Strings 2024

The Future of String Theory: 100 Open Questions

We are scheduled to convene the last session of the conference on a future vision
for string theory. To stimulate the discussion, we asked speakers and organizers of
recent Strings conferences and of this year's KITP program to submit questions that
might plausibly be answered in the next ten years. We have received the following 100
questions, some with hints and all of them very interesting.

We encourage you to think of comments and questions on these questions that you
can share at our session. You are also welcome to suggest new scientific questions that
might plausibly be answered in the next ten years. We hope that these will serve to
stimulate discussion at the session as well as future research.

Our plan for the session is for each of us to speak for 15 minutes and then open the
floor to your comments and questions on any topic.

You may also consider submitting your comments and questions to us in advance.
While we cannot guarantee that we will have enough time for everyone, we will try to
start with those who have contacted us in advance.

We look forward to an interesting session!

Sincerely,
Hirosi Ooguri and Andy Strominger

Sergio Aguilar

1. What are useful observables to sharply describe a chaotic-integrable phase

transition in quantum systems? Are there examples where we could have a
holographic description of the intermediate phase?
Hint: Very interesting progress in SYK systems, spin chains, and billard-like systems (see
e.g. 2207.07701, 2401.04764, 2403.01950, 2405.11254). The tools of quantum
information theory and Von Neumann algebras seem promising, and, in principle,
applicable to more general examples.

Ofer Aharony

2. What is the classical string theory dual to the large N limit of (𝟑 + 𝟏

dimensional) QCD?

Hint: For asymptotically free gauge theories, a good starting point could be
understanding the string dual of the free gauge theory.

Lara Anderson and James Gray

3. Within a given string theory, what topological data of the background specifies
distinct branches of the moduli space of 𝟒-dimensional, 𝑵 = 𝟏 compactifications?
In other words, is there a generalization of the distinguishing minimal "Wall's data"
of Calabi-Yau threefolds (which fully determines 𝟒-dimensional, 𝑵 = 𝟐 Type II
backgrounds) to 𝟒-dimensional, 𝑵 = 𝟏 string theory compactifications?

David Andriot

4. Is dark energy explained by quintessence?

Hint: Can string theory provide a controlled and viable quintessence model?

Dionysios Anninos

5. What is the theoretical underpinning, or even axiomatic structure, governing

cosmological spacetimes?

Hint: Some hints (cautiously interpreted) might stem from the appearance of horizons of
the cosmological type, and the structure of semiclassical Wheeler-DeWitt wave
equation.

Stefano Antonini

6. How should we interpret the breakdown of bulk EFT at late times in evaporating
black holes/in closed universes?

Hint: A holographic dual theory should be able to describe the experience of a bulk
observer. In highly non-isometrically encoded spacetimes this seems to not be the case,
even at low curvature, unless the observer experiences a drastic breakdown of EFT. Is
there a consistent way to describe this bulk EFT from a holographic theory? Or should
we completely give up the bulk EFT?

Iosif Bena

7. There has been a great deal of work on counting black hole microstates, and on
using Euclidean saddle points to achieve this. But what does the actual Lorentzian
microstate structure look like?

Hint: Some coherent states may have a semiclassical description as horizonless

microstate geometries.

Micha Berkooz

8. What are we averaging over in gravity? How much does it wash over relative to
the various dual theories (if at all)? In 𝑫 > 𝟐, it seems that various proposal work
in some regime, but none works in all regimes.

Nathan Berkovits
9. Why is the same scattering equation used by Gross-Mende near the tensionless
limit of the string also useful for computing 𝜶′ = 𝟎 super-YM/sugra scattering
amplitudes as shown by Cachazo et al.?

Hint: Try to find a method for computing 𝛼 ′ superstring corrections to super-YM/sugra

scattering amplitudes by perturbing near solutions of the scattering equation.

Nikolay Bobev

10. Is there a version of the OSV conjecture for (supersymmetric) black holes in AdS?

Hint: Perhaps use AdS/CFT and the many explicit results for partition functions of
supersymmetric CFTs on compact Euclidean manifolds as guidance to formulating such a
conjecture.

Shira Chapman

11. Is quantum gravity in the expanding universe described by a dual quantum

mechanical system?

Hint: Can quantum information measures point us in the right direction to look for such
a system?

Shai M. Chester

12. What can be learned about quantum gravity from a non-perturbative computation
of correlators in holographic CFTs for finite 𝑵 and coupling?

Hint: Black hole states should be dual to high dimension operators in the CFT, and
quantum gravity should give a prediction of how the statistics of these states change as a
function of 𝑁 and coupling.

Minjae Cho
13. How do we describe strings in time-dependent backgrounds?

Hint: Find a time-dependent solution to the string field equations (if no exact worldsheet
CFT description is available). What are the physical observables we should compute in
such a background?

Atish Dabholkar

14. Can we define a notion of entanglement entropy in a quantum theory of gravity?

Hint: Can we use a generalization of the replica trick in string theory?

Xi Dong

15. How do we formulate quantum gravity non-perturbatively in cosmological

spacetimes with accelerated expansion?

Michael R. Douglas

16. Is there a simple description of the complete set (or moduli space) of all string/M
compactifications with 𝟖 supercharges? And, of all such quantum gravity theories.
Are they the same?

Reference: Washington Taylor, http://arxiv.org/abs/1009.1246

Roberto Emparan

17. Which singularities can string theory resolve, and which it likely cannot?

Hint: String theory (with finite alpha' effects, but no loops) seems to be able to deal with
naked singularities that violate weak cosmic censorship, but appears powerless to
resolve the ones in black hole interiors.
Johanna Erdmenger

18. Can we use recent developments in string theory for a new look at understanding
non-abelian gauge theories?

Hint: Combine insights from bootstrap, amplitudes, dual resonance, AdS/QCD, EFTs, you
name it...

19. Can concepts from quantum information theory be used to find the space of QFTs
with gravity duals, possibly beyond string theory, and/or to prove the AdS/CFT
conjecture?

Hint: Translate insights from computational complexity theory and information

geometry into string theory.

Alon Faraggi

20. Is the Higgs particle fundamental or composite? Does the Higgs sector consist of a
single Higgs state, as in the Standard Model, or of a multi-state sector, as in the two
Higgs doublet model and the supersymmetric models? Can one construct
composite Higgs string models that can be competitive with the string models that
utilise a fundamental scalar Higgs state (e.g. hep-ph/9306235 or 2404.16933) in
producing qualitatively detailed flavour structure? To what extent can the cubic
and quartic SM Higgs couplings be probed at the HL-LHC?

Hint: All phenomenological string models constructed to date utilise a fundamental

scalar representation in the spectrum of the string model.

Matthias Gaberdiel

21. Can we prove the 𝐀𝐝𝐒𝟓 /𝐂𝐅𝐓𝟒 duality at least at one point in moduli space?

Hint: Can we construct the worldsheet theory that is dual to free SYM in 4𝐷?
Steven Giddings

22. How does string theory address the question of scattering at energies far beyond
the Planck energy, and particularly that of its unitarity?

Hint: Many may believe that the resolution lies in dualities like AdS/CFT; for those that
do: What is the precise nature of the “holographic map,” and in particular how do we
use it to sharply construct quantities relevant for describing physics seen by bulk
observers? (And is it described as an isometry between Hilbert spaces, or something
else?)

Rajesh Gopakumar

23. Do conformal bootstrap constraints on holographic CFTs place nontrivial

constraints on the worldsheet CFTs of the dual AdS string theories?

Hint: Short distance (UV) on the boundary CFT translates into short distance on the
worldsheet of the dual string theory. Should therefore be able to translate OPEs in the
former to that of the latter.

Victor Gorbenko

24. What is the worldsheet theory of the confining string in pure large-𝑵 Yang-Mills?

Hint: It may be easier to understand very long static or rotating strings first.

Monica Guica

25. What is the axiomatic structure of non-gravitational theories dual to non-AdS

spacetimes?

Hint: Understand the axiomatic structure of a simple theory such as a TTbar-deformed

CFT, and investigate whether it plays any role in non-AdS holography, namely for linear
dilaton backgrounds. Of course, it would be ideal if one directly understood the
axiomatic structure of little string theory.

Tobias Hansen

26. What is the world-sheet theory for type IIb strings on 𝐀𝐝𝐒𝟓 × 𝐒 𝟓?

Hint: Recent progress on fixing the AdS Virasoro-Shapiro amplitude from conformal
bootstrap provides new input for this question.

Jonathan Heckman

27. What is the space of quantum field theories which arise from decoupling limits of
quantum gravity?

Hint: Use string theory.

Gary Horowitz

28. What replaces the semiclassical description of spacetime near a black hole
singularity, and how is it described holographically?

Hint: First decide if black holes have a conventional interior.

Veronika Hubeny

29. If entanglement underlies the essence of physical systems and in particular the
emergence of classical dynamical spacetime, how does it work in (or chime with)
the generally covariant context of a Lorentzian spacetime?

Hint: Figure out what type of subsystems can be meaningfully entangled, understand
how bulk locality can arise from these, and subject the proposal to scrutiny in extreme
regimes (such as for gravitational shock waves and more ambitiously black hole interior
and cosmology).

Daniel Jafferis

30. What is the framework that describes observations in the interior of dynamical
spacetimes?

Hint: What lessons should be taken from state specific reconstructions and the role of
the observer?

Andreas Karch

31. Can we get the holographic dual of type IIB on 10d Minkowski space from the
Carroll limit of 𝑵 = 𝟒 SYM?

No hint. But if the answer is yes, I assume we'll know within the next 10 years :)

Cindy Keeler

32. Can we develop a mathematically precise measure as to when effective field

theory will break down in the context of quantum gravity?

Hint: We have evidence that EFT provides inaccurate answers (e.g. for quantum
information questions about black holes), and some notion that the complexity of the
question asked may hinder EFT's accuracy. However we have not codified which
theories, or which questions within those theories, fail to be accurately addressed by
EFT means.

Manki Kim

33. Can we formulate string theory in cosmological backgrounds, e.g., de Sitter and
quintessence?
Hint: String field theory in Ramond-Ramond and time dependent backgrounds?

34. Can we provide a UV complete prescription for gravitational path integral? Does
this lead to a better understanding of black hole information problem?

Hint: Can we find a manifestly non-perturbatively background independent formulation

of string (field) theory, and can we integrate out heavy fields in BV master action of
string field theory?

Igor Klebanov

35. Quantum Chromodynamics is expected to have a dual description in terms of

string theory. Can this idea be used in the coming years to make a new prediction,
which is testable experimentally or at least numerically?

Shota Komatsu

36. Is there a non-perturbative formulation of topological string on compact Calabi-

Yau?

Hint: Based on the analogy with quantization of non-compact and compact phase
spaces, one possibility may be to replace matrix integrals dual to non-compact Calabi-
Yau's with finite discrete sums.

David Kosower

Background: String theory had its origins as a theory of hadrons. Since then, we've
discovered there's an enormously rich structure of string theory as a fundamental
theory. But the utility of having a "string-like" theory of hadrons, to bridge the gap
between perturbative QCD and low-energy expansions such as chiral Lagrangians, would
still be great. It would allow a systematization of nonperturbative contributions to jet
physics and improve the precision of theory predictions for collider physics. The
required theory would be an "effective" string theory, by analogy with effective
Lagrangians it would have a cut-off above which it would lose validity; it would have
many parameters which would be determined by matching at the cut-off (in the case of
strong interactions, to perturbative QCD). The evolution of these parameters would be
determined by string RG equations, and so on.

37. What are the prospects for developing these ideas in the next ten years?

Raghu Mahajan

38. It would be desirable to have a classical action for closed string field theory which
is not an infinite series of n-point amplitudes. What is the correct underlying
mathematical structure that is needed to write down such an action? Or is it simply
not possible?

Juan Maldacena

39. Could we understand better any holographic example relating matrix integrals to
Euclidean gravity solutions that are described by Einstein gravity?

Hint: Understand better the connection between the D(-1) brane matrix integral and its
gravity dual, the near horizon region of D(-1) branes. Are there interesting quantities we
can compute on both sides and make a comparison?

Emil J. Martinec

40. In gauge/gravity duality, horizon formation in the bulk geometry is dual to the
deconfinement transition in the gauge theory; how are these deconfined degrees
of freedom described on the bulk side of the duality?

Hint: Can we use giant gravitons, supertubes and/or other stringy probes to keep track
of the underlying branes in the bulk?

Henry Maxfield
41. When does perturbative quantum GR provide a reliable approximation for
cosmological spacetimes?

Hint: For old black holes, for calculating some quantities, we’ve recently learned of large
non-perturbative gravitational effects. Do similar considerations apply to late time de
Sitter space, for example?

René Meyer

42. Can string theory unravel the physics of the strange metal phase of high
temperature superconductors?

Hint: We have successful bottom-up AdS/CFT models which reproduce the main
properties of the strange metallic phase of high temperature superconductors. In order
to make further progress in understanding these phases, the construction and analysis
of top-down AdS/CFT dual pairs inspired by our bottom-up models might be useful.

Joseph Minahan

43. Can we make progress in M theory beyond the supergravity limit?

Hint: Can we use AdS/CFT and future progress in understanding (2,0) SCFTs beyond the
BPS level (perhaps involving bootstrapping) to address the M theory question?

Shiraz Minwalla

44. Is the tree-level Einstein S matrix the only consistent asymptotically flat classical n
graviton S matrix (classical= only poles and no cuts) that does not include pole
exchange contributions from particles of arbitrarily high spin?

45. Do the tree-level n graviton Einstein, Type II and Heterotic S matrices constitute
an exhaustive listing of such S matrices once we drop the constraint on the spins of
exchange poles?
Notes:
o `Consistent' means respecting all relevant general physical principles.
o #44 has been established for 4-graviton scattering assuming a constraint on growth
of tree level S matrices with energy (CRG conjecture). Exercise: Prove CRG and
extend to n-point scattering.
o Either a proof or counterexample would be interesting. In searching for
counterexamples note that
[a] Tree-level Type II/ Heterotic graviton S matrices on 𝑅 4 × CY are universal
(independent of the CY).
[b] May be useful to systematically study warped string compactifications for which
the dilaton is a modulus.

Sebastian Mizera

46. Can recent insights into the S-matrix bootstrap lead to a better understanding of
confining strings in non-Abelian gauge theories?

Hint: Reexamine the analytic properties of multi-body scattering amplitudes and

develop a comprehensive theory of dispersion relations.

Miguel Montero

47. Can we precisely quantify or prove a bound on the amount of breaking of global
symmetries in quantum gravity? (e.g., scale/coefficient of symmetry breaking
operators)

Hint: Try to make sense of black hole loops or wormhole effects generating EFT
operators. Perhaps first try AdS quantum gravity, where CFT crossing can relate light to
heavy stuff.

Gregory W. Moore

48. Can methods of supersymmetric field theory and/or string theory be used to
define new invariants of smooth four-dimensional manifolds? (``New'' in the sense
 that they can distinguish non-diffeomorphic manifolds which cannot be
distinguished by the Seiberg-Witten invariants (and hence by the Donaldson
invariants).)

Hint: Evidence is mixed whether (K-theoretic or elliptic) Donaldson invariants for non-
Lagrangian field theories will produce such invariants.

49. Is there a conceptual explanation of Mathieu (and Umbral) Moonshine, including

the genus zero phenomena?

Hint: Good people have tried hard for the past 14 years, and we are still waiting for the
"Ah Ha!" moment. So if the answer is yes, probably a new idea is required.

50. Is there a universally applicable (and acceptable) definition of fully local (aka fully
extended) Quantum Field Theory?
51. Will AI answer all the questions in this document, and render the profession of
theoretical physicist obsolete?

Jakob Moritz
52. Can we use microscopic constructions of de Sitter cosmologies in string theory,
such as KKLT, in order to find a notion of microstates that can account for the de
Sitter entropy? Or, given any Anti de Sitter vacuum in string theory, can we give a
general prescription for finding microscopic degrees of freedom that produce the
dual CFT in the IR?

Hint: should we enumerate degrees of freedom on suitable end-of-the-world-branes?

Nikita Nekrasov

53. Do non-unitary 2d CFTs and RG flows around them represent Lefschetz thimbles
for non-perturbative definition of string theory?

Hint: Liouville theory at complex values of the b parameter, WZW model for complex k,
to some extent, can be defined through unitary 𝑑 = 4, 𝑁 = 2 theory.
54. What is the world-sheet formulation of string theory in non-stationary
backgrounds?

Hint: In the complexification of the moduli space of complex structures on a Riemann

surface, is there a middle dimensional cycle representing worldsheet geometries, which
are mostly Lorentzian along the handles, mostly Euclidean near the vertices, and
smoothly interpolate in between.

Paul-Konstantin Oehlmann

55. String Universality seems to be almost established in theories with a lot of Susy
and spacetime dimensions but is there anything we can really say from the bottom
up when there is no supersymmetry?

Hint: Non-Susy string theories provide one top-down direction for UV complete non-
susy theories but is there a bottom-up principle as to why those may be the only one.

Hirosi Ooguri

56. Can we define a distance between any pair of conformal field theories that are
not necessarily related by marginal perturbations? More generally, what is the
structure of the space of all quantum field theories?

Hint: Can we use a domain wall between such a pair?

Reference:
o Michael R. Douglas, http://arxiv.org/abs/1005.2779.
o Constantin P. Bachas, Ilka Brunner, Michael R. Douglas, Leonardo Rastelli,
http://arxiv.org/abs/1311.2202.

57.Does the counting of black hole microstates give a non-pertrubative definition of

the topological string partition function?
Hint: Can we find all relevant trans-series in the large order behavior of the genus
expansion?

58. Can we settle the question of whether the KKLT construction can be realized in
string theory?

Hint: Develop a method to calculate 𝛼 ′ corrections in Ramond-Ramond backgrounds.

Sridip Pal

59. What is the space of chaotic and/or holographic CFTs?

Hint: Tools like modular/crossing bootstrap, Tauberian-like theorems, and harmonic

analysis can help us list the necessary and sufficient conditions for a CFT to be chaotic
and/or holographic. We would like to probe the CFT spectra beyond the usual coarse-
grained approximation, at a mesoscopic as well as microscopic level, injecting the
information of discreteness.

Veronica Pasquarella

60. How can category theory and representation theory be extended to fully
understand the embedding of the Standard Model in string theory?

Hint: This is my current ongoing work.

61. What is more fundamental to fully understand a QFT: amplitudes or operators?

Which of the two will lead to the most important advancements in understanding
how QFT arises from string theory?

Hint: As far as I know there are several attempts towards understanding the role they
play in different setups. My opinion is that they are complementary parts of a more
complete perspective.

Julio Parra Martinez

62. Given a low-energy EFT with a large spectral gap and a global symmetry which
appears to forbid a scattering process: is there a lower bound on the corresponding
cross section implied by “no global symmetries in quantum gravity”? e.g., is there a
a minimum value of the cross section for proton decay implied by QG?

Hint: The lore is that the symmetry must be either broken or gauged at high energies. If
it’s broken, is the minimum value of the cross section simply related to the scale of
breaking? If it’s gauged, is it related to the scale of magnetically charged objects? For
proton decay, an oft-used bound is given by the lowest dimension baryon-number-
violating operator in the SMEFT with a coefficient suppressed by the Planck scale. Is
this naive expectation actually correct?

Sabrina Pasterski

63. How can we better utilize the annual Strings meeting to foster collaboration
among the various subfields of high-energy theoretical physics?

João Penedones

64. Can we identify the essential property of some quantum mechanical systems that
leads to an emergent gravitational description?

Hint: Study an example with a finite number of degrees of freedom. How are the Lin-
Maldacena geometries encoded in the wavefunctions of the degenerate ground states
of the Berenstein-Maldacena-Nastase matrix quantum mechanics?

Cheng Peng

65. Can we find a set of axioms that help rule out inconsistent ensemble average
theories?

Eric Perlmutter
66. Can we quantitatively describe large scale structures in the space of unitary,
generic CFTs?

Hint: Inject chaos and discreteness of high-dimension operators into bootstrap

approaches (e.g. for 2𝑑 CFT at large central charge).

Andrea Puhm

67. What is the holographic dual of a black hole in asymptotically flat space and are
infrared effects important in the discussion of unitary evolution?

Hint: What tools from AdS can we carry over or adapt to flat space?

Grant Remmen

68. Can we prove that string theory is the only consistent perturbative ultraviolet
completion of gravity?

Hint: Can we cast the question in terms of the S-matrix at weak coupling and identify a
set of constraints that uniquely bootstrap the amplitudes of string theory, including
crossing, dual resonance, n-point factorization, and possibly other criteria?

Moshe Rozali

69. Can we understand in detail the emergence of a smooth black hole horizon as an
effective description of a single unitary quantum system (e.g. 𝑵 = 𝟒 SYM) in a pure
highly excited microstate?

Hint: The continuous spectrum in the presence of the black hole hints at some effective
coarse graining. Aspects of thermalization indicate that this coarse graining is closely
related to the emergence of quantum statistical mechanics for closed unitary systems
(as encoded e.g. in the ETH). In simple examples such coarse graining can be derived
from first principles.
Ivo Sachs

70. Formulate RNS String Field Theory in non-trivial backgrounds.

Hint: Explore finite exactly marginal backgrounds with mixed RR and NS fluxes.

Ricardo Schiappa

71. Can we use resurgence to compute transseries —including all nonperturbative

transmonomial contributions— for (large classes of) observables/ correlation
functions in generic string theoretic backgrounds?

Hint: This is likely reachable within matrix models, minimal, and topological string
theories. Will those results serve as a clue towards generic string theoretic backgrounds
or will something else be required?

Ashoke Sen

72. Can non-perturbative string theory be defined as the sum of the contributions
from its saddle points?

Hint: For generic complex values of the coupling constant, the Borel resummation of the
perturbation expansion around a saddle point is expected to generate the result of the
path integral over the Lefschetz thimble associated to that saddle point. So, if we knew
how to generate perturbation expansion around all the saddle points and also how the
desired integration contour is expressed as a sum of the Lefschetz thimbles, we have in
principle a non-perturbative definition of the theory. In string theory, we have a
systematic procedure for generating perturbation expansion around the perturbative
saddle and the Euclidean D-brane saddles. Can we develop such expansions around
other saddle points (e.g. the NS 5-brane saddles, wormholes etc) and in parallel explore
how the desired integration contour might be expressed as a union of the Lefschetz
thimbles of different saddles?
Atul Sharma

73. What are celestial symmetries good for?

Hint: Find a use for the w-infinity symmetry of celestial holography to bootstrap
graviton loop amplitudes in Einstein gravity, similar to Costello's two-loop all plus gluon
amplitude computation in certain QCD-like theories using celestial holographic and
twistorial techniques.

Gary Shiu

74. Does the Gibbons-Hawking entropy for (quasi) de Sitter space actually count
microstates?

Hint: Perhaps progress in understanding the wavefunction of the universe can shed light
on this problem.

Aninda Sinha

75. Can Quantum information ideas help us narrow the space of theories in the S-
matrix bootstrap and along these lines is string theory special?

Hint: Since generating entanglement is resource intensive, is there an entanglement

minimization principle at work in scattering, i.e., couplings are chosen in the appropriate
manner.

Kostas Skenderis

76. Would holography help us understand, or shed new light on, some of the
mysteries of the Standard Model (why this specific field content, neutrino masses,
etc.), or more generally to questions like “what is dark matter and dark energy”?

Hint: Holography maps gauge symmetries in the bulk to global symmetries of the
boundary theory, so if there is a dual three-dimensional QFT which is dual to our four-
dimensional universe it should have as its global symmetry the gauge group of the
standard model. Can we classify, say using bootstrap ideas, (or find examples of) such
theories with low-lying spectrum of operators that matches the field context of the
Standard Model? Such QFTs would provide a non-perturbative definition of quantum
gravity coupled to the standard model and may provide new insight about long-standing
questions.

Julian Sonner

77. Can quantum gravity be realized and explored as an emergent many-body phase
in real-world experiments? If so, what can be learned from them?

Hint: various quantum platforms (digital, analog, solid-state,…) may plausibly be

engineered to host strongly coupled many-body systems dual to (low-D) gravity in AdS.
Can these quantum simulations beat state-of-the art classical approaches, such as
Euclidean lattice simulations? Real-time simulations? What are the prospects for higher
dimensions? non-AdS gravity?

Douglas Stanford

78. Do correlation functions decay to zero for large time/space separation in de Sitter
quantum gravity?

Hint: Perhaps there is a non-decaying wormhole contribution?

Andrew Strominger

79. What is one example of a top-down construction of a 2D celestial dual for a string
compactification to four dimensions?

Hint: Work of Stieberger and Taylor and Castiblanco, Giribet, Marin and Rojas suggest a
relation to the 2𝐷 string worldsheet CFT. Both compute the 4𝐷 S-matrix.
80. Does conformally self-dual gravity with 𝑮𝝁𝝂 = 𝚲𝒈𝝁𝝂 have a consistent quantum
definition on 𝐀𝐝𝐒𝟒? If so, what is its holographic dual?

Hint: See Ward, Richard S. "Self-dual space-times with cosmological constant.” Comm.
Math. Phys. 78 (1980).

81. What is a clean method to measure the electromagnetic memory effect?

Hint: The effect is roughly proportional to the change in the first time derivative of the
dipole moment, which is large at a beam dump. The experimental challenges, which
include minimizing field transients, resemble those for the electric Aharonov-Bohm
effect as discussed for example in van Oudenaarden et.al., Nature 391 (1998) or R.
Weder J. Math. Phys. 52 (2011).

Haoyu Sun

82. Is it possible to systematically extend the power of integrability beyond the planar
limit?

Hint: A rather comprehensive review was given in arXiv:1012.3997, consistent with the
common lore that integrability is not too useful beyond the planar limit. The latest
results, which are from arXiv:1711.05326, suggest that one should consider the
worldsheet in general topology, and treat handles using twisted operators to always
maintain locality. Is there a non-perturbative way to implement this? This perspective
begs a further question: can one use integrability to compute correlators or anomalous
dimensions of extended operators, say in the planar limit for simplicity?

Yuji Tachikawa

83. The founding members of modern string theory, who have been so influential thus
far, will gradually retire and/or go to their next stage of existence. Will the string
theory community as a whole survive this transition? We will definitely see how
well we would cope with this in the next ten years.
Hint: Train an LLM with the very best papers written by the founding members, so that it
can continue to set the trend of the community.

Tadashi Takayanagi

84. Can we regard the AdS/CFT correspondence as a version of quantum computers?

Hint: Understand how the AdS/CFT calculates various quantities (e.g. energy spectra,
correlation functions, entanglement entropy and complexity) in the language of
quantum circuits or their generalization.

Washington Taylor

85. Can recent progress on holography and the black hole information problem
provide useful insights into the formulation of a nonperturbative background-
independent theory of quantum gravity and/or the structure of the string
landscape?

Ethan Torres

86. How do we classify all of the possible branes in supersymmetric string theories?

Hint: In the past couple of years, some works motivated by the Swampland Cobordism
Conjecture have provided evidence for new non-BPS branes in Type II and heterotic
string theories.

Extra credit: One of these branes (a non-BPS 4-brane in E8 × E8 heterotic string theory)
has an integer charge lattice. Does taking a large-𝑁 limit of these lead to a sensible non-
SUSY AdS6 /CFT5 correspondence?

Piotr Tourkine
87. Can we build numerically consistent two-to-two S-matrices in four dimensions
that satisfy crossing, unitarity, analyticity, and display Froissart growth?

Hint: A better understanding of Regge theory and a way to implement it within the S-
matrix bootstrap would allow to improve the control on the various limits of the S-
matrix, high energy, large spin, etc. Conversely, the numerical S-matrix program should
tell us precious information on possible non-perturbative Regge behaviours.

Gustavo J. Turiaci

88. Can we derive the rules for computing the gravitational path integral from string
theory? How constraining is the expectation that black holes behave as ordinary
quantum systems on such rules?

Mithat Unsal

89. In all semi-classically calculable regimes adiabatically connected to the 𝑺𝑼(𝑵)

Yang-Mills theory on 𝑹𝟒 , 𝟒𝒅 instantons always split up into N fractional instantons.
In all cases, these fractional configurations are responsible for confinement,
fractional theta dependence, and mass gap. Yet, none of these effects are
attributed to instantons in 𝟒𝒅 Yang-Mills theory! Is it possible that our current
understanding of instantons in 𝟒𝒅 is rather primitive? If so, should we try to find
formulations of instantons that may reveal its true nature?

Irene Valenzuela

90. Can we find a bottom-up rationale for the Swampland Distance Conjecture (i.e.
the existence of towers of states becoming exponentially light at the infinite
distance boundaries of the moduli space)?

Hint: Can we find an inconsistency using black hole physics or S-matrix bootstrap if the
tower is not there?
Thomas Van Riet

91. Do we think holography without supersymmetry in the UV & full stability of the
vacuum (dS holography, non-SUSY AdS & celestial holography) is achievable?

Hint: Should one look at non-unitary field theories as a proxy for describing meta-stable
vacua inside theories with stable SUSY vacua?

Mark Van Raamsdonk

92. For cosmological solutions of 𝚲 < 𝟎 gravitational effective field theories

associated with holographic CFTs, can we relate the cosmological physics to the
physics of the associated CFT? Can we give a microscopic calculation of the density
perturbations after the big bang in some example?

Hint: There are often asymptotically AdS regions in the Euclidean continuation of the
cosmological spacetime.

Shreya Vardhan

93. What is the bulk dual of a single high energy eigenstate of the boundary theory?

Hint: If we could show that such states have exponentially high circuit complexity, what
would that tell us about the region behind the horizon?

Vatsal

94. What is a completely non-perturbative, manifestly gauge-invariant, background-

independent formulation of string theory?

Hint: (momentum space) string field theory?

Spenta Wadia
95. What is the signature of the black hole singularity in the dual field theory on the
boundary of 𝐀𝐝𝐒𝒅 (𝒅 > 𝟐)?

Xi Yin

96. Can string field theory be formulated at a fully non-perturbative and quantum
level?

Masahito Yamazaki

97. Can we rediscover/extend current formulation of string theory, by some version of

reinforcement learning?

Hint: Formulate string theory as a "game" with a well-defined "reward", and let the
machines take care of the "trial and error" part.

Alexander Zhiboedov

98. What is the space of holographic CFTs?

Hint: Current bootstrap bounds allow essentially any QFT at low energies. This is in sharp
contrast with explicit constructions in string theory which come with a lot of extra
structure. To narrow this theoretical gap we perhaps need to learn how to impose
quantum consistency of black holes.

Yoav Zigdon

99. Can we construct a ground-state wavefunction of the Universe from string theory
that corresponds to our Universe?

Hint: Such a wavefunction might describe a phase of the early Universe with extended
objects wrapping Euclidean time.
Anonymous

100. Can we describe cosmological spacetimes using quantum mechanics? How

should we think about cosmological spacetimes in a full quantum gravity theory?