213 citations · 2.2k across the 37 of their papers we have counts for
37 papers
Non-standard axion electrodynamics and the dual Witten effect
Ben Heidenreich, Jacob McNamara, Matthew Reece
Standard axion electrodynamics has two closely related features. First, the coupling of a massless axion field to photons is quantized, in units proportional to the electric gauge…
Running Decompactification, Sliding Towers, and the Distance Conjecture
Muldrow Etheredge, Ben Heidenreich, Jacob McNamara +3
We study towers of light particles that appear in infinite-distance limits of moduli spaces of 9-dimensional string theories, some of which notably feature decompac…
Moduli Space Reconstruction and Weak Gravity
Naomi Gendler, Ben Heidenreich, Liam McAllister +2
We present a method to construct the extended Kähler cone of any Calabi-Yau threefold by using Gopakumar-Vafa invariants to identify all geometric phases that are related by flops…
Derivative Corrections to Extremal Black Holes with Moduli
Muldrow Etheredge, Ben Heidenreich
We derive formulas for the leading mass, entropy, and long-range self-force corrections to extremal black holes due to higher-derivative operators. These formulas hold for black ho…
Sharpening the Distance Conjecture in Diverse Dimensions
Muldrow Etheredge, Ben Heidenreich, Sami Kaya +2
The Distance Conjecture holds that any infinite-distance limit in the scalar field moduli space of a consistent theory of quantum gravity must be accompanied by a tower of light pa…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture: A Review
Daniel Harlow, Ben Heidenreich, Matthew Reece +1
The Weak Gravity Conjecture holds that in a theory of quantum gravity, any gauge force must mediate interactions stronger than gravity for some particles. This statement has surpri…
Deconfining SCFTs, or the Art of Brane Bending
Iñaki García Etxebarria, Ben Heidenreich, Matteo Lotito +1
We introduce a systematic approach to constructing Lagrangians for a class of interacting SCFTs. We analyse in detail the simplest case of the const…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture and Axion Strings
Ben Heidenreich, Matthew Reece, Tom Rudelius
Strong (sublattice or tower) formulations of the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) imply that, if a weakly coupled gauge theory exists, a tower of charged particles drives the theory t…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture and BPS Particles
Murad Alim, Ben Heidenreich, Tom Rudelius
Motivated by the Weak Gravity Conjecture, we uncover an intricate interplay between black holes, BPS particle counting, and Calabi-Yau geometry in five dimensions. In particular, w…
Non-Invertible Global Symmetries and Completeness of the Spectrum
Ben Heidenreich, Jacob McNamara, Miguel Montero +3
It is widely believed that consistent theories of quantum gravity satisfy two basic kinematic constraints: they are free from any global symmetry, and they contain a complete spect…
Chern-Weil Global Symmetries and How Quantum Gravity Avoids Them
Ben Heidenreich, Jacob McNamara, Miguel Montero +3
We draw attention to a class of generalized global symmetries, which we call "Chern-Weil global symmetries," that arise ubiquitously in gauge theories. The Noether currents of thes…
Infinite Distance and Zero Gauge Coupling in 5d Supergravity
Ben Heidenreich, Tom Rudelius
In this note, we prove that for all five-dimensional supergravities arising from M-theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold, points of vanishing gauge coupling lie at infinite…
Black Holes, Moduli, and Long-Range Forces
Ben Heidenreich
It is well known that an identical pair of extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black holes placed a large distance apart will exert no force on each other. In this paper, I establish that…
Instanton Resummation and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
Ben Heidenreich, Cody Long, Liam McAllister +2
We develop methods for resummation of instanton lattice series. Using these tools, we investigate the consequences of the Weak Gravity Conjecture for large-field axion inflation. W…
IIB flux non-commutativity and the global structure of field theories
Iñaki García-Etxebarria, Ben Heidenreich, Diego Regalado
We discuss the origin of the choice of global structure for six dimensional theories and their compactifications in terms of their realization from IIB string theory on ALE…
Repulsive Forces and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
Ben Heidenreich, Matthew Reece, Tom Rudelius
The Weak Gravity Conjecture is a nontrivial conjecture about quantum gravity that makes sharp, falsifiable predictions which can be checked in a broad range of string theory exampl…
Emergence and the Swampland Conjectures
Ben Heidenreich, Matthew Reece, Tom Rudelius
The Ooguri-Vafa Swampland Conjectures claim that in any consistent theory of quantum gravity, when venturing to large distances in scalar field space, a tower of particles will bec…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture and Emergence from an Ultraviolet Cutoff
Ben Heidenreich, Matthew Reece, Tom Rudelius
We study ultraviolet cutoffs associated with the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) and Sublattice Weak Gravity Conjecture (sLWGC). There is a magnetic WGC cutoff at the energy scale $e…
S-duality in orientifold SCFTs
Iñaki García-Etxebarria, Ben Heidenreich
We present a general solution to the problem of determining all S-dual descriptions for a specific (but very rich) class of SCFTs. These SCFTs are indexed by deco…
Orbifolds and Exact Solutions of Strongly-Coupled Matrix Models
Clay Cordova, Ben Heidenreich, Alexandr Popolitov +1
We find an exact solution to strongly-coupled matrix models with a single-trace monomial potential. Our solution yields closed form expressions for the partition function as well a…
Evidence for a Lattice Weak Gravity Conjecture
Ben Heidenreich, Matthew Reece, Tom Rudelius
The Weak Gravity Conjecture postulates the existence of superextremal charged particles, i.e. those with mass smaller than or equal to their charge in Planck units. We present furt…
Axion Experiments to Algebraic Geometry: Testing Quantum Gravity via the Weak Gravity Conjecture
Ben Heidenreich, Matthew Reece, Tom Rudelius
Common features of known quantum gravity theories may hint at the general nature of quantum gravity. The absence of continuous global symmetries is one such feature. This inspired…
Negative Branes, Supergroups and the Signature of Spacetime
Robbert Dijkgraaf, Ben Heidenreich, Patrick Jefferson +1
We study the realization of supergroup gauge theories using negative branes in string theory. We show that negative branes are intimately connected with the possibility of timelike…
Experimental Considerations Motivated by the Diphoton Excess at the LHC
Prateek Agrawal, JiJi Fan, Ben Heidenreich +2
We consider the immediate or near-term experimental opportunities offered by some scenarios that could explain the new diphoton excess at the LHC. If the excess is due to a new par…