Gravity In De Sitter Space Research Articles

The cosmological switchback effect. Part II

Recent developments in static patch holography proposed that quantum gravity in de Sitter space admits a dual description in terms of a quantum mechanical theory living on a timelike surface near the cosmological horizon. In parallel, geometric observables associated with the Einstein-Rosen bridge of a black hole background were suggested to compute the computational complexity of the state dual to a gravitational theory. In this work, we pursue the study of the complexity=volume and complexity=action conjectures in a Schwarzschild-de Sitter geometry perturbed by the insertion of a shockwave at finite boundary times. This analysis extends previous studies that focused either on the complexity=volume 2.0 conjecture, or on the case of a shockwave inserted along the cosmological horizon. We show that the switchback effect, describing the delay in the evolution of complexity in reaction to a perturbation, is a universal feature of the complexity proposals in asymptotically de Sitter space. The geometric origin of this phenomenon is related to the causal connection between the static patches of de Sitter space when a positive pulse of null energy is inserted in the geometry.

JT gravity in de Sitter space and the problem of time

We discuss the canonical quantisation of JT gravity in de Sitter space, following earlier work by Henneaux, with particular attention to the problem of time. Choosing the dilaton as the physical clock, we define a norm and operator expectation values for states and explore the classical limit. We find that requiring a conserved and finite norm and well-defined expectation values for operators imposes significant restrictions on states, as does the requirement of a classical limit. However, these requirements can all be met, with the dilaton providing a satisfactory physical clock. We construct several examples and analyse them in detail. We find that in fact an infinite number of states exist which meet the various conditions mentioned above.

Possible relation between the cosmological constant and standard model parameters

We propose possible properties of quantum gravity in de Sitter space, and find that they relate the value of the cosmological constant to parameters of the Standard Model. In de Sitter space we suggest (i) that the most sharply defined observables are obtained by scattering objects from the horizon and back to the horizon and (ii) that black holes of discrete charge are well defined states in the theory. For a black hole of minimal discrete electric charge, we therefore demand that a scattering process involving the black hole and a probe can take place within a Hubble time before evaporating away, so that the state of a discretely charged black hole is well defined. By imposing that the black hole's charge is in principle detectable, which involves appreciably altering the state of a scattered electron, we derive a relation between the Hubble scale, or cosmological constant, and the electron's mass and charge and order one coefficients that describe our ignorance of the full microscopic theory. This gives the prediction $\Lambda \sim 10^{-123 \pm 2} M_{Pl}^4$, which includes the observed value of dark energy. We suggest possible ways to test this proposal.

De Sitter duality and logarithmic decay of dark energy

We investigate infrared dynamics of four-dimensional Einstein gravity in de Sitter space. We set up a general framework to investigate dynamical scaling relations in quantum/classical gravitational theories. The conformal mode dependence of Einstein gravity is renormalized to the extent that general covariance is not manifest. We point out that the introduction of an inflaton is necessary as a counterterm. We observe and postulate a duality between quantum effects in Einstein gravity and classical evolutions in an inflation (or quintessence) model. The effective action of Einstein gravity can be constructed as an inflation model with manifest general covariance. We show that $g=G_N H^2/\pi$: the only dimensionless coupling of the Hubble parameter $H^2$ and the Newton's coupling $G_N$ in Einstein gravity is screened by the infrared fluctuations of the conformal mode. We evaluate the one-loop $\beta$ function of $g$ with respect to the cosmic time $\log Ht$ as $\beta(g)=-(1/2)g^2$, i.e., $g$ is asymptotically free toward the future. The exact $\beta$ function with the backreaction of $g$ reveals the existence of the ultraviolet fixed point. It indicates that the de Sitter expansion stared at the Planck scale with a minimal entropy $S=2$. We have identified the de Sitter entropy $1/g$ with the von Neumann entropy of the conformal zero mode. The former evolves according to the screening of $g$ and the Gibbons-Hawking formula. The latter is found to increase by diffusion in the stochastic process at the horizon in a consistent way. Our Universe is located very close to the fixed point $g=0$ with a large entropy. We discuss possible physical implications of our results such as logarithmic decay of dark energy.

‘Hidden’ symmetry of linearized gravity in de Sitter space

We demonstrate that the linearized Einstein gravity in de Sitter (dS) spacetime besides the evident symmetries also possesses the additional (local) symmetry hμν→hμν+Eμνχ, where Eμν is a spin-two projector tensor and χ is an arbitrary constant function. We argue that an anomalous symmetry associated with this hitherto ‘hidden’ property of the existing physics is indeed at the origin of ‘dS breaking’ in linearized quantum gravity.

Emergent dark gravity from (non)holographic screens

In this work, a clear connection is made between E. Verlinde’s recent theory of emergent gravity in de Sitter space [1], and the earlier work describing emergent gravity using holographic screens [2]. A modified (non)holographic screen scenario is presented, wherein the screen fails to encode an emergent mass in the bulk “unemerged” part of space for sufficiently large length-scales, where the volume-law of the non-holographic bulk degrees of freedom overtakes the area-law scaling of the entropy of the screen. Within this framework, we can describe both an emergent dark gravitational force, which scales like frac{1}{r} , and also a version of the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation. We therefore recast these results within an emergent gravity framework in which there is an explicit violation of holography for sufficiently large length-scales.

Induced gravity II: grand unification

As an illustration of a renormalizable, asymptotically-free model of induced gravity, we consider an $SO(10)$ gauge theory interacting with a real scalar multiplet in the adjoint representation. We show that dimensional transmutation can occur, spontaneously breaking $SO(10)$ to $SU(5){\otimes}U(1),$ while inducing the Planck mass and a positive cosmological constant, all proportional to the same scale $v$. All mass ratios are functions of the values of coupling constants at that scale. Below this scale (at which the Big Bang may occur), the model takes the usual form of Einstein-Hilbert gravity in de Sitter space plus calculable corrections. We show that there exist regions of parameter space in which the breaking results in a local minimum of the effective action, and a {\bf positive} dilaton $(\hbox{mass})^2$ from two-loop corrections associated with the conformal anomaly. Furthermore, unlike the singlet case we considered previously, some minima lie within the basin of attraction of the ultraviolet fixed point. Moreover, the asymptotic behavior of the coupling constants also lie within the range of convergence of the Euclidean path integral, so there is hope that there will be candidates for sensible vacua. Although open questions remain concerning unitarity of all such renormalizable models of gravity, it is not obvious that, in curved backgrounds such as those considered here, unitarity is violated. In any case, any violation that may remain will be suppressed by inverse powers of the reduced Planck mass.

Group theoretical interpretation of the modified gravity in de Sitter space

A frame work has been presented for theoretical interpretation of various modified gravitational models which is based on the group theoretical approach and unitary irreducible representations (UIR's) of de Sitter (dS) group. In order to illustrate the application of the proposed method, a model of modified gravity has been investigated. The background field method has been utilized and the linearized modified gravitational field equation has been obtained in the 4-dimensional dS space-time as the background. The field equation has been written as the eigne-value equation of the Casimir operators of dS space using the flat 5-dimensional ambient space notations. The Minkowskian correspondence of the theory has been obtained by taking the zero curvature limit. It has been shown that under some simple conditions, the linearized modified field equation transforms according to two of the UIR's of dS group labeled by $\Pi^\pm_{2,1}$ and $\Pi^\pm_{2,2}$ in the discrete series. It means that the proposed modified gravitational theory can be a suitable one to describe the quantum gravitational effects in its linear approximation on dS space. The field equation has been solved and the solution has been written as the multiplication of a symmetric rank-2 polarization tensor and a massless scalar field using the ambient space notations. Also the two-point function has been calculated in the ambient space formalism. It is dS invariant and free of any theoretical problem.

Non-perturbative Massive de Sitter Solutions

We discuss non-perturbative dynamics of massive gravity in de Sitter space via gravitational Higgs mechanism. We argue that enhanced local symmetry and null (ghost) state at (below) the perturbative Higuchi bound are mere artifacts of not only linearization but also assuming the Fierz-Pauli mass term. We point out that, besides de Sitter, there are vacuum solutions where the space asymptotically is de Sitter both in the past and in the future, the space first contracts, this con- traction slows down, and then reverses into expansion, so there is an epoch where the space appears to be (nearly) flat, even though the vacuum energy density is non-vanishing. We confirm this by constructing a closed-form exact solution to full non-perturbative equations of motion for a special massive de Sitter case. We give a formula for the critical mass above which such solutions apparently do not exist. For the Fierz-Pauli mass term this critical mass coincides with the perturbative Higuchi bound, and the former serves as the non-perturbative reinterpretation of the latter. We argue that, notwithstanding the perturbative ghost, non-perturbatively there is no instability. Instead, there are additional vacuum solutions that may have interesting cosmological implications, which we briefly speculate on.

Inflationary consistency conditions from a wavefunctional perspective

It is shown that the squeezed limit of inflationary expectation values follows from reparametrization invariance of the wavefunction of the universe. This translates into a constraint on the longitudinal modes of functional derivatives of the wavefunction. Thus, the local non-Gaussianity induced by single field inflation is purely a gauge artifact, and should not yield a physically measurable effect. We focus on Einstein gravity in de Sitter space and single field inflation, although the formalism only relies on the diffeomorphism invariance of the theory, and thus applies to any theory of gravity.

Bi-local construction of Sp(2N)/dS higher spin correspondence

We derive a collective field theory of the singlet sector of the Sp(2N) sigma model. Interestingly the hamiltonian for the bilocal collective field is the same as that of the O(N) model. However, the large-N saddle points of the two models differ by a sign. This leads to a fluctuation hamiltonian with a negative quadratic term and alternating signs in the nonlinear terms which correctly reproduces the correlation functions of the singlet sector. Assuming the validity of the connection between O(N) collective fields and higher spin fields in AdS, we argue that a natural interpretation of this theory is by a double analytic continuation, leading to the dS/CFT correspondence proposed by Anninos, Hartman and Strominger. The bi-local construction gives a map into the bulk of de Sitter space-time. Its geometric pseudospin-representation provides a framework for quantization and definition of the Hilbert space. We argue that this is consistent with finite N grassmanian constraints, establishing the bi-local representation as a nonperturbative framework for quantization of Higher Spin Gravity in de Sitter space.

Massive gravity in de Sitter space via the gravitational Higgs mechanism

In this paper we discuss massive gravity in de Sitter space via the gravitational Higgs mechanism, which provides a nonlinear definition thereof. The Higgs scalars are described by a nonlinear sigma model, which includes higher derivative terms required to obtain the Fierz-Pauli mass term. Using the aforesaid nonperturbative definition, we address the appearance of an enhanced local symmetry and a null norm state in the linearized massive gravity in de Sitter space at the special value of the graviton mass to the Hubble parameter ratio. By studying full nonperturbative equations of motion, we argue that there is no enhanced symmetry in the full nonlinear theory. We then argue that in the full nonlinear theory no null norm state is expected to arise at the aforesaid special value. This suggests that no ghost might be present for lower graviton mass values and the full nonlinear theory might be unitary for all values of the graviton mass and the Hubble parameter with no van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov discontinuity. We argue that this is indeed the case by studying the full nonlinear Hamiltonian for the relevant conformal and helicity-0 longitudinal modes. In particular, we argue that no negative norm state is present in the full nonlinear theory.

One-loop effective action for non-local modified Gauss–Bonnet gravity in de Sitter space

We discuss the classical and quantum properties of non-local modified Gauss–Bonnet gravity in de Sitter space, using its equivalent representation via string-inspired local scalar-Gauss–Bonnet gravity with a scalar potential. A classical, multiple de Sitter universe solution is found where one of the de Sitter phases corresponds to the primordial inflationary epoch, while the other de Sitter space solution—the one with the smallest Hubble rate—describes the late-time acceleration of our universe. A Chameleon scenario for the theory under investigation is developed, and it is successfully used to show that the theory complies with gravitational tests. An explicit expression for the one-loop effective action for this non-local modified Gauss–Bonnet gravity in the de Sitter space is obtained. It is argued that this effective action might be an important step towards the solution of the cosmological constant problem.

Cosmological deformation of Lorentzian spin foam models

We study the quantum deformation of the Barrett–Crane Lorentzian spin foam model which is conjectured to be the discretization of the Lorentzian Plebanski model with positive cosmological constant and includes, therefore, as a particular sector quantum gravity in de Sitter space. This spin foam model is constructed using harmonic analysis on the quantum Lorentz group. The evaluation of simple spin networks is shown to be non-commutative integrals over the quantum hyperboloid defined as a pile of fuzzy spheres. We show that the introduction of the cosmological constant removes all infrared divergences: for any fixed triangulation, the integration over the area variables is finite for a large class of normalization of the amplitude of the edges and of the faces.

Temperature and entropy of Schwarzschild–de Sitter space-time

In the light of recent interest in quantum gravity in de Sitter space, we investigate semi-classical aspects of 4-dimensional Schwarzschild-de Sitter space-time using the method of complex paths. The standard semi-classical techniques (such as Bogoliubov coefficients and Euclidean field theory) have been useful to study quantum effects in space-times with single horizons; however, none of these approaches seem to work for Schwarzschild-de Sitter or, in general, for space-times with multiple horizons. We extend the method of complex paths to space-times with multiple horizons and obtain the spectrum of particles produced in these space-times. We show that the temperature of radiation in these space-times is proportional to the effective surface gravity -- inverse harmonic sum of surface gravity of each horizon. For the Schwarzschild-de Sitter, we apply the method of complex paths to three different coordinate systems -- spherically symmetric, Painleve and Lemaitre. We show that the equilibrium temperature in Schwarzschild-de Sitter is the harmonic mean of cosmological and event horizon temperatures. We obtain Bogoliubov coefficients for space-times with multiple horizons by analyzing the mode functions of the quantum fields near the horizons. We propose a new definition of entropy for space-times with multiple horizons analogous to the entropic definition for space-times with a single horizon. We define entropy for these space-times to be inversely proportional to the square of the effective surface gravity. We show that this definition of entropy for Schwarzschild-de Sitter satisfies the D-bound conjecture.

A Brief Comment on Instanton-like Singularities and Cosmological Horizons

We argue that in the presence of instanton-like singularities, the existence of cosmological horizons can become frame-dependent, ie. a horizon which appears in Einstein frame may not appear in string frame. We speculate on the relation between instanton-like singularities and the formulation of quantum gravity in de Sitter space.

DeSitter entropy, quantum entanglement and ADS/CFT

A deSitter brane-world bounding regions of anti-deSitter space has a macroscopic entropy given by one-quarter the area of the observer horizon. A proposed variant of the AdS/CFT correspondence gives a dual description of this cosmology as conformal field theory coupled to gravity in deSitter space. In the case of two-dimensional deSitter space this provides a microscopic derivation of the entropy, including the one-quarter, as quantum entanglement of the conformal field theory across the horizon.

Quantum global structure of de Sitter space

I study the global structure of de Sitter space in the semi-classical and one-loop approximations to quantum gravity. The creation and evaporation of neutral black holes causes the fragmentation of de Sitter space into disconnected daughter universes. If the black holes are stabilized by a charge, I find that the decay leads to a necklace of de Sitter universes (`beads') joined by near-extremal black hole throats. For sufficient charge, more and more beads keep forming on the necklace, so that an unbounded number of universes will be produced. In any case, future infinity will not be connected. This may have implications for a holographic description of quantum gravity in de Sitter space.

Mode analysis and Ward identities for perturbative quantum gravity in de Sitter space

We study linearized gravitons on the D-dimensional open submanifold spanned by de Sitter conformal coordinates. The physical modes are found in the same way as for flat space by imposing exact gauge conditions on the invariant field equations and then exploiting the residual gauge freedom of solutions. The resulting polatization tensors have vanishing zero components and are transverse and traceless, just as in flat space. We also show that vacua exist such that the ghost and graviton propagators obey the Ward identity relating them.

Linear de Sitter gravity

It is shown that there are two equivalent field potentials for massless spin-2 fields in (3,2)–de Sitter space; a symmetric two-tensor and a three-tensor of mixed symmetry. Each theory carries two inequivalent Gupta–Bleuler triplets, which correspond to the two helicities. They differ in their behavior at spatial infinity. All four fields appear when writing linear conformal gravity in de Sitter space. Two of them describe the unitary conformal gravitons, and two describe part of the conformal ghost.