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Phys. Rev. D 74, 106006 (2006) [11 pages]

Locality in quantum gravity and string theory

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Steven B. Giddings*
Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-9530, USA

Received 29 June 2006; published 17 November 2006

Breakdown of local physics in string theory at distances longer than the string scale is investigated. Such nonlocality would be expected to be visible in ultrahigh-energy scattering. The results of various approaches to such scattering are collected and examined. No evidence is found for nonlocality from strings whose length grows linearly with the energy. However, local quantum field theory does apparently fail at scales determined by gravitational physics, particularly strong gravitational dynamics. This amplifies locality bound arguments that such failure of locality is a fundamental aspect of physics. This kind of nonlocality could be a central element of a possible loophole in the argument for information loss in black holes.

© 2006 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.74.106006
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevD.74.106006
PACS:
11.25.Sq, 04.70.Dy, 11.25.Db, 11.55.-m

*Electronic address: giddings@physics.ucsb.edu

See Also

See Also: Steven B. Giddings, Black hole information, unitarity, and nonlocality, Phys. Rev. D 74, 106005 (2006).