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Weak gravity conjecture

Journal Article · · Reviews of Modern Physics
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); OSTI
  2. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)
  3. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  4. University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
The weak gravity conjecture holds that in a theory of quantum gravity any gauge force must mediate interactions stronger than gravity for some particles. This statement has surprisingly deep and extensive connections to many different areas of physics and mathematics. Several variations on the basic conjecture have been proposed, including statements that are much stronger but are nonetheless satisfied by all known consistent quantum gravity theories. These related conjectures and the evidence for their validity in the string theory landscape are reviewed. Also reviewed here are a variety of arguments for these conjectures, which tend to fall into two categories: qualitative arguments that claim the conjecture is plausible based on general principles and quantitative arguments for various special cases or analogs of the conjecture. The implications of these conjectures for particle physics, cosmology, general relativity, and mathematics are also outlined. Finally, important directions for future research are highlighted.
Research Organization:
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012567; SC0013607; SC0020360
OSTI ID:
2420216
Journal Information:
Reviews of Modern Physics, Journal Name: Reviews of Modern Physics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 95; ISSN 0034-6861
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Weak Gravity Conjecture and Black Holes in $N = 2$ Supergravity
  • Shiu, Gary; Cottrell, William; Soler, Pablo
  • Proceedings of Corfu Summer Institute 2016 "School and Workshops on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity" — PoS(CORFU2016) https://doi.org/10.22323/1.292.0130
conference October 2017
The String Landscape, the Swampland, and the Missing Corner
  • Vafa, Cumrun; Brennan, Theodore Daniel; Carta, Federico
  • Proceedings of Theoretical Advanced Study Institute Summer School 2017 "Physics at the Fundamental Frontier" — PoS(TASI2017) https://doi.org/10.22323/1.305.0015
conference September 2018
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The Swampland Conjectures: A Bridge from Quantum Gravity to Particle Physics journal July 2021
Constraints on the Photon mass with fast Radio Bursts journal April 2016
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