Weak-gravity bound in asymptotically safe gravity-gauge systems

The weak-gravity bound has been discovered in asymptotically safe gravity-matter systems, where it limits the maximum strength of gravitational fluctuations. In the present paper, we explore it for the first time in systems with more than one gauge field to discover whether systems with 12 gauge fields (like the Standard Model) exhibit a weak-gravity bound and whether the gravitational fixed point evades it. Further, we test the robustness of the present and previous results on the weak-gravity bound by exploring their dependence on a gravitational gauge parameter. Finally, the existence of the weak-gravity bound also has important phenomenological consequences: it is key to a proposed mechanism that bounds the spacetime dimensionality from above to four or five dimensions. In this paper, we strengthen the evidence for this mechanism. Thus, the predictive power of the asymptotic safety paradigm could extend to parameters of the spacetime geometry, such that the four dimensionality of our Universe could be explained from first principles.

Automated summary

In this paper, we investigate the existence of the weak-gravity bound in systems with more than one gauge field for the first time. We find that systems with 12 gauge fields, such as the Standard Model, still exhibit a weak-gravity bound, and that the gravitational fixed point can evade it. Additionally, we test the robustness of previous results on the weak-gravity bound by exploring their dependence on a gravitational gauge parameter. Furthermore, the existence of the weak-gravity bound has important implications for the spacetime dimensionality.