Weak Gravity Conjecture from Unitarity and Causality

Hamada, Yuta; Noumi, Toshifumi; Shiu, Gary

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.051601

Title: Weak Gravity Conjecture from Unitarity and Causality

Abstract

The weak gravity conjecture states that quantum gravity theories have to contain a charged state with a charge-to-mass ratio bigger than unity. By studying unitarity and causality constraints on higher derivative corrections to the charge-to-mass ratio of extremal back holes, we demonstrate that heavy extremal black holes can play the role of the required charged state under several assumptions. In particular, our argument is applicable when the higher-spin states Reggeizing graviton exchange are subdominant in the photon scattering. It covers (1) theories with light neutral bosons such as dilaton and moduli, and (2) UV completion where the photon and the graviton are accompanied by different sets of Regge states just like open string theory. Our result provides an existence proof of the weak gravity conjecture in a wide class of theories, including generic string theory setups with the dilaton or other moduli stabilized below the string scale.

Authors:: Hamada, Yuta; Noumi, Toshifumi; Shiu, Gary

Publication Date:: 2019-07-31

Research Org.:: Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

OSTI Identifier:: 1545949

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1612738

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0017647

Resource Type:: Published Article

Journal Name:: Physical Review Letters

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Volume: 123 Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Physics; Effective field theory; Quantum aspects of black holes; Scattering amplitudes; String phenomenology

Citation Formats


                    Hamada, Yuta, Noumi, Toshifumi, and Shiu, Gary. Weak Gravity Conjecture from Unitarity and Causality.  United States: N. p., 2019. 
Web.  doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.051601.

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                    Hamada, Yuta, Noumi, Toshifumi, & Shiu, Gary. Weak Gravity Conjecture from Unitarity and Causality.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.051601

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                    Hamada, Yuta, Noumi, Toshifumi, and Shiu, Gary. Wed .  
"Weak Gravity Conjecture from Unitarity and Causality".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.051601.

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@article{osti_1545949,

  title        = {Weak Gravity Conjecture from Unitarity and Causality},

  author       = {Hamada, Yuta and Noumi, Toshifumi and Shiu, Gary},

  abstractNote = {The weak gravity conjecture states that quantum gravity theories have to contain a charged state with a charge-to-mass ratio bigger than unity. By studying unitarity and causality constraints on higher derivative corrections to the charge-to-mass ratio of extremal back holes, we demonstrate that heavy extremal black holes can play the role of the required charged state under several assumptions. In particular, our argument is applicable when the higher-spin states Reggeizing graviton exchange are subdominant in the photon scattering. It covers (1) theories with light neutral bosons such as dilaton and moduli, and (2) UV completion where the photon and the graviton are accompanied by different sets of Regge states just like open string theory. Our result provides an existence proof of the weak gravity conjecture in a wide class of theories, including generic string theory setups with the dilaton or other moduli stabilized below the string scale.},

  doi          = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.051601},

  journal      = {Physical Review Letters},

  number       = 5,

  volume       = 123,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2019},

  month        = {7}

}

Copy to clipboard

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Similar Records

Title: Weak Gravity Conjecture from Unitarity and Causality

Abstract

Citation Formats

Softness and amplitudes’ positivity for spinning particles journal, February 2017

Einstein gravity 3-point functions from conformal field theory journal, December 2017

Heterotic string theory journal, March 1986

On axionic field ranges, loopholes and the weak gravity conjecture journal, April 2016

Causality, analyticity and an IR obstruction to UV completion journal, October 2006

Tensionless strings and the weak gravity conjecture journal, October 2018

Proof of the weak gravity conjecture from black hole entropy journal, October 2018

AdS-phobia, the WGC, the Standard Model and Supersymmetry journal, June 2018

The Weak Gravity Conjecture in three dimensions journal, October 2016

The fundamental need for a SM Higgs and the weak gravity conjecture journal, November 2018

Non-supersymmetric AdS and the swampland journal, January 2017

Testing the weak gravity-cosmic censorship connection journal, March 2018

Massive Gravity journal, August 2014

The Weak Gravity Conjecture and the axionic black hole paradox journal, September 2017

Topological deformation of isolated horizons journal, March 2008

Cosmic censorship and Weak Gravity Conjecture in the Einstein–Maxwell-dilaton theory journal, June 2018

Fencing in the swampland: quantum gravity constraints on large field inflation journal, October 2015

Weak Gravity Conjecture and extremal black holes journal, June 2019

Weak gravity conjecture, multiple point principle and the standard model landscape journal, November 2017

Constraining neutrino masses, the cosmological constant and BSM physics from the weak gravity conjecture journal, November 2017

The string landscape, black holes and gravity as the weakest force journal, June 2007

Infrared consistency and the weak gravity conjecture journal, December 2014

Conformal bootstrap in the Regge limit journal, December 2017

Evidence for a sublattice weak gravity conjecture journal, August 2017

Second law violations in Lovelock gravity for black hole mergers journal, June 2011

A conformal collider for holographic CFTs journal, October 2018

Wormholes, emergent gauge fields, and the weak gravity conjecture journal, January 2016

Sharpening the weak gravity conjecture with dimensional reduction journal, February 2016

Causality constraints on corrections to the graviton three-point coupling journal, February 2016

Black hole entropy is the Noether charge journal, October 1993

An O(16) × O(16) heterotic string journal, April 1986

Black hole entropy and higher curvature interactions journal, June 1993

A Tower Weak Gravity Conjecture from Infrared Consistency journal, May 2018

Universal bounds on charged states in 2d CFT and 3d gravity journal, August 2016

Evidence for an electrifying violation of cosmic censorship journal, September 2016

Weak gravity conjecture in the AdS/CFT correspondence journal, December 2015

Positivity of Curvature-Squared Corrections in Gravity journal, February 2017

Higher-order corrections to mass-charge relation of extremal black holes journal, December 2007

Softness and amplitudes’ positivity for spinning particles
journal, February 2017

Einstein gravity 3-point functions from conformal field theory
journal, December 2017

Heterotic string theory
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On axionic field ranges, loopholes and the weak gravity conjecture
journal, April 2016

Causality, analyticity and an IR obstruction to UV completion
journal, October 2006

Tensionless strings and the weak gravity conjecture
journal, October 2018

Proof of the weak gravity conjecture from black hole entropy
journal, October 2018

AdS-phobia, the WGC, the Standard Model and Supersymmetry
journal, June 2018

The Weak Gravity Conjecture in three dimensions
journal, October 2016

The fundamental need for a SM Higgs and the weak gravity conjecture
journal, November 2018

Non-supersymmetric AdS and the swampland
journal, January 2017

Testing the weak gravity-cosmic censorship connection
journal, March 2018

Massive Gravity
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The Weak Gravity Conjecture and the axionic black hole paradox
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Topological deformation of isolated horizons
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Cosmic censorship and Weak Gravity Conjecture in the Einstein–Maxwell-dilaton theory
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Fencing in the swampland: quantum gravity constraints on large field inflation
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Infrared consistency and the weak gravity conjecture
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Black hole entropy and higher curvature interactions
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Higher-order corrections to mass-charge relation of extremal black holes
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