1:30 pm MCP 201
Reconstructing the spectrum of states in quantum gravity.
Massive states in quantum gravity interpolate between light particles and heavy black hole microstates. Using ideas from thermodynamics and consistency of gravitational amplitudes, I will show that the presence of black holes in the spectrum impose multiple non-trivial consistency conditions on the structure of the whole spectrum, even at low-energies. As a corollary, with certain assumptions, I will show that the lightest tower of weakly coupled particles in quantum gravity must be either a Kalutza-Klein tower or it must have a density of states resembling that of strings. I will explain how this work takes an important step in understanding the principle behind some of the most consequential Swampland conjectures.