Super-Planckian spatial field variations and quantum gravity

@article{Klaewer2016SuperPlanckianSF,
  title={Super-Planckian spatial field variations and quantum gravity},
  author={Daniel Klaewer and Eran Palti},
  journal={Journal of High Energy Physics},
  year={2016},
  volume={2017},
  pages={1-21}
}
  • Daniel Klaewer, E. Palti
  • Published 30 September 2016
  • Physics, Geology, Mathematics
  • Journal of High Energy Physics
A bstractWe study scenarios where a scalar field has a spatially varying vacuum expectation value such that the total field variation is super-Planckian. We focus on the case where the scalar field controls the coupling of a U(1) gauge field, which allows us to apply the Weak Gravity Conjecture to such configurations. We show that this leads to evidence for a conjectured property of quantum gravity that as a scalar field variation in field space asymptotes to infinity there must exist an… 
View on Springer
link.springer.com
166 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
17
Background Citations
73
Methods Citations
12
Results Citations
7

166 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Emergence of Weak Coupling at Large Distance in Quantum Gravity.
TLDR
The Ooguri-Vafa swampland conjectures claim that in any consistent theory of quantum gravity, a tower of particles will become light at a rate that is exponential in the field-space distance, and this work provides a novel viewpoint on this claim.
Mass hierarchies and dynamical field range
Several swampland conjectures suggest that there is a critical field range beyond which the effective field theory (EFT) description breaks down in quantum gravity. In applications of these…
Are tiny gauge couplings out of the Swampland?
A bstractThere is significant evidence suggesting that continuous global symmetries are always gauged in quantum gravity. However, very weakly gauged symmetries seem global to an effective field…
The weak gravity conjecture and scalar fields
A bstractWe propose a generalisation of the Weak Gravity Conjecture in the presence of scalar fields. The proposal is guided by properties of extremal black holes in N=2$$ \mathcal{N}=2 $$…
Ju l 2 01 7 The Weak Gravity Conjecture and Scalar Fields
We propose a generalisation of the Weak Gravity Conjecture in the presence of scalar fields. The proposal is guided by properties of extremal black holes in N = 2 supergravity, but can be understood…
Gauge and gravitational instantons: from 3-forms and fermions to weak gravity and flat axion potentials
Abstract We investigate the role of gauge and gravitational instantons in the context of the Swampland program. Our focus is on the global symmetry breaking they induce, especially in the presence…
Scalar fields, hierarchical UV/IR mixing and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
A bstractThe Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) bounds the mass of a particle by its charge. It is expected that this bound can not be below the ultraviolet cut-off scale of the effective theory.…
Photon masses in the landscape and the swampland
  • M. Reece
  • Physics
    Journal of High Energy Physics
  • 2019
Abstract In effective quantum field theory, a spin-1 vector boson can have a technically natural small mass that does not originate from the Higgs mechanism. For such theories, which may be…
The Swampland Spectrum Conjecture in Inflation
The quantum gravity conjectures that aim to separate the landscape from the swampland among the low energy theories were originally formulated in the context of scalar field spaces spanned by moduli.…
1 . 2 The case against a photon mass in quantum gravity
In effective quantum field theory, a spin-1 vector boson can have a technically natural small mass that does not originate from theHiggsmechanism. For such theories, whichmay bewritten in Stückelberg…
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 55 REFERENCES
On super-Planckian fields at sub-Planckian energies
For a light scalar coupled to gravity, I study the gravitational backreaction associated with large field variations. I show a generic obstruction in sourcing a super-Planckian scalar profile without…
The String landscape, black holes and gravity as the weakest force
We conjecture a general upper bound on the strength of gravity relative to gauge forces in quantum gravity. This implies, in particular, that in a four-dimensional theory with gravity and a U(1)…
Weak gravity strongly constrains large-field axion inflation
A bstractModels of large-field inflation based on axion-like fields with shift symmetries can be simple and natural, and make a promising prediction of detectable primordial gravitational waves. The…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture in three dimensions
A bstractWe study weakly coupled U(1) theories in AdS3, their associated charged BTZ solutions, and their charged spectra. We find that modular invariance of the holographic dual two-dimensional CFT…
Axion decay constants away from the lamppost
A bstractIt is unknown whether a bound on axion field ranges exists within quantum gravity. We study axion field ranges using extended supersymmetry, in particular allowing an analysis within…
On natural inflation and moduli stabilisation in string theory
A bstractNatural inflation relies on the existence of an axion decay constant which is super-Planckian. In string theory only sub-Planckian axion decay constants have been found in any controlled…
Symmetries and Strings in Field Theory and Gravity
We discuss aspects of global and gauged symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity, focusing on discrete gauge symmetries. An effective Lagrangian description of Zp gauge theories shows…
Fencing in the swampland: quantum gravity constraints on large field inflation
A bstractIn this note we show that models of natural inflation based on closed string axions are incompatible with the weak gravity conjecture (WGC). Specifically, we use T- duality in order to map…
Warping the Weak Gravity Conjecture
On the Geometry of the String Landscape and the Swampland
...
1
2
3
4
5
...