What the study found
The study extends a proposed version of the weak gravity conjecture in anti-de Sitter (AdS) space to more general effective field theories. The authors also argue that, in AdS space, the particle spectrum must satisfy the stronger of two conditions found before and after moduli stabilization.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors interpret their repulsion condition for particles near an extremal black hole horizon as a universal criterion imposed by the weak gravity conjecture for any background. They also conclude that a similar version of the tower weak gravity conjecture should apply in an AdS background.
What the researchers tested
The researchers extended their recent AdS weak gravity conjecture proposal to effective field theories with moduli, meaning scalar fields whose values can vary. They examined particles produced during the decay of an extremal black hole via the Schwinger effect, which is particle creation in a strong field, and required that these particles be repelled near the black hole horizon.
What worked and what didn't
Before moduli stabilization, the weak gravity conjecture constraint on the particle spectrum was reported to be independent of the background, giving the same bound in Minkowski and AdS space. After moduli stabilization in AdS space, the authors state that the conjecture is reproduced because the extremal black hole develops a non-singular horizon, and the particle spectrum must satisfy the stronger of the two conditions.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not describe experimental data, only a theoretical analysis. It also does not provide detailed limitations beyond noting the different conditions before and after moduli stabilization.
Key points
- The paper extends an AdS weak gravity conjecture proposal to more general effective field theories.
- The authors include setups with moduli, described as varying scalar fields.
- A repulsion condition near an extremal black hole horizon is treated as a universal criterion.
- Before moduli stabilization, the bound is said to be the same in Minkowski and AdS space.
- After moduli stabilization in AdS, the stronger of two conditions must be satisfied.
- The authors argue that a tower weak gravity conjecture version should also apply in AdS.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- AdS weak gravity conjecture extended to more general field theories
- Authors:
- Puxin Lin, Alessandro Mininno, Gary Shiu
- Institutions:
- University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-27
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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