Speaker: Pablo Soler Gomis, CTPU - Institute for Basic Science
Abstract: An important open question in the study of quantum gravity is whether topologically non trivial spacetime configurations (Euclidean wormholes) should be taken into account in the path integral. If present, they can generate phenomenologically relevant couplings and play an important role, e.g. in breaking axionic shift symmetries. At the same time, they pose deep conceptual problems such as the appearance of random couplings in the effective action or conflicts with holography. I will introduce in this talk some of the basic features of Euclidean wormholes and their phenomenological applications, focusing in particular on axionic wormholes and the role played by (massive) dilatons in their construction.