Related papers: Revisiting the Scalar Weak Gravity Conjecture
Scalar fields coupled to gravity via $\xi R {\Phi}^2$ in arbitrary Friedmann-Robertson-Walker backgrounds can be represented by an effective flat space field theory. We derive an expression for the scalar energy density where the effective…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) is a proposed constraint on theories with gauge fields and gravity, requiring the existence of light charged particles and/or imposing an upper bound on the field theory cutoff $\Lambda$. If taken as a…
We study the motion of particles in the background of a scalar-tensor theory of gravity in which the scalar field is kinetically coupled to Einstein tensor. We constrain the value of the derivative parameter $z$ through solar system tests.…
Most of the information on our cosmos stems from either late-time observations or the imprint of early-time inhomogeneities on the cosmic microwave background. We explore to what extent early modifications of gravity, which become…
We investigate the nature of additional scalar degrees of freedom contained in extended hybrid metric-Palatini gravity, outlining the emergence of two coupled dynamical scalar modes. In particular, we discuss the weak field limit of the…
We consider the implications of a scalar field interacting with the dark matter fluid on the energy spectrum of the primordial gravitational waves. We choose an interaction type which before a critical matter density $\rho_m^c$ during the…
We study the extent up to which the equivalence principle is obeyed in models of modified gravity and dark energy involving a single scalar degree of freedom. We focus on the effective field theories of dark energy describing the late time…
The electric Weak Gravity Conjecture demands that axions with large decay constant $f$ couple to light instantons. The resulting large instantonic corrections pose problems for natural inflation. We explore an alternative argument based on…
Some recently discovered nonperturbative strong-field effects in tensor-scalar theories of gravitation are interpreted as a scalar analog of ferromagnetism: "spontaneous scalarization". This phenomenon leads to very significant deviations…
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 further evidence for our recent observation that in known…
We derive the weak field limit of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theory and place novel bounds on the parameter space using terrestrial and space-based experiments. In order to analyze the theory in the context of a wide range of experiments, we…
Starting from the swampland distance conjecture, and using the species bound for a large number of weakly-coupled particles, we give a derivation of the recently proposed trans-Planckian censorship conjecture. Our argument demonstrates how…
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity modify General Relativity by introducing a scalar field that couples non-minimally to the metric tensor, while satisfying the weak-equivalence principle. These theories are interesting because they have the…
Scalar-tensor gravity is one of the most competitive gravity theory to Einstein's relativity. We reconstruct the exact de Sitter solution in scalar-tensor gravity, in which the non-minimal coupling scalar is rolling along the potential.…
A four dimensional scalar field theory with quartic and of higher power interactions suffers the triviality issue at the quantum level. This is due to coupling constants that, contrary to the physical expectations, seem to grow without a…
In this short note we clarify some aspects of the impact that the Weak Gravity Conjecture has on models of (generalized) natural inflation. We address in particular certain technical and conceptual concerns recently raised regarding the…
The weak gravity conjecture states that quantum gravity theories have to contain a charged state with a charge-to-mass ratio bigger than unity. By studying unitarity and causality constraints on higher derivative corrections to the…
It is challenging to construct explicit and controllable models that realize de Sitter solutions in string compactifications. This difficulty is the main motivation for the Refined de Sitter Conjecture and the Trans-Planckian Censorship…
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…
We show that the inclusion of an axion-like effective potential in the construction of a self-gravitating system made of scalar fields leads to a decrease on its compactness when the value of the self-interaction coupling constant is…