105 research outputs found
Gravitational radiation in quantum gravity
The effective field theory of quantum gravity generically predicts non-locality to be present in the effective action, which results from the low-energy propagation of gravitons and massless matter. Working to second order in gravitational curvature, we reconsider the effects of quantum gravity on the gravitational radiation emitted from a binary system. In particular, we calculate for the first time the leading order quantum gravitational correction to the classical quadrupole radiation formula which appears at second order in Newton’s constant
Non-locality in quantum field theory due to general relativity
We show that general relativity coupled to a quantum field theory generically leads to non-local effects in the matter sector. These non-local effects can be described by non-local higher dimensional operators which remarkably have an approximate shift symmetry. When applied to inflationary models, our results imply that small non-Gaussianities are a generic feature of models based on general relativity coupled to matter fields. However, these effects are too small to be observable in the cosmic microwave background
Inflation with Non-minimal Gravitational Couplings and Supergravity
We explore in the supergravity context the possibility that a Higgs scalar
may drive inflation via a non-minimal coupling to gravity characterised by a
large dimensionless coupling constant. We find that this scenario is not
compatible with the MSSM, but that adding a singlet field (NMSSM, or a variant
thereof) can very naturally give rise to slow-roll inflation. The inflaton is
necessarily contained in the doublet Higgs sector and occurs in the D-flat
direction of the two Higgs doublets.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur
Higgs Starobinsky inflation
In this paper we point out that Starobinky inflation could be induced by quantum effects due to a large non-minimal coupling of the Higgs boson to the Ricci scalar. The Higgs Starobinsky mechanism provides a solution to issues attached to large Higgs field values in the early universe which in a metastable universe would not be a viable option. We verify explicitly that these large quantum corrections do not destabilize Starobinsky's potential
Quantum corrections to Schwarzschild black hole
Using effective field theory techniques, we compute quantum corrections to spherically symmetric solutions of Einstein’s gravity and focus in particular on the Schwarzschild black hole. Quantum modifications are covariantly encoded in a non-local effective action. We work to quadratic order in curvatures simultaneously taking local and non-local corrections into account. Looking for solutions perturbatively close to that of classical general relativity, we find that an eternal Schwarzschild black hole remains a solution and receives no quantum corrections up to this order in the curvature expansion. In contrast, the field of a massive star receives corrections which are fully determined by the effective field theory
On Inflation with Non-minimal Coupling
A simple realization of inflation consists of adding the following operators
to the Einstein-Hilbert action: (partial phi)^2, lambda phi^4, and xi phi^2 R,
with xi a large non-minimal coupling. Recently there has been much discussion
as to whether such theories make sense quantum mechanically and if the inflaton
phi can also be the Standard Model Higgs. In this note we answer these
questions. Firstly, for a single scalar phi, we show that the quantum field
theory is well behaved in the pure gravity and kinetic sectors, since the
quantum generated corrections are small. However, the theory likely breaks down
at ~ m_pl / xi due to scattering provided by the self-interacting potential
lambda phi^4. Secondly, we show that the theory changes for multiple scalars
phi with non-minimal coupling xi phi dot phi R, since this introduces
qualitatively new interactions which manifestly generate large quantum
corrections even in the gravity and kinetic sectors, spoiling the theory for
energies > m_pl / xi. Since the Higgs doublet of the Standard Model includes
the Higgs boson and 3 Goldstone bosons, it falls into the latter category and
therefore its validity is manifestly spoiled. We show that these conclusions
hold in both the Jordan and Einstein frames and describe an intuitive analogy
in the form of the pion Lagrangian. We also examine the recent claim that
curvature-squared inflation models fail quantum mechanically. Our work appears
to go beyond the recent discussions.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures. Version 2: Clarified findings and improved
wording. Elaborated important sections and removed an unnecessary section.
Added references. Version 3: Updated towards JHEP version. Version 4: Final
JHEP versio
De Sitter ground state of scalar-tensor gravity and its primordial perturbation
Scalar-tensor gravity is one of the most competitive gravity theory to
Einstein's relativity. We reconstruct the exact de Sitter solution in
scalar-tensor gravity, in which the non-minimal coupling scalar is rolling
along the potential. This solution may have some relation to the early
inflation and present acceleration of the universe. We investigated its
primordial quantum perturbation around the adiabatic vacuum. We put forward for
the first time that exact de Sitter generates non-exactly scale invariant
perturbations. In the conformal coupling case, this model predicts that the
tensor mode of the perturbation (gravity wave) is strongly depressed.Comment: 9 page
On Special Re-quantization of a Black Hole
Quantized expressions for the gravitational energy and momentum are derived
from a linearized theory of teleparallel gravity. The derivation relies on a
second-quantization procedure that constructs annihilation and creation
operators for the graviton. The resulting gravitational field is a collection
of gravitons, each of which has precise energy and momentum. On the basis of
the weak-field approximation of Schwarzschild's solution, a new form for the
quantization of the mass of a black hole is derived.Comment: 4 page
An approach for the calculation of one-loop effective actions, vacuum energies, and spectral counting functions
In this paper, we provide an approach for the calculation of one-loop
effective actions, vacuum energies, and spectral counting functions and discuss
the application of this approach in some physical problems. Concretely, we
construct the equations for these three quantities; this allows us to achieve
them by directly solving equations. In order to construct the equations, we
introduce shifted local one-loop effective actions, shifted local vacuum
energies, and local spectral counting functions. We solve the equations of
one-loop effective actions, vacuum energies, and spectral counting functions
for free massive scalar fields in , scalar fields in
three-dimensional hyperbolic space (the Euclidean Anti-de Sitter space
), in (the geometry of the Euclidean BTZ black hole), and in
, and the Higgs model in a -dimensional finite interval.
Moreover, in the above cases, we also calculate the spectra from the counting
functions. Besides exact solutions, we give a general discussion on approximate
solutions and construct the general series expansion for one-loop effective
actions, vacuum energies, and spectral counting functions. In doing this, we
encounter divergences. In order to remove the divergences, renormalization
procedures are used. In this approach, these three physical quantities are
regarded as spectral functions in the spectral problem.Comment: 37 pages, no figure. This is an enlarged and improved version of the
paper published in JHE
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