On the weak gravity conjecture in string theory with broken supersymmetry

Quentin Bonnefoy (1) , Emilian Dudas (1) , Severin Lüst (2, 1)

1 CPHT - Centre de Physique Théorique [Palaiseau]
2 IPHT - Institut de Physique Théorique - UMR CNRS 3681

We use type I string models with supersymmetry broken by compactification (a la Scherk-Schwarz) in order to test the weak gravity conjecture in the presence of runaway potentials in a perturbative string theory setting. For a finite value of the supersymmetry breaking radius there is a runaway potential, which is the only possibility if one accepts the non-existence of de Sitter vacua. Although the weak gravity conjecture is valid in the decompactification limit, for fixed values of the radius we show that there are short-ranged attractive D1 brane-brane interactions. We argue however that at one-loop level the effective tension of the branes decreases and becomes smaller than the effective charge such that there is a long-ranged repulsive force and the weak gravity conjecture is respected. Moreover, for very small g(s) we expect a large number of stable bound states to be present.

Domaines: Bibliothèque électronique [cs.DL]

Quentin Bonnefoy, Emilian Dudas, Severin Lüst. On the weak gravity conjecture in string theory with broken supersymmetry. Nuclear Physics B, 2019, 947, pp.UNSP 114738. ⟨10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2019.114738⟩. ⟨cea-02316812⟩