Universality in the Classical Limit of Massless Gravitational Scattering

Abstract

We demonstrate the universality of the gravitational classical deflection angle of massless particles through O(G^{3}) by studying the high-energy limit of full two-loop four-graviton scattering amplitudes in pure Einstein gravity as well as N≥4 supergravity. As a by-product, our first-principles calculation provides a direct confirmation of the massless deflection angle in Einstein gravity proposed long ago by Amati, Ciafaloni, and Veneziano, and is inconsistent with a recently proposed alternative.

Topics & Concepts