Strongly-coupled black holes (are not) at weak coupling
High Energy Physics - Theory
2026-07-13 v1
Abstract
We prove sharp bounds on the moduli space excursion that is possible outside the event horizon of a spherically symmetric charged black hole. In regions where the black hole charge is no less than its asymptotic value, we prove that the total moduli space excursion is less than where is the rationalized Newton constant. We also show that the moduli space excursion in a specified direction in which is non-decreasing satisfies the same bound. Applying our bound to electrically charged black holes, we rule out a potential loophole in a recent proof [arXiv:2401.14449] of the Weak Gravity Conjecture in perturbative bosonic string theory.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.12020,
title = {Strongly-coupled black holes (are not) at weak coupling},
author = {Ben Heidenreich and Matteo Lotito},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.12020},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
51 pages + appendices, 24 figures