English

Non-local partner to the cosmological constant

High Energy Physics - Theory 2022-06-15 v2 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology

Abstract

I show that quantum corrections due to a massive particle generates a non-local term in the gravitational effective action which is of zeroth order in the derivative expansion, much like the cosmological constant. It carries a fixed coefficient which is very much larger than the cosmological constant, and which cannot be fine-tuned. The interaction is active at scales above the particle's mass. This is of the form m4(1R)x"<xlog(+m2)y>"(1R)ym^4 (\frac1{\Box}R)_x "<x|\log (\Box +m^2 )|y >" (\frac1{\Box}R)_y, and I discuss the meaning of "<xlog(+m2)y>" "<x|\log (\Box +m^2) |y >" and other aspects of its interpretation.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2201.12217,
  title  = {Non-local partner to the cosmological constant},
  author = {John F. Donoghue},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2201.12217},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

10 pages, 1 figure, comments and relevant references have been added

R2 v1 2026-06-24T09:07:38.728Z