Related papers: Can Gravitational Instantons Really Constrain Axio…
The euclidean path integral remains, in spite of its familiar problems, an important approach to quantum gravity. One of its most striking and obscure features is the appearance of gravitational instantons or wormholes. These renormalize…
We argue that the electromagnetic $\theta$-term is a physical parameter of the Standard Model coupled to gravity. Specifically, in the context of 4-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell theory we show that there exist Euclidean field configurations…
We discuss quantum gravitational effects in Einstein theory coupled to periodic axion scalars to analyze the viability of several proposals to achieve superplanckian axion periods (aka decay constants) and their possible application to…
In this work, we critically reanalyze the explicit breaking of the Peccei-Quinn global symmetry -- and the corresponding corrections to the QCD axion potential -- induced by gravity. Specifically, we examine the role of gravitational…
We find constrained instantons in Einstein gravity with and without a cosmological constant. These configurations are not saddle points of the Einstein-Hilbert action, yet they contribute to non-perturbative processes in quantum gravity. In…
There exist non-trivial stationary points of the Euclidean action for an axion particle minimally coupled to Einstein gravity, dubbed wormholes. They explicitly break the continuos global shift symmetry of the axion in a non-perturbative…
It is widely believed and in part established that exact global symmetries are inconsistent with quantum gravity. One then expects that approximate global symmetries can be quantitatively constrained by quantum gravity or swampland…
No-boundary instantons and Euclidean "wineglass" wormholes have both been proposed as providing suitable initial conditions for the current expanding phase of our universe, and in particular for providing conditions that are favorable to an…
If Euclidean wormholes contribute meaningfully to the path integral of quantum gravity they can have important implications for particle physics and cosmology. The dominant effects arise from wormholes whose sizes are comparable to the…
We show how certain types of magnetic asymptotically Anti-de Sitter Euclidean wormholes can catalyze the onset of inflation. These wormholes can be embedded as saddle point solutions of General Relativity coupled to the Standard Model, the…
In this study, we investigate wormhole solutions within the framework of $F(R,T)$ gravity coupled to an axion-dilaton system and explore the inflation. Based on the Giddings-Strominger (GS) and expanding wormhole solutions in asymptotically…
I present an informal overview of several recent results about Euclidean saddle points sourced by axion fields in quantum gravity (AdS/CFT), such as wormholes, their extremal "D-instanton" limits and their under-extremal singular…
If the inflaton is a pseudo-scalar axion, the axion shift symmetry can protect the flatness of its potential from too large radiative corrections. This possibility, known as natural inflation, requires an axion scale which is greater than…
There exists a widely spread notion that gravitational effects can strongly violate global symmetries. It may lead to many important consequences. We will argue, in particular, that nonperturbative gravitational effects in the axion theory…
Continuous global symmetries are expected to be broken by gravity, which can lead to important phenomenological consequences. A prime example is the threat that this poses to the viability of the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP…
Quantum fluctuation of unstable modes about gravitational instantons causes the instability of flat space at finite temperature, leading to the spontaneous process of nucleating quantum black holes. The density of vacuum energy-gain in such…
This paper is devoted to an investigation of Euclidean wormholes made by fuzzy instantons. We investigate the Euclidean path integral in anti-de Sitter space. In Einstein gravity, we introduce a scalar field with a potential. Because of the…
In string theory, even when there are ten to the thousand power vacuum states, does inflation produce overwhelmingly one preferred type of vacuum state? We respond affirmatively to questions whether existence of graviton production is…
We study Euclidean wineglass wormholes, which mediate the nucleation of inflationary spacetimes from an existing spacetime with asymptotically flat or Anti-de Sitter regions. These wormholes are distinguished by the presence of a local…
Because the inflationary mechanism is extremely sensitive to UV-physics, the construction of theoretically robust models of inflation provides a unique window on Planck-scale physics. We review efforts to use an axion with a shift symmetry…