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A Periodic Table of Effective Field Theories

Cheung, Clifford and Kampf, Karol and Novotny, Jiri and Shen, Chia-Hsien and Trnka, Jaroslav (2017) A Periodic Table of Effective Field Theories. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2017 (2). Art. No. 020. ISSN 1126-6708. doi:10.1007/JHEP02(2017)020. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20161114-161621602

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Abstract

We systematically explore the space of scalar effective field theories (EFTs) consistent with a Lorentz invariant and local S-matrix. To do so we define an EFT classification based on four parameters characterizing 1) the number of derivatives per interaction, 2) the soft properties of amplitudes, 3) the leading valency of the interactions, and 4) the spacetime dimension. Carving out the allowed space of EFTs, we prove that exceptional EFTs like the non-linear sigma model, Dirac-Born-Infeld theory, and the special Galileon lie precisely on the boundary of allowed theory space. Using on-shell momentum shifts and recursion relations, we prove that EFTs with arbitrarily soft behavior are forbidden and EFTs with leading valency much greater than the spacetime dimension cannot have enhanced soft behavior. We then enumerate all single scalar EFTs in d < 6 and verify that they correspond to known theories in the literature. Our results suggest that the exceptional theories are the natural EFT analogs of gauge theory and gravity because they are one-parameter theories whose interactions are strictly dictated by properties of the S-matrix.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2017)020 DOIArticle
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FJHEP02%282017%29020PublisherArticle
http://arxiv.org/abs/1611.03137arXivDiscussion Paper
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Kampf, Karol0000-0003-1096-667X
Shen, Chia-Hsien0000-0002-5138-9971
Additional Information:© 2017 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits any use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Article funded by SCOAP3. Received: November 27, 2016; Revised: January 25, 2017; Accepted: January 26, 2017; Published: February 6, 2017. We thank Nima Arkani-Hamed and Enrico Herrmann for discussions. We also thank Tom Melia for pointing out a typo in the earlier version. This work is supported in part by Czech Government project no. LH14035 and GACR 15-18080S. C.C. and C.-H.S. are supported by a Sloan Research Fellowship and a DOE Early Career Award under grant no. DESC0010255. C.-H.S. thanks Nordita and Niels Bohr International Academy and Discovery Center for hospitality.
Group:Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Czech GovernmentLH14035
Czech GovernmentGACR 15-18080S
Alfred P. Sloan FoundationUNSPECIFIED
Department of Energy (DOE)DE-SC0010255
SCOAP3UNSPECIFIED
Subject Keywords:Effective field theories, Scattering Amplitudes
Other Numbering System:
Other Numbering System NameOther Numbering System ID
CALT-TH2016-031
Issue or Number:2
DOI:10.1007/JHEP02(2017)020
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20161114-161621602
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20161114-161621602
Official Citation:Cheung, C., Kampf, K., Novotny, J. et al. J. High Energ. Phys. (2017) 2017: 20. doi:10.1007/JHEP02(2017)020
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:72010
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Joy Painter
Deposited On:15 Nov 2016 21:46
Last Modified:11 Nov 2021 04:54

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