Attractors at weak gravity

We study the attractor mechanism in low-energy effective D = 4, N = 2 Yang-Mills theory weakly coupled to gravity, obtained from the effective action of type IIB string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold. Using special Kahler geometry, the general form of the leading gravitational correction is derived, and from this the attractor equations in the weak gravity limit. The effective Newton constant turns out to be space-time-dependent due to QFT loop and non-perturbative effects. We discuss some properties of the attractor solutions, which are gravitationally corrected dyons, and their relation with the BPS spectrum of quantum Yang-Mills theory. Along the way, we obtain a satisfying description of Strominger's massless black holes, moving at the speed of light, free of pathologies encountered in earlier proposals. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.