Video URL
https://pirsa.org/16100053Inflation, Quantum Gravity, and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
APA
Heidenreich, B. (2016). Inflation, Quantum Gravity, and the Weak Gravity Conjecture. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. https://pirsa.org/16100053
MLA
Heidenreich, Ben. Inflation, Quantum Gravity, and the Weak Gravity Conjecture. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Oct. 11, 2016, https://pirsa.org/16100053
BibTex
@misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:16100053, doi = {10.48660/16100053}, url = {https://pirsa.org/16100053}, author = {Heidenreich, Ben}, keywords = {Particle Physics}, language = {en}, title = {Inflation, Quantum Gravity, and the Weak Gravity Conjecture}, publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics}, year = {2016}, month = {oct}, note = {PIRSA:16100053 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/index.php/pirsa/16100053}} }
Ben Heidenreich University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract
Lack of fine tuning in effective field theory does not ensure that a particular scenario is natural or even realizable in a UV complete theory of quantum gravity. Large field axion inflation appears natural from the effective field theory perspective, but I argue that it is tuned from a quantum gravity perspective. The argument is based on the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC), a conjectural universal feature of quantum gravity that is present in all known string theory examples. In the process, I highlight recent progress in understanding the WGC and related conjectures about the charged spectrum of quantum gravity and discuss other potential applications, both formal and phenomenological.