Effective Action In Quantum Gravity Research Articles

Probing Gauss-Bonnet-corrected inflation with gravitational waves

The low energy effective action of quantum gravity may include the higher curvature terms such as the Gauss-Bonnet term.The inflaton dynamics may be affected by the Gauss-Bonnet term if there is an inflaton-Gauss-Bonnet coupling.We show that an inflation model with a simple power law potential is made viable if it is coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet term since the prediction on the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio are modified.We further point out that such a model predicts huge amount of gravitational waves at the high frequency range around 100 GHz–100 THz through the perturbative inflaton decay into gravitons induced by the Gauss-Bonnet term.Thus the spectrum of high frequency gravitational background is a unique feature of the inflation models with a Gauss-Bonnet correction.

Six-dimensional one-loop divergences in quantum gravity from the N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 spinning particle

In this work, we investigate the computation of the counterterms necessary for the renormalization of the one-loop effective action of quantum gravity using both the worldline formalism and the heat kernel method. Our primary contribution is the determination of the Seleey-DeWitt coefficient a3(D) for perturbative quantum gravity with a cosmological constant, which we evaluate on Einstein manifolds of arbitrary D dimensions. This coefficient characterizes quantum gravity in a gauge-invariant manner due to the on-shell condition of the background on which the graviton propagates. Previously, this coefficient was not fully known in the literature. We employ the N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 spinning particle model recently proposed to describe the graviton in first quantization and then use the heat kernel method to cross-check the correctness of our calculations. Finally, we restrict to six dimensions, where the coefficient corresponds to the logarithmic divergences of the effective action, and compare our results with those available in the literature.

Effective action, spectrum and first law of wedge holography

In this paper, we study the effective action, the mass spectrum and the first law of entanglement entropy for a novel doubly holographic model called wedge holography. We work out the effective action of quantum gravity on the branes. In the perturbative formulation, it is given by an infinite sum of Pauli-Fierz actions. In the non-perturbative formulation, the effective action is composed of a higher derivative gravity and a matter action. Usually, a higher derivative gravity can be renormalizable but suffers the ghost problem. For our case, since the effective theory on the brane is equivalent to Einstein gravity in the bulk, it must be ghost-free. We notice that the matter action plays an important role in eliminating the ghost. We also provide evidences that the higher derivative gravity on the brane is equivalent to a ghost-free multi-gravity. Besides, we prove that the effective action yields the correct Weyl anomaly. Interestingly, although the effective action on the brane is an infinite tower of higher derivative gravity, the holographic Weyl anomaly is exactly the same as that of Einstein gravity. We also analyze the mass spectrum of wedge holography. Remarkably, there is always a massless mode of gravitons on the end-of-the-world branes in wedge holography. This happens because one imposes Neumann boundary condition on both branes. On the other hand, the massless mode disappears if one imposes Dirichlet boundary condition on one of the branes as in brane world theory and AdS/BCFT. Finally, we verify the first law of entanglement entropy for wedge holography. Interestingly, the massive fluctuations are irrelevant to the first order perturbation of the holographic entanglement entropy. Thus, in many aspects, the effective theory on the brane behaves like massless Einstein gravity.

The Maxwell–Einstein system, Ward identities and the Vilkovisky construction

The gauge fixing dependence of the one-loop effective action of quantum gravity in the proper-time representation is investigated for a space of arbitrary curvature, and the investigation is extended to Maxwell–Einstein theory. The construction of Vilkovisky and DeWitt for removal of this dependence is then considered in general gauges, and it is shown that nontrivial criteria arising from a Ward identity of the theory must be obeyed by the regularization scheme, if the construction is to remove the gauge dependence of quadratic and quartic divergences. The results apply also to non-Abelian gauge theories; they are used to address the question of gauge dependence of asymptotic freedom arising through internal graviton lines at one-loop order as suggested by Robinson and Wilczek.

Renormalizable 4D Quantum Gravity as a Perturbed Theory from CFT

We study the renormalizable quantum gravity formulated as a perturbed theory from conformal field theory (CFT) on the basis of conformal gravity in four dimensions. The conformal mode in the metric field is managed non-perturbatively without introducing its own coupling constant so that conformal symmetry becomes exact quantum mechanically as a part of diffeomorphism invariance. The traceless tensor mode is handled in the perturbation with a dimensionless coupling constant indicating asymptotic freedom, which measures a degree of deviation from CFT. Higher order renormalization is carried out using dimensional regularization, in which the Wess-Zumino integrability condition is applied to reduce indefiniteness existing in higher-derivative actions. The effective action of quantum gravity improved by renormalization group is obtained. We then make clear that conformal anomalies are indispensable quantities to preserve diffeomorphism invariance. Anomalous scaling dimensions of the cosmological constant and the Planck mass are calculated. The effective cosmological constant is obtained in the large number limit of matter fields.

Effective action in quantum gravity

It is argued that the effective action theory may be regarded as a phenomenological theory describing a certain class of measurements irrespective of the nature of fundamental quantum objects. The effective action in quantum field theory is discussed in detail and used as a guide. A connection between the effective field and observables is established. The approach is applied to the gravitational collapse problem. A procedure for building a basis of non-local gravitational invariants is described and a result for the vacuum radiation in a spherically symmetric in-state is presented. A conclusion about breakdown of measurements at the Planck scale is revised.

Does the Vilkovisky-De Witt effective action in quantum gravity depend on the configuration space metric?

The dependence on the configuration space metric of the Vilkovisky-De Witt effective action in quantum gravity is discussed. As an example d-dimensional Einstein gravity on the flat background R d or R k× T d−k is considered, where the one-loop Vilkovisky-De Witt effective action with the one-parameter dependent configuration space metric is calculated. The dependence on the configuration space metric of the Vilkovisky-De Witt EA in gravity on the space R 4× S 1 has been investigated for the first time by Huggins, Kunstatter, Leivo and Toms.

Two-loop effective action in quantum gravity

The two-loop effective action in Einstein quantum gravity on the background M N × T k (where M N is Minkowski space, T k is a k-dimensional torus) is calculated. The spontaneous compactification with account of quantum-gravitational corrections is discussed.

Vilkovisky effective action in quantum gravity with matter

Vilkovisky effective action in quantum gravity with matter

The Parametrization Invariant and Gauge Invariant Effective Actions in Quantum Field Theory

The review of formulation and methods of calculation of the parametrization and gauge invariant effective actions in quantum field theory is given. As an example the Vilkovisky-De Witt Effective action (EA) is studied (this EA is a natural representative of gauge and parametrization invariant EA's). The examples where the use of the standard EA leads to the ambiguity are demonstrated. This happens as the result of dependence of the standard EA upon the choice of gauge condition. These examples are as follows: Coleman-Weinberg potential in the finite theories and symmetry breaking, EA in quantum gravity with matter and d = 5 gauged supergravity, the possibility of spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in N = 1 supergravity and the spontaneous compactification in the multidimensional R2-gravity. In all these cases the one-loop Vilkovisky-De Witt EA is found and therefore the problem of gauge dependence of EA is solved. The dependence of standard EA of composite fields upon the gauge is studied for the general gauge theories. The class of gauge and parametrization invariant EA's of the composite fields is offered.

The generalized Schwinger-DeWitt technique and the unique effective action in quantum gravity

We consider the one-loop approximation to the recently proposed unique effective action in gauge theory. The Schwinger-DeWitt technique is generalized and applied to the computation of the unique gravitational counterterms. The issue of asymptotic freedom is reexamined.