Soft-collinear gravity

by Robert Szafron

Thursday 29 Feb 2024, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/Warsaw

zoom (IFJ PAN)

It is surprising to note that the soft limits of gauge theories and perturbative gravity are quite similar, despite having different gauge structures. However, unlike gauge theory, gravity does not have any collinear divergences. Therefore, I will show how to explore the infrared limits of gravity and gauge theories using an effective field theory approach. While the soft-collinear effective field theory for QCD is relatively well understood, little is known about the corresponding formulation for gravity.

In this context, my presentation will focus on the construction of SCET (Soft-Collinear Effective Theory) gravity beyond leading power, and it will emphasize the fundamental role of emergent gauge symmetries. I will explore striking similarities with QCD and show how to perform a systematic operator-based expansion around the light cone in perturbative gravity. I will use the SCET formalism to derive the subleading soft theorem, demonstrate its universal structure, and discuss how power-counting restricts loop corrections in gravity.