Related papers: Stability Issues in Euclidean Quantum Gravity
As is well known, Einstein was dissatisfied with the foundation of quantum theory and sought to find a basis for it that would have satisfied his need for a causal explanation. In this paper this abandoned idea is investigated. It is found…
The Einstein-Hilbert action has a bulk term and a surface term (which arises from integrating a four divergence). I show that one can obtain Einstein's equations from the surface term alone. This leads to: (i) a novel, completely self…
In contrast to the phenomenon of nullification of the cosmological constant in the equilibrium vacuum, which is the general property of any quantum vacuum, there are many options in modifying the Einstein equation to allow the cosmological…
By rescaling the Gauss-Bonnet (GB) coupling constant $\alpha \rightarrow \alpha/(D-4)$ and considering the $D \rightarrow 4$ limit, the GB gravity gives rise to nontrivial modification of general relativity in four dimensions. In this work,…
The weak gravity conjecture (WGC) asserts that an Abelian gauge theory coupled to gravity is inconsistent unless it contains a particle of charge $q$ and mass $m$ such that $q \geq m/m_{\rm Pl}$. This criterion is obeyed by all known…
The field equations of the recent nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation are presented in a form that is reminiscent of general relativity. The implications of the nonlocal field equations are studied in the case of…
We argue that the instability of Euclidean Einstein gravity is an indication that the vacuum is non perturbative and contains a condensate of the metric tensor in a manner reminiscent of Yang-Mills theories. As a simple step toward the…
It is well-known that the Einstein-Rosen solutions to the 3+1 dimensional vacuum Einstein's equations are in one to one correspondence with solutions of 2+1 dimensional general relativity coupled to axi-symmetric, zero rest mass scalar…
We discuss a modified gravity theory defined by $f(R) = \sum_{n}^{l} \alpha_n M^{2(1-n)} R^n$. We consider both finite and infinite number of terms in the series while requiring that the Einstein frame potential of the theory has a flat…
We discuss some fundamental issues underlying gravitational physics and point out some of the main shortcomings of Einstein's General Relativity. In particular, after taking into account the role of the two main objects of relativistic…
Asymptotically safe theories of gravitation have received great attention in recent times. In this framework an effective action embodying the basic features of the renormalized flow around the non-gaussian fixed point is derived and its…
Gauge-invariant boundary conditions in Euclidean quantum gravity can be obtained by setting to zero at the boundary the spatial components of metric perturbations, and a suitable class of gauge-averaging functionals. This paper shows that,…
Scalar tensor theories of gravity can be formulated in the Einstein or in the Jordan frame, which are related by the conformal transformations. Although the two frames are describe the same physics, and are equivalent, the stability of the…
The equations of motion describing all physical systems, except gravity, remain invariant if a constant is added to the Lagrangian. In the conventional approach, gravitational theories break this symmetry exhibited by all other physical…
In the context of semiclassical gravity, the semiclassical Einstein equation is often invoked when backreaction of quantum matter/fields on the spacetime is at stake. It is expected to hold when quantum fluctuations are small. Yet, it is…
It is known that Newton's law of gravity holds asymptotically on a flat "brane" embedded in an anti-de Sitter "bulk" ; this was shown not only when gravity in the bulk is described by Einstein's theory but also in Einstein "Lanczos Lovelock…
We reconcile seemingly conflicting statements in the literature about the behavior of cosmological solutions in modified theories of gravity where the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian for gravity is modified by the addition of a function of the…
We consider a novel class of $f(\R)$ gravity theories where the connection is related to the conformally scaled metric $\hat g_{\mu\nu}=C(\R)g_{\mu\nu}$ with a scaling that depends on the scalar curvature $\R$ only. We call them C-theories…
We explore the infrared limit of quantum gravity in presence of a cosmological constant or effective potential for scalar fields. For a positive effective scalar potential, one-loop perturbation theory around flat space is divergent due to…
Generic relevant deformations of Einstein's gravity theory contain additional degrees of freedom that have a multi-facetted stabilization dynamics on curved spacetimes. We show that these relevant degrees of freedom are self-protected…