Generalized Symmetry Breaking Scales and Weak Gravity Conjectures

Abstract

We explore the notion of approximate global symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity. We show that a variety of conjectures about quantum gravity, including the weak gravity conjecture, the distance conjecture, and the magnetic and axion versions of the weak gravity conjecture can be motivated by the assumption that generalized global symmetries should be strongly broken within the context of low-energy effective field theory, i.e. at a characteristic scale less than the Planck scale where quantum gravity effects become important. For example, the assumption that the electric one-form symmetry of Maxwell theory should be strongly broken below the Planck scale implies the weak gravity conjecture. Similarly, the violation of generalized non-invertible symmetries is closely tied to analogs of this conjecture for non-abelian gauge theory. This reasoning enables us to unify these conjectures with the absence of global symmetries in quantum gravity.

44 pages, 1 figure

References in corpus (17)

• Generalized Global Symmetries
• On the Geometry of the String Landscape and the Swampland
• Symmetries and Strings in Field Theory and Gravity
• The Swampland: Introduction and Review
• Black Hole Bound on the Number of Species and Quantum Gravity at LHC
• Non-Invertible Duality Defects in 3+1 Dimensions
• Super-Planckian Spatial Field Variations and Quantum Gravity
• The Weak Gravity Conjecture in three dimensions
• Natural Inflation and Quantum Gravity
• Infrared Consistency and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
• On the Possibility of Large Axion Moduli Spaces
• Semi-Abelian gauge theories, non-invertible symmetries, and string tensions beyond $N$-ality
• Higher-form symmetries and 3-group in axion electrodynamics
• Continuous Global Symmetries and Hyperweak Interactions in String Compactifications
• On completeness and generalized symmetries in quantum field theory
• Field theories with higher-group symmetry from composite currents
• Dispersive calculation of the massless multi-loop sunrise diagram

Cited by in corpus (31)

• Non-invertible Time-reversal Symmetry
• Exploring Non-Invertible Symmetries in Free Theories
• On Continuous 2-Category Symmetries and Yang-Mills Theory
• Obstructions to Gapped Phases from Non-Invertible Symmetries
• Mixed Anomalies, Two-groups, Non-Invertible Symmetries, and 3d Superconformal Indices
• Non-invertible Symmetries and Higher Representation Theory II
• Anomalies of Non-Invertible Symmetries in (3+1)d
• Fusion Surface Models: 2+1d Lattice Models from Fusion 2-Categories
• Topological Defect Lines in Two Dimensional Fermionic CFTs
• Exact emergent higher-form symmetries in bosonic lattice models
• On the Holographic Dual of a Topological Symmetry Operator
• Comments on Non-invertible Symmetries in Argyres-Douglas Theories
• Remarks on Geometric Engineering, Symmetry TFTs and Anomalies
• Pure Supersymmetric AdS and the Swampland
• Emergent generalized symmetries in ordered phases and applications to quantum disordering
• Non-Invertible Symmetries in Supergravity
• Chiral Nelson--Barr Models: Quality and Cosmology
• Constraints on Early Dark Energy from the Axion Weak Gravity Conjecture
• Emergent higher-symmetry protected topological orders in the confined phase of $U(1)$ gauge theory
• 1-form symmetry versus large N QCD
• Fermionic Non-Invertible Symmetries in (1+1)d: Gapped and Gapless Phases, Transitions, and Symmetry TFTs
• High-Quality Axions from Higher-Form Symmetries in Extra Dimensions
• Fractionally Charged Particles at the Energy Frontier: The SM Gauge Group and One-Form Global Symmetry
• Symmetry Transmutation and Anomaly Matching
• Non-Invertible Peccei-Quinn Symmetry, Natural 2HDM Alignment, and the Visible Axion
• Asymptotic safety, quantum gravity, and the swampland: a conceptual assessment
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Swampland: The Cosmologist's Handbook to the string-theoretical Swampland Programme
• Higher-group global symmetry and the bosonic M5 brane
• Non-Invertible Gauss Law and Axions
• Influence of a Perfectly Conducting Plate on the Uehling Potential of QED
• Center Symmetry Breaking in Calabi--Yau Compactifications