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 $\mathbb{R}^{n}$, scalar fields in three-dimensional hyperbolic space $H_{3}$ (the Euclidean Anti-de Sitter space $AdS_{3}$), in $H_{3}/Z$ (the geometry of the Euclidean BTZ black hole), and in $S^{1}$, and the Higgs model in a $(1+1)$-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

Computing the effective action with the functional renormalization group

The \u201cexact\u201d or \u201cfunctional\u201d renormalization group equation describes the renormalization group flow of the effective average action \u393 k. The ordinary effective action \u393 0 can be obtained by integrating the flow equation from an ultraviolet scale k= \u39b down to k= 0. We give several examples of such calculations at one-loop, both in renormalizable and in effective field theories. We reproduce the four-point scattering amplitude in the case of a real scalar field theory with quartic potential and in the case of the pion chiral Lagrangian. In the case of gauge theories, we reproduce the vacuum polarization of QED and of Yang\u2013Mills theory. We also compute the two-point functions for scalars and gravitons in the effective field theory of scalar fields minimally coupled to gravity. \ua9 2016, The Author(s)

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

Measuring the gravitational field in General Relativity: From deviation equations and the gravitational compass to relativistic clock gradiometry

How does one measure the gravitational field? We give explicit answers to this fundamental question and show how all components of the curvature tensor, which represents the gravitational field in Einstein's theory of General Relativity, can be obtained by means of two different methods. The first method relies on the measuring the accelerations of a suitably prepared set of test bodies relative to the observer. The second methods utilizes a set of suitably prepared clocks. The methods discussed here form the basis of relativistic (clock) gradiometry and are of direct operational relevance for applications in geodesy.Comment: To appear in "Relativistic Geodesy: Foundations and Application", D. Puetzfeld et. al. (eds.), Fundamental Theories of Physics, Springer 2018, 52 pages, in print. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1804.11106, arXiv:1511.08465, arXiv:1805.1067

Self-force: Computational Strategies

Building on substantial foundational progress in understanding the effect of a small body's self-field on its own motion, the past 15 years has seen the emergence of several strategies for explicitly computing self-field corrections to the equations of motion of a small, point-like charge. These approaches broadly fall into three categories: (i) mode-sum regularization, (ii) effective source approaches and (iii) worldline convolution methods. This paper reviews the various approaches and gives details of how each one is implemented in practice, highlighting some of the key features in each case.Comment: Synchronized with final published version. Review to appear in "Equations of Motion in Relativistic Gravity", published as part of the Springer "Fundamental Theories of Physics" series. D. Puetzfeld et al. (eds.), Equations of Motion in Relativistic Gravity, Fundamental Theories of Physics 179, Springer, 201