English

Vacua in novel 4D Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity: pathology and instability?

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2020-11-11 v3 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

We show an inconsistence of the novel 4D Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity by considering a quantum tunneling process of vacua. Using standard semi-classical techniques, we analytically study the vacuum decay rate for all allowed cases in the parameter space. It turns out, without exception, that the theory either encounters a disastrous divergence of vacuum decay rate, or exhibits a confusing complex value of vacuum decay rate, or involves an infinitely instability (a large vacuum mixing). These suggest a strong possibility that the theory, at least the vacuum of the theory, is either unphysical or unstable, or has no well-defined limit as D4D\rightarrow 4.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2004.09339,
  title  = {Vacua in novel 4D Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity: pathology and instability?},
  author = {Fu-Wen Shu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.09339},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

6 pages, 1 figure

R2 v1 2026-06-23T14:58:08.466Z