What the study found
The authors extend a recent proposal for the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) in anti-de Sitter (AdS) space to more general effective field theories. They report that, when moduli are present, the relevant condition is that a particle produced by Schwinger effect during an extremal black hole decay is repelled close to the black hole horizon.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors interpret this repulsion condition as a universal criterion imposed by the WGC for any background. They also state that the particle-spectrum constraint before moduli stabilization is independent of the background, giving the same bound in Minkowski and AdS space.
What the researchers tested
The study examines extensions of the WGC to setups with moduli, which are fields that can change the values of other physical quantities. It also analyzes the AdS case after moduli stabilization and uses these results to argue for a similar version of the tower WGC in AdS background.
What worked and what didn't
Before moduli stabilization, the WGC constraint on the particle spectrum was found to be the same in Minkowski and AdS space. After moduli stabilization in AdS space, the WGC is reproduced because a non-singular horizon forms for the extremal black hole, and in that case the spectrum must satisfy the stronger of the two WGC conditions obtained before and after stabilization.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not provide detailed limitations or quantitative tests. The conclusions are presented as an extension and an argument for a similar tower WGC in AdS, rather than as a broader empirical verification.
Key points
- The paper extends a recent AdS version of the Weak Gravity Conjecture to more general effective field theories.
- With moduli present, the proposed criterion is that a Schwinger-produced particle is repelled near an extremal black hole horizon.
- Before moduli stabilization, the particle-spectrum bound is said to be the same in Minkowski and AdS space.
- After moduli stabilization in AdS space, the WGC is reproduced because a non-singular horizon forms.
- The authors argue that a similar version of the tower WGC should also apply in AdS background.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Weak gravity bound extended to AdS settings
- Authors:
- Puxin Lin, Alessandro Mininno, Gary Shiu
- Institutions:
- University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-27
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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