U(1) mixing and the weak gravity conjecture

Abstract Tiny values for gauge couplings of dark photons allow to suppress their kinetic mixing with ordinary photons. We point out that the weak gravity conjecture predicts consequently low ultraviolet cut-offs where new degrees of freedom might appear. In particular, a mixing angle of $$\mathcal {O}(10^{-15})$$ O ( 10 - 15 ) , required in order to fit the excess reported by XENON1T, corresponds to new physics below $$\mathcal {O}(100)$$ O ( 100 ) TeV, thus accessible at a future circular collider. We show that possible realizations are provided by compactifications with six large extra dimensions and a string scale of order $$\mathcal {O}(100)$$ O ( 100 ) TeV.