Fixed points of classical gravity coupled with a Standard-Model-like theory
Abstract
Coupling quantum field theory (QFT) \!-\! even free QFT \!-\! to gravity leads to well-known problems. In particular, the stress tensor (gravity's source) and its correlators typically diverge in the UV, creating a conflict between the wildly inhomogeneous spacetime we expect quantum mechanically and the weakly-curved, macroscopic spacetime we observe. Are there QFTs for which these divergences cancel? Here, for simplicity, we consider free quantum fields on a classical curved background. The aforementioned divergences are related to the running of the gravitational couplings. We calculate the corresponding beta functions, identifying a special class of QFTs with UV fixed points at which and all its correlators are UV finite. An intriguing example is a theory like the Standard Model (including right-handed neutrinos) with gauge fields, generations of Weyl fermions and four-derivative (Fradkin-Tseytlin) scalars. In the infrared, this theory has a positive Newton's constant and an arbitrarily small cosmological constant .
Cite
@article{arxiv.2509.09346,
title = {Fixed points of classical gravity coupled with a Standard-Model-like theory},
author = {Latham Boyle and Neil Turok and Vatsalya Vaibhav},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.09346},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
7 pages, 1 figure