Effective Field Theory, Black Holes, and the Cosmological Constant

TL;DR

This paper explores the limitations of effective field theory in describing large-scale phenomena like black holes and the cosmological constant, proposing a UV-IR cutoff relationship to reconcile quantum field theory with gravitational bounds.

Contribution

It introduces a relationship between UV and IR cutoffs in effective field theory to address entropy bounds and the cosmological constant problem.

Findings

Quantum field theory breaks down in large volumes due to entropy bounds.

A specific UV-IR cutoff relationship constrains effective field theory accuracy.

Minimal corrections to electron g-2 exceed top quark contributions under these constraints.

Abstract

Bekenstein has proposed the bound S < pi M_P^2 L^2 on the total entropy S in a volume L^3. This non-extensive scaling suggests that quantum field theory breaks down in large volume. To reconcile this breakdown with the success of local quantum field theory in describing observed particle phenomenology, we propose a relationship between UV and IR cutoffs such that an effective field theory should be a good description of Nature. We discuss implications for the cosmological constant problem. We find a limitation on the accuracy which can be achieved by conventional effective field theory: for example, the minimal correction to (g-2) for the electron from the constrained IR and UV cutoffs is larger than the contribution from the top quark.