Quantum Gravity in Asymptotically Flat Spacetimes from Unstable D-Branes
Abstract
We present a non-perturbative formulation of quantum gravity in asymptotically flat spacetimes using Witten's cubic open string field theory (OSFT) on unstable D-branes. Given that the massless spin-2 sector of the closed string spectrum inherently encodes the degrees of freedom of quantum gravity, we establish this connection by mapping on-shell closed string excitations directly to gauge-invariant operators in OSFT, realizing a concrete flat-space analogue of the AdS/CFT correspondence. By evaluating the OSFT correlation functions of these operators perturbatively around the tachyon vacuum, we systematically reproduce the all-orders genus expansion of the closed string S-matrix for the associated states. This demonstrates that closed string theory-and thus quantum gravity-emerges dynamically from the open string tachyon vacuum, establishing Witten's OSFT as a fully calculable, non-perturbative framework for flat-space quantum gravity.
Related
- Hadamard states for linearized gravity on asymptotically flat spacetimes
- Classical and quantum scattering of massive Klein--Gordon fields in asymptotically flat spacetimes
- Initial Data Gluing for Asymptotically Hyperbolic Spacetimes
- Alternative Boundary Conditions in Asymptotically Anti-de Sitter Spacetimes
- Quasilinear wave equations on asymptotically flat spacetimes with applications to Kerr black holes
BibTeX
@misc{pius2026quantum,
title = {{Quantum Gravity in Asymptotically Flat Spacetimes from Unstable D-Branes}},
author = {Roji Pius},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.11493},
eprint = {2610.11493},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.11493},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Quantum Gravity in Asymptotically Flat Spacetimes from Unstable D-Branes
AU - Roji Pius
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.11493
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.11493
AB - We present a non-perturbative formulation of quantum gravity in asymptotically flat spacetimes using Witten's cubic open string field theory (OSFT) on unstable D-branes. Given that the massless spin-2 sector of the closed string spectrum inherently encodes the degrees of freedom of quantum gravity, we establish this connection by mapping on-shell closed string excitations directly to gauge-invariant operators in OSFT, realizing a concrete flat-space analogue of the AdS/CFT correspondence. By evaluating the OSFT correlation functions of these operators perturbatively around the tachyon vacuum, we systematically reproduce the all-orders genus expansion of the closed string S-matrix for the associated states. This demonstrates that closed string theory-and thus quantum gravity-emerges dynamically from the open string tachyon vacuum, establishing Witten's OSFT as a fully calculable, non-perturbative framework for flat-space quantum gravity.
ER -