Infrared and ultraviolet cutoffs of quantum field theory

TL;DR

This paper explores how infrared and ultraviolet cutoffs, motivated by quantum gravity and entropy bounds, suggest a maximum energy scale around 100 TeV for quantum field theories, with implications for Lorentz invariance and cosmic phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a correlated infrared and ultraviolet scale framework that constrains the validity of quantum field theories and discusses potential phenomenological effects at high energies.

Findings

Identifies a ~100 TeV upper limit for quantum field theory validity.

Discusses potential Lorentz invariance violations at low and high energies.

Suggests new quantum effects could emerge near this energy scale.

Abstract

Quantum gravity arguments and the entropy bound for effective field theories proposed in PRL 82, 4971 (1999) lead to consider two correlated scales which parametrize departures from relativistic quantum field theory at low and high energies. A simple estimate of their possible phenomenological implications leads to identify a scale of around 100 TeV as an upper limit on the domain of validity of a quantum field theory description of Nature. This fact agrees with recent theoretical developments in large extra dimensions. Phenomenological consequences in the beta-decay spectrum and cosmic ray physics associated to possible Lorentz invariance violations induced by the infrared scale are discussed. It is also suggested that this scale might produce new unexpected effects at the quantum level.