of symmetry. Each conjecture will be subject to scrutiny such that it gets either disproven or promoted to a sharp statement in the realm of well-established string compactifications. Specific goals include an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms by which string theory avoids new classes of generalised global symmetries, a complete classification of the field spectra emerging at the large field limits of flat space string compactifications, developing new methods to study the scalar potential at the large field limits and determining whether supersymmetry is a necessary condition to ensure vacuum stability. These new quantum gravity constraints will trigger a revolution in our understanding of the Quantum Gravity imprint at low energies, addressing questions about axions, neutrino masses, inflation, hierarchy problems, weakly coupled charged matter and the accelerated expansion of the universe.

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Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2021-STG

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Host institution

ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 780 750,00
Address
ESPLANADE DES PARTICULES 1 PARCELLE 11482 DE MEYRIN BATIMENT CADASTRAL 1046
1211 GENEVE 23
Switzerland

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Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Région lémanique Genève
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 780 750,00

Beneficiaries (2)

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