Emergent String Conjecture: Universal KK or String Origin of Light Towers

Establish that, in all consistent quantum theories of gravity, the towers of light states that arise at extreme limits in parameter or field space universally originate as either Kaluza–Klein excitations of a higher-dimensional graviton or as excitations of a light fundamental string.

Background

Building on the Distance Conjecture, the paper notes that known examples identify the light towers as either KK modes from higher-dimensional graviton excitations or as string excitations from a light tension. The Emergent String Conjecture posits that this characterization is universal across all quantum gravity theories.

This conjecture connects geometric limits in the moduli space to physical mechanisms (KK or string towers), providing a concrete structure for the light spectra anticipated near infinite-distance limits.