Non-supersymmetric AdS and the Swampland

TL;DR

This paper refines the weak gravity conjecture by asserting that non-supersymmetric AdS vacua supported by fluxes are inherently unstable, supported by theoretical evidence and implications for holography.

Contribution

It proposes a strengthened version of the weak gravity conjecture specifically for non-supersymmetric settings, linking it to the instability of certain AdS vacua.

Findings

Non-supersymmetric AdS vacua are likely unstable.

The gravitational force is weaker than electric force in non-supersymmetric theories.

Evidence supports the conjecture's implications for holographic models.

Abstract

We propose to sharpen the weak gravity conjecture by the statement that, except for BPS states in a supersymmetric theory, the gravitational force is strictly weaker than any electric force and provide a number of evidences for this statement. Our conjecture implies that any non-supersymmetric anti-de Sitter vacuum supported by fluxes must be unstable, as is the case for all known attempts at such holographic constructions.