Related papers: Virtual dipoles and large fluctuations in quantum …
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…
Corrections to Newton's inverse law have been so far considered, but not clear in warped higher dimensional worlds, because of complexity of the Einstein equation. Here we give a model of a warped 6D world with an extra 2D sphere. We take a…
A variational calculation is presented of the ADM-energy of the quantized gravitational field around a wormhole solution of the classical Einstein's equations. One finds the energy of such state to be in general lower than the perturbative…
Quantum vacuum and matter immersed in it interact through electromagnetic, strong and weak interactions. However, we have zero knowledge of the gravitational properties of the quantum vacuum. As an illustration of possible fundamental…
In order to clarify why the zero-point energy associated with the vacuum fluctuations cannot be a candidate for the dark energy in the universe, a comparison with the Casimir effect is analyzed in some detail. A principle of epistemology is…
The $q$-theory formalism aims to describe the thermodynamics and dynamics of the deep quantum vacuum. The thermodynamics leads to an exact cancellation of the quantum-field zero-point-energies in equilibrium, which partly solves the main…
The dynamical generation of a four-dimensional classical universe from nothing but fundamental quantum excitations at the Planck scale is a long-standing challenge to theoretical physicists. A candidate theory of quantum gravity which…
Linearized gravitational waves in Brans-Dicke and scalar-tensor theories carry negative energy. A gauge-invariant analysis shows that the background Minkowski space is stable at the classical level with respect to linear scalar and tensor…
In this chapter, we will review the field-theoretic treatment of General Relativity based on an effective field theory extension of the Einstein-Hilbert action. This pragmatic route to low-energy quantum effects in gravity critically…
There is a growing evidence that due to quantum gravity effects the effective spacetime dimensionality might change in the UV. In this letter we investigate this hypothesis by using quantum fields to derive the UV behaviour of the static,…
The observability of primordial cosmic fluctuations does not require a geometric horizon $H^{-1}$, which is exceeded temporarily by the wavelength of fluctuations. The primordial information can be protected against later thermal washout…
We consider (four dimensional) gravity coupled to a scalar field with potential V(\phi). The potential satisfies the positive energy theorem for solutions that asymptotically tend to a negative local minimum. We show that for a large class…
Modified Einstein's equations implementing both an energy-dependent Newtonian and cosmological constant can be obtained via a modified action characterised by a non-minimal gravity-matter coupling. We show how different dynamics for the…
Vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields are altered in presence of a strong gravitational background, with important physical consequences. We argue that a non-trivial spacetime geometry can act as an optically active medium for quantum…
We highlight the fact that the lack of scale invariance in the gravitational field equations of General Relativity results from the underlying assumption that the appropriate scale for the gravitational force should be linked to the atomic…
We explore the possibility that the fundamental theory of nature does not contain any scale. This implies a renormalizable quantum gravity theory where the graviton kinetic term has 4 derivatives, and can be reinterpreted as gravity minus…
We examine tensor perturbations around a deSitter background within the framework of Ashtekar's variables and cousins parameterized by the Immirzi parameter $\gamma$. At the classical level we recover standard cosmological perturbation…
It is known that the action of Euclidean Einstein gravity is not bounded from below and that the metric of flat space does not correspond to a minimum of the action. Nevertheless, perturbation theory about flat space works well. The deep…
We show that quantum fluctuations of electromagnetic fields induce an additional zero-point energy in solids, which scales with the volume. For insulators, the zero-point energy density is proportional to quantum fluctuation of electric…
Fully covariant wave equations predict the existence of a class of inertial-gravitational effects that can be tested experimentally. In these equations inertia and gravity appear as external classical fields, but, by conforming to general…