Quantum corrections to DGKT and the Weak Gravity Conjecture

TL;DR

This paper investigates quantum corrections to D4 brane domain walls in the DGKT AdS4 scenario, revealing that quantum effects destabilize their classical BPS property and challenge the Weak Gravity Conjecture.

Contribution

It demonstrates that quantum effects increase the tension-to-charge ratio of D4 branes, challenging the classical no-force condition and the Weak Gravity Conjecture in DGKT models.

Findings

Quantum corrections destabilize BPS D4 branes.

Tension-to-charge ratio increases due to quantum effects.

DGKT scenario conflicts with the Weak Gravity Conjecture.

Abstract

We study D4 brane domain walls in the scale-separated 4d $\mathcal{N}$=1 AdS$_4$ DGKT scenario. Classically, these are BPS and satisfy a no-force condition since their tension equals their charge. We show that this property is not stable against quantum corrections and that these increase the brane tension-to-charge ratio, rendering the branes self-attractive. As a result, DGKT seems to be in tension with the Weak Gravity Conjecture for membranes. The quantum effects we consider include non-perturbative gaugino condensation on the D4-brane worldvolume and Euclidean D2 brane instantons, which correct the tension-to-charge ratio because the DGKT construction breaks all parity symmetries. Similar results hold in other 4d $\mathcal{N}$=1 setups not protected by parity symmetries.