TeV gravity in four dimensions?

TL;DR

This paper proposes a four-dimensional TeV-scale gravity model with a large vacuum expectation value of a dilaton field, avoiding extra dimensions and predicting strong coupling effects at the LHC without black hole production.

Contribution

It introduces a novel four-dimensional TeV-scale gravity model relying on a dilaton field, eliminating the need for extra dimensions and addressing the hierarchy problem.

Findings

M_ ext{star} could be less than a TeV

Model predicts strong coupling effects at the LHC

Semiclassical black holes will not form

Abstract

We describe a model in which the fundamental scale M_\star of the theory which unifies gravity and quantum mechanics is in the TeV range, but without requiring additional spacetime dimensions. The weakness of gravity at low energies is due to a large vacuum expectation of a dilaton like field. The model requires a small dimensionless parameter (the self-coupling of the dilaton) but no fine-tuning. We discuss in detail the dynamical assumptions about nonperturbative quantum gravity required within the model. We observe that M_\star could be quite small, less than a TeV, and that the model could lead to copious strong coupling effects at the LHC. However, semiclassical black holes will not be produced.