Anomalous particle-production thresholds through systematic and non-systematic quantum-gravity effects

A growing number of studies is being devoted to the identification of plausible quantum properties of spacetime which might give rise to observably large effects. The literature on this subject is now relatively large, including studies in string theory, loop quantum gravity and non-commutative geometry. It is useful to divide the various proposals into proposals involving a systematic quantum-gravity effect (an effect that would shift the main/average prediction for a given observable quantity) and proposals involving a non-systematic quantum-gravity effect (an effect that would introduce new fundamental uncertanties in some observable quantity). The case of quantum-gravity-induced particle-production-threshold anomalies, a much studied example of potentially observable quantum-gravity effect, is here used as an example to illustrate the differences to be expected between systematic and non-systematic effects.