Topic: Scattering amplitudes

Consistency requirements on scattering amplitudes can constrain quantum gravity without a perturbative expansion. This talk applies analyticity, crossing and unitarity to maximally supersymmetric gravitational theories in ten and eleven dimensions. It extends bounds from the leading correction to higher-order effective couplings, comparing the allowed regions with string-theory and M-theory predictions. A nearby kink in eleven dimensions suggests a possible route toward characterizing the M-theory scattering matrix through consistency alone.

Scattering amplitudes constrain effective field theories from the bottom up through general consistency requirements, including unitarity and causality. Existing bounds mainly use four-point amplitudes. This talk explains how amplitudes with more external points supply additional constraints beyond the four-point analysis, and demonstrates the method through an application to Large-Nc quantum chromodynamics.