Unruh-deWitt detectors in cosmological spacetimes

We analyse the response and thermal behaviour of an Unruh-DeWitt detector as it travels through cosmological spacetimes, with special reference to the question of how to define surface gravity and temperature in dynamical spacetimes. Working within the quantum field theory on curved spacetime approximation, we consider a detector as it travels along geodesic and accelerated Kodama trajectories in de Sitter and asymptotically de Sitter FLRW spacetimes. By modelling the temperature of the detector using the detailed-balance form of the Kubo-Martin-Schwinger (KMS) conditions as it thermalises, we can better understand the thermal behaviour of the detector as it interacts with the quantum field, and use this to compare competing definitions of surface gravity and temperature that persist in the literature. These include the approaches of Hayward-Kodama, Ashtekar et al., Fodor et al., and Nielsen-Visser. While these are most often examined within the context of a dynamical black hole, here we shift focus to surface gravity on the evolving cosmological horizon.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figure

Newtonian potential and geodesic completeness in infinite derivative gravity

Recent study has shown that a nonsingular oscillating potential—a feature of infinite derivative gravity theories—matches current experimental data better than the standard General Relativity potential. In this work, we show that this nonsingular oscillating potential can be given by a wider class of theories which allows the defocusing of null rays and therefore geodesic completeness. We consolidate the conditions whereby null geodesic congruences may be made past complete, via the Raychaudhuri equation, with the requirement of a nonsingular Newtonian potential in an infinite derivative gravity theory. In doing so, we examine a class of Newtonian potentials characterized by an additional degree of freedom in the scalar propagator, which returns the familiar potential of General Relativity at large distances

The spectrum of symmetric teleparallel gravity

General Relativity and its higher derivative extensions have symmetric teleparallel reformulations in terms of the non-metricity tensor within a torsion-free and flat geometry. These notes present a derivation of the exact propagator for the most general infinite-derivative, even-parity and generally covariant theory in the symmetric teleparallel spacetime. The action made up of the non-metricity tensor and its contractions is decomposed into terms involving the metric and a gauge vector field and is found to complement the previously known non-local ghost- and singularity-free theories

Criteria for resolving the cosmological singularity in Infinite Derivative Gravity around expanding backgrounds

We derive the conditions whereby null rays `defocus' within Infinite Derivative Gravity for perturbations around an (A)dS background, and show that it is therefore possible to avoid singularities within this framework. This is in contrast to Einstein's theory of General Relativity. We further extend this to an (A)dS-Bianchi I background metric, and also give an example of a specific perturbation where defocusing is possible given certain conditions

Infinite derivative gravity : a ghost and singularity-free theory

The objective of this thesis is to present a viable extension of general relativity free from cosmological singularities. A viable cosmology, in this sense, is one that is free from ghosts, tachyons or exotic matter, while staying true to the theoretical foundations of General Relativity such as general covariance, as well as observed phenomenon such as the accelerated expansion of the universe and inflationary behaviour at later times. To this end, an infinite derivative extension of relativity is introduced, with the gravitational action derived and the non-linear field equations calculated, before being linearised around both Minkowski space and de Sitter space. The theory is then constrained so as to avoid ghosts and tachyons by appealing to the modified propagator, which is also derived. Finally, the Raychaudhuri Equation is employed in order to describe the ghost-free, defocusing behaviour around both Minkowski and de Sitter spacetimes, in the linearised regime

Defocusing of null rays in infinite derivative gravity

Einstein's General theory of relativity permits spacetime singularities, where null geodesic congruences focus in the presence of matter, which satisfies an appropriate energy condition. In this paper, we provide a minimal defocusing condition for null congruences without assuming any Ansatz-dependent background solution. The two important criteria are: (1) an additional scalar degree of freedom, besides the massless graviton must be introduced into the spacetime; and (2) an infinite derivative theory of gravity is required in order to avoid tachyons or ghosts in the graviton propagator. In this regard, our analysis strengthens earlier arguments for constructing non-singular bouncing cosmologies within an infinite derivative theory of gravity, without assuming any Ansatz to solve the full equations of motion

Generalized ghost-free quadratic curvature gravity

In this paper we study the most general covariant action of gravity up to terms that are quadratic in curvature. In particular this includes non-local, infinite derivative theories of gravity which are ghost-free and exhibit asymptotic freedom in the ultraviolet. We provide a detailed algorithm for deriving the equations of motion for such actions containing an arbitrary number of the covariant D'Alembertian operators, and this is our main result. We also perform a number of tests on the field equations we derive, including checking the Bianchi identities and the weak-field limit. Lastly, we consider the special subclass of ghost and asymptotically free theories of gravity by way of an example