Euclidean De Sitter Research Articles

The cosmological constant problem and the effective potential of a gravity-coupled scalar

We consider a quantum scalar field in a classical (Euclidean) De Sitter background, whose radius is fixed dynamically by Einstein’s equations. In the case of a free scalar, it has been shown by Becker and Reuter that if one regulates the quantum effective action by putting a cutoff N on the modes of the quantum field, the radius is driven dynamically to infinity when N tends to infinity. We show that this result holds also in the case of a self-interacting scalar, both in the symmetric and broken-symmetry phase. Furthermore, when the gravitational background is put on shell, the quantum corrections to the mass and quartic self-coupling are found to be finite.

Improved algorithm for dynamical triangulations and simulations of finer lattices

We introduce a new algorithm for the simulation of Euclidean dynamical triangulations that mimics the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, but where all proposed moves are accepted. This rejection-free algorithm allows for the factorization of local and global terms in the action, a condition needed for efficient simulation of theories with global terms, while still maintaining detailed balance. We test our algorithm on the 2d Ising model, and against results for EDT obtained with standard Metropolis. Our new algorithm allows us to simulate EDT at finer lattice spacings than previously possible, and we find geometries that resemble semiclassical Euclidean de Sitter space in agreement with earlier results at coarser lattices. The agreement between lattice data and the classical de Sitter solution continues to get better as the lattice spacing decreases. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Light scalars at the cosmological collider

We study the self-energies of weakly interacting scalar fields in de Sitter space with one field much lighter than the Hubble scale. We argue that self-energies drastically simplify in this light limit. We illustrate this in theories with two scalar fields, one heavy and one light, interacting with one another through either cubic or quartic interactions. To regulate infrared divergences, we compute these self-energies in Euclidean de Sitter space and then carefully analytically continue to Lorentzian signature. In particular, we do this for the most general renormalizable theory of two scalar fields with even interactions to leading order in the coupling and the mass of the light field. These self-energies are determined by de Sitter sunset diagrams, whose analytic structure and UV divergences we derive. Even at very weak couplings, the light field can substantially change how the heavy field propagates over long distances. The light field’s existence may then be inferred from how it modifies the heavy field’s oscillatory contribution to the primordial bispectrum in the squeezed limit, i.e. its cosmological collider signal.

Keeping matter in the loop in dS3 quantum gravity

We propose a mechanism that couples matter fields to three-dimensional de Sitter quantum gravity. Our construction is based on the Chern-Simons formulation of three-dimensional Euclidean gravity, and it centers on a collection of Wilson loops winding around Euclidean de Sitter space. We coin this object a Wilson spool. To construct the spool, we build novel representations of \U0001d530\U0001d532(2). To evaluate the spool, we adapt and exploit several known exact results in Chern-Simons theory. Our proposal correctly reproduces the one-loop determinant of a free massive scalar field on S3 as GN → 0. Moreover, allowing for quantum metric fluctuations, it can be systematically evaluated to any order in perturbation theory.

On the Euclidean action of de Sitter black holes and constrained instantons

We compute the on-shell Euclidean action of Schwarzschild-de Sitter black holes, and take their contributions in the gravitational path integral into account using the formalism of constrained instantons. Although Euclidean de Sitter black hole geometries have conical singularities for generic masses, their on-shell action is finite and is shown to be independent of the Euclidean time periodicity and equal to minus the sum of the black hole and cosmological horizon entropy. We apply this result to compute the probability for a nonrotating, neutral arbitrary mass black hole to nucleate spontaneously in empty de Sitter space, which separates into a constant and a “non-perturbative” contribution, the latter corresponding to the proper saddle-point instanton in the Nariai limit. We also speculate on some further applications of our results, most notably as potential non-perturbative corrections to correlators in the de Sitter vacuum.

Holography in de Sitter Space via Chern-Simons Gauge Theory.

In this Letter, we propose a holographic duality for classical gravity on a three-dimensional de Sitter space. We first show that a pair of SU(2) Chern-Simons gauge theories reproduces the classical partition function of Einstein gravity on a Euclidean de Sitter space, namely S^{3}, when we take the limit where the level k approaches -2. This implies that the conformal field theory (CFT) dual of gravity on a de Sitter space at the leading semiclassical order is given by an SU(2) Wess-Zumino-Witten model in the large central charge limit k→-2. We give another evidence for this in the light of known holography for coset CFTs. We also present a higher spin gravity extension of our duality.

The two-sphere partition function from timelike Liouville theory at three-loop order

While the Euclidean two-dimensional gravitational path integral is in general highly fluctuating, it admits a semiclassical two-sphere saddle if coupled to a matter CFT with large and positive central charge. In Weyl gauge this gravity theory is known as timelike Liouville theory, and is conjectured to be a non-unitary two-dimensional CFT. We explore the semiclassical limit of timelike Liouville theory by calculating the two-sphere partition function from the perspective of the path integral to three-loop order, extending the work in [6]. We also compare our result to the conjectured all-loop sphere partition function obtained from the DOZZ formula. Since the two-sphere is the geometry of Euclidean two-dimensional de Sitter space our discussion is tied to the conjecture of Gibbons-Hawking, according to which the dS entropy is encoded in the Euclidean gravitational path integral over compact manifolds.

Higher spin partition functions via the quasinormal mode method in de Sitter quantum gravity

In this note we compute the 1-loop partition function of spin-ss fields on Euclidean de Sitter space S^{2n+1}S2n+1 using the quasinormal mode method. Instead of computing the quasinormal mode frequencies from scratch, we use the analytic continuation prescription L_{\text{AdS}}\to iL_{\text{dS}}LAdS→iLdS, appearing in the dS/CFT correspondence, and Wick rotate the normal mode frequencies of fields on thermal \text{AdS}_{2n+1}AdS2n+1 into the quasinormal mode frequencies of fields on de Sitter space. We compare the quasinormal mode and heat kernel methods of calculating 1-loop determinants, finding exact agreement, and furthermore explicitly relate these methods via a sum over the conformal dimension. We discuss how the Wick rotation of normal modes on thermal \text{AdS}_{2n+1}AdS2n+1 can be generalized to calculating 1-loop partition functions on the thermal spherical quotients S^{2n+1}/\mathbb{Z}_{p}S2n+1/ℤp. We further show that the quasinormal mode frequencies encode the group theoretic structure of the spherical spacetimes in question, analogous to the analysis made for thermal AdS in [1-3] .

Black holes, oscillating instantons and the Hawking-Moss transition

Static oscillating bounces in Schwarzschild de Sitter spacetime are investigated. The oscillating bounce with many oscillations gives a super-thick bubble wall, for which the total vacuum energy increases while the mass of the black hole decreases due to the conservation of Arnowitt-Deser-Misner (ADM) mass. We show that the transition rate of such an “up-tunneling” consuming the seed black hole is higher than that of the Hawking- Moss transition. The correspondence of analyses in the static and global coordinates in the Euclidean de Sitter space is also investigated.

To the sphere and back again: de Sitter infrared correlators at NTLO in 1/N

We analyze the infrared behavior of the two and four-point functions for the massless O(N) model in Lorentzian de Sitter spacetime, using the 1/N expansion. Our approach is based in the study of the Schwinger-Dyson equations on the sphere (Euclidean de Sitter space), using the fact that the infrared behavior in Lorentzian spacetime is determined by the pole structure of the Euclidean correlation functions. We compute the two-point function up to the NTLO in 1/N , and show that in the infrared it behaves as the superposition of two massive free propagators with effective masses of the same order, but not equal to, the dynamical mass mdyn. We compare our results with those obtained using other approaches, and find that they are equivalent but retrieved in a considerably simpler way. We also discuss the infrared behavior of the equal-times four-point functions.

Gravity-mediated Dark Matter models in the de Sitter space

In this paper, we generalize the simplified Dark Matter models with graviton mediator to the curved space-time, in particular to the de Sitter space. We obtain the generating functional of the Green's functions in the Euclidean de Sitter space for the covariant free gravitons. We determine the generating functional of the interacting theory between Dark Matter particles and the covariant gravitons. Also, we calculate explicitly the 2-point and 3-point interacting Green's functions for the symmetric traceless divergence-less covariant graviton. The results derived here are general in the sense that they do not depend on a particular model for the Dark Matter component and they show that the quantum effects of the interaction between the Dark Matter and the gravitons in the de Sitter space are computable by the methods of the standard Quantum Field Theory techniques.

Inflation in a closed universe

To derive a power spectrum for energy density inhomogeneities in a closed universe, we study a spatially-closed inflation-modified hot big bang model whose evolutionary history is divided into three epochs: an early slowly-rolling scalar field inflation epoch and the usual radiation and non-relativistic matter epochs. (For our purposes it is not necessary to consider a final dark energy dominated epoch.) We derive general solutions of the relativistic linear perturbation equations in each epoch. The constants of integration in the inflation epoch solutions are determined from de Sitter invariant quantum-mechanical initial conditions in the Lorentzian section of the inflating closed de Sitter space derived from Hawking's prescription that the quantum state of the universe only include field configurations that are regular on the Euclidean (de Sitter) sphere section. The constants of integration in the radiation and matter epoch solutions are determined from joining conditions derived by requiring that the linear perturbation equations remain nonsingular at the transitions between epochs. The matter epoch power spectrum of gauge-invariant energy density inhomogeneities is not a power law, and depends on spatial wavenumber in the way expected for a generalization to the closed model of the standard flat-space scale-invariant power spectrum. The power spectrum we derive appears to differ from a number of other closed inflation model power spectra derived assuming different (presumably non de Sitter invariant) initial conditions.

A second look at transition amplitudes in (2 + 1)-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations

Studying transition amplitudes in (2 + 1)-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations, Cooperman and Miller discovered speculative evidence for Lorentzian quantum geometries emerging from its Euclidean path integral (Cooperman and Miller 2014 Class. Quantum Grav. 31 035012). On the basis of this evidence, Cooperman and Miller conjectured that Lorentzian de Sitter spacetime, not Euclidean de Sitter space, dominates the ground state of the quantum geometry of causal dynamical triangulations on large scales, a scenario akin to that of the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary proposal in which Lorentzian spacetimes dominate a Euclidean path integral (Hartle and Hawking 1983 Phys. Rev. D 28 2960). We argue against this conjecture: we propose a more straightforward explanation of their findings, and we proffer evidence for the Euclidean nature of these seemingly Lorentzian quantum geometries. This explanation reveals another manner in which the Euclidean path integral of causal dynamical triangulations behaves correctly in its semiclassical limit—the implementation and interaction of multiple constraints.

O(N) model in Euclidean de Sitter space: beyond the leading infrared approximation

We consider an $O(N)$ scalar field model with quartic interaction in $d$-dimensional Euclidean de Sitter space. In order to avoid the problems of the standard perturbative calculations for light and massless fields, we generalize to the $O(N)$ theory a systematic method introduced previously for a single field, which treats the zero modes exactly and the nonzero modes perturbatively. We compute the two-point functions taking into account not only the leading infrared contribution, coming from the self-interaction of the zero modes, but also corrections due to the interaction of the ultraviolet modes. For the model defined in the corresponding Lorentzian de Sitter spacetime, we obtain the two-point functions by analytical continuation. We point out that a partial resummation of the leading secular terms (which necessarily involves nonzero modes) is required to obtain a decay at large distances for massless fields. We implement this resummation along with a systematic double expansion in an effective coupling constant $\sqrt\lambda$ and in 1/N. We explicitly perform the calculation up to the next-to-next-to-leading order in $\sqrt\lambda$ and up to next-to-leading order in 1/N. The results reduce to those known in the leading infrared approximation. We also show that they coincide with the ones obtained directly in Lorentzian de Sitter spacetime in the large N limit, provided the same renormalization scheme is used.

Quantum scalar fields in de Sitter space from the nonperturbative renormalization group

We investigate scalar field theories in de Sitter space by means of nonperturbative renormalization group techniques. We compute the functional flow equation for the effective potential of O(N) theories in the local potential approximation and we study the onset of curvature-induced effects as quantum fluctuations are progressively integrated out from subhorizon to superhorizon scales. This results in a dimensional reduction of the original action to an effective zero-dimensional Euclidean theory. We show that the latter is equivalent both to the late-time equilibrium state of the stochastic approach of Starobinsky and Yokoyama and to the effective theory for the zero mode on Euclidean de Sitter space. We investigate the immediate consequences of this dimensional reduction: symmetry restoration and dynamical mass generation.

A first look at transition amplitudes in (2 + 1)-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations

We study a lattice regularization of the gravitational path integral—causal dynamical triangulations—for (2 + 1)-dimensional Einstein gravity with positive cosmological constant in the presence of past and future spacelike boundaries of fixed intrinsic geometries. For spatial topology of a 2-sphere, we determine the form of the Einstein–Hilbert action supplemented by the Gibbons–Hawking–York boundary terms within the Regge calculus of causal triangulations. Employing this action we numerically simulate a variety of transition amplitudes from the past boundary to the future boundary. To the extent that we have so far investigated them, these transition amplitudes appear consistent with the gravitational effective action previously found to characterize the ground state of quantum spacetime geometry within the Euclidean de Sitter-like phase. Certain of these transition amplitudes convincingly demonstrate that the so-called stalks present in this phase are numerical artifacts of the lattice regularization, seemingly indicate that the quantization technique of causal dynamical triangulations differs in detail from that of the no-boundary proposal of Hartle and Hawking, and possibly represent the first numerical simulations of portions of temporally unbounded quantum spacetime geometry within the causal dynamical triangulations approach. We also uncover tantalizing evidence suggesting that Lorentzian not Euclidean de Sitter spacetime dominates the ground state on sufficiently large scales.

On “dynamical mass” generation in Euclidean de Sitter space

We consider the perturbative treatment of the minimally coupled, massless, self-interacting scalar field in Euclidean de Sitter space. Generalizing work of Rajaraman, we obtain the dynamical mass of the scalar for nonvanishing Lagrangian masses and the first perturbative quantum correction in the massless case. We develop the rules of a systematic perturbative expansion, which treats the zero-mode nonperturbatively and goes in powers of $\sqrt{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$. The infrared divergences are self-regulated by the zero-mode dynamics. Thus, in Euclidean de Sitter space the interacting, massless scalar field is just as well defined as the massive field. We then show that its dynamical mass ${m}^{2}\ensuremath{\propto}\sqrt{\ensuremath{\lambda}}{H}^{2}$ can be recovered from the diagrammatic expansion of the self-energy and a consistent solution of the Schwinger-Dyson equation, but it requires the summation of a divergent series of loop diagrams of arbitrarily high order. Finally, we note that the value of the long-wavelength mode two-point function in Euclidean de Sitter space agrees at leading order with the stochastic treatment in Lorentzian de Sitter space, in any number of dimensions.

Do gauge fields really contribute negatively to black hole entropy?

Quantum fluctuations of matter fields contribute to the thermal entropy of black holes. For free minimally coupled scalar and spinor fields, this contribution is precisely the entanglement entropy. For gauge fields, Kabat found an extra negative divergent ``contact term'' with no known statistical interpretation. We compare this contact term to a similar term which arises for nonminimally coupled scalar fields. Although both divergences may be interpreted as terms in the Wald entropy, we point out that the contact term for gauge fields comes from a gauge-dependent ambiguity in Wald's formula. Revisiting Kabat's derivation of the contact term, we show that it is sensitive to the treatment of infrared modes. To explore these infrared issues, we consider two-dimensional compact manifolds, such as Euclidean de Sitter space, and show that the contact term arises from an incorrect treatment of zero modes. In a manifestly gauge-invariant reduced phase space quantization, the gauge field contribution to the entropy is positive, finite, and equal to the entanglement entropy.

De Sitter gravity from lattice gauge theory

We investigate a lattice model for Euclidean quantum gravity based on discretization of the Palatini formulation of General Relativity. Using Monte Carlo simulation we show that while a naive approach fails to lead to a vacuum state consistent with the emergence of classical spacetime, this problem may be evaded if the lattice action is supplemented by an appropriate counter term. In this new model we find regions of the parameter space which admit a ground state which can be interpreted as (Euclidean) de Sitter space.

Equivalence between Euclidean and in-in formalisms in de Sitter QFT

We study the relation between two sets of correlators in interacting quantum field theory on de Sitter space. The first are correlators computed using in-in perturbation theory in the expanding cosmological patch of de Sitter space (also known as the conformal patch, or the Poincar\'e patch), and for which the free propagators are taken to be those of the free Euclidean vacuum. The second are correlators obtained by analytic continuation from Euclidean de Sitter; i.e., they are correlators in the fully interacting Hartle-Hawking state. We give an analytic argument that these correlators coincide for interacting massive scalar fields with any $m^2 > 0$. We also verify this result via direct calculation in simple examples. The correspondence holds diagram by diagram, and at any finite value of an appropriate Pauli-Villars regulator mass M. Along the way, we note interesting connections between various prescriptions for perturbation theory in general static spacetimes with bifurcate Killing horizons.