Quantum gravity is analyzed from the viewpoint of the renormalization group. The analysis is based on methods introduced by J. Polchinski concerning the perturbative renormalization with flow equations. In the first part of this work, the program of renormalization with flow equations is reviewed and then extended to effective field theories that have a finite UV cutoff. This is done for a scalar field theory by imposing additional renormalization conditions for some of the nonrenormalizable couplings. It turns out that one so obtains a statement on the predictivity of the effective theory at scales far below the UV cutoff. In particular, nonrenormalizable theories can be treated without problems in the proposed framework. In the second part, the standard covariant BRS quantization program for Euclidean Einstein gravity is applied. A momentum cutoff regularization is imposed and the resulting violation of the Slavnov-Taylor identities is discussed. Deriving Polchinski's renormalization group equation for Euclidean quantum gravity, the predictivity of effective quantum gravity at scales far below the Planck scale is investigated with flow equations. A fine-tuning procedure for restoring the violated Slavnov-Taylor identities is proposed and it is argued that in the effective quantum gravity context, the restoration will only be accomplished with finite accuracy. Finally, the no-cutoff limit of Euclidean quantum gravity is analyzed from the viewpoint of the Polchinski method. It is speculated whether a limit with nonvanishing gravitational constant might exist where the latter would ultimatively be determined by the cosmological constant and the masses of the elementary particles.
General prescriptions of differential renormalization are presented. It is shown that renormalization group functions are straightforwardly expressed through some constants that naturally arise within this approach. The status of the action principle in the framework of differential renormalization is discussed.
We clarify the relation between the wave function renormalization for Wilson actions and that for the 1PI actions in the exact renormalization group formalism. Our study depends crucially on the use of two independent cutoff functions for the Wilson actions. We relate our results to those obtained previously by Bervillier, Rosten, and Osborn & Twigg.
A formula describing finite renormalizations is derived in the Epstein-Glaser formalism and an explicit calculation of finite counterterms in $Φ^4$-theory is performed. The Zimmermann identities and the action principle for changes of parameters in the interaction are presented independent of the adiabatic limit.
We demonstrate how to extract all the one-loop renormalization group equations for arbitrary quantum field theories from knowledge of an appropriate Seeley--DeWitt coefficient. By formally solving the renormalization group equations to one loop, we renormalization group improve the classical action, and use this to derive the leading-logarithms in the one-loop effective action for arbitrary quantum field theories.
An action principle is described which unifies general relativity and topological field theory. An additional degree of freedom is introduced and depending on the value it takes the theory has solutions that reduce it to 1) general relativity in Palatini form, 2) general relativity in the Ashtekar form, 3) $F\wedge F$ theory for SO(5) and 4) $BF$ theory for SO(5). This theory then makes it possible to describe explicitly the dynamics of phase transition between a topological phase and a gravitational phase where the theory has local degrees of freedom. We also find that a boundary between adym…
The existence of fluctuations together with interactions leads to scale-dependence in the couplings of quantum field theories for the case of quantum fluctuations, and in the couplings of stochastic systems when the fluctuations are of thermal or statistical nature. In both cases the effects of these fluctuations can be accounted for by solutions of the corresponding renormalization group equations. We show how the renormalization group equations are intimately connected with the effective action: given the effective action we can extract the renormalization group equations; given the renormal…
The perturbative evaluation of the effective action can be expanded in powers of derivatives of the external field. We apply the renormalization group equation to the term in the effective action that is second order in the derivatives of the external field and all orders in a constant external field, considering both massless scalar $ϕ_4^4$ model and massless scalar electrodynamics. A so-called ``on shell'' renormalization scheme permits one to express this ``kinetic term'' for the scalar field entirely in terms of the renormalization group functions appropriate for this scheme. These renorma…
We formulate a perturbation expansion for the effective action in a new approach to the functional renormalization group method based on the concept of composite fields for regulator functions being their most essential ingredients. We demonstrate explicitly the principal difference between the properties of effective actions in these two approaches existing already on the one-loop level in a simple gauge model.
Techniques based on $n$-particle irreducible effective actions can be used to study systems where perturbation theory does not apply. The main advantage, relative to other non-perturbative continuum methods, is that the hierarchy of integral equations that must be solved truncates at the level of the action, and no additional approximations are needed. The main problem with the method is renormalization, which until now could only be done at the lowest ($n$=2) level. In this paper we show how to obtain renormalized results from an $n$-particle irreducible effective action at any order. We cons…
The action for a $(3+1)$-dimensional particle in very special relativity is studied. It is proved that massless particles only travel in effective $(2+1)$-dimensional space-time. It is remarkable that this action can be written as an action for a relativistic particle in a background gauge field and it is shown that this field causes the dimensional reduction. A new symmetry for this system is found. Furthermore, a general action with restored Lorentz symmetry is proposed for this system. It is shown that this new action contains very special relativity and two-time physics.
The renormalization group is used to sum the leading-log (LL) contributions to the effective action for a large constant external gauge field in terms of the one-loop renormalization group (RG) function beta, the next-to-leading-log (NLL) contributions in terms of the two-loop RG function etc. The log independent pieces are not determined by the RG equation, but can be fixed by the anomaly in the trace of the energy-momentum tensor. Similar considerations can be applied to the effective potential V for a scalar field phi; here the log independent pieces are fixed by the condition V'(phi=v)=0.
The Caswell-Wilczek analysis on the gauge dependence of the effective action and the renormalization group functions in Yang-Mills theories is generalized to generic, possibly power counting non renormalizable gauge theories. It is shown that the physical coupling constants of the classical theory can be redefined by gauge parameter dependent contributions of higher orders in $\hbar$ in such a way that the effective action depends trivially on the gauge parameters, while suitably defined physical beta functions do not depend on those parameters.
We analyze an abelian gauge model in 3 dimensions which includes massless scalar matter fields. By controlling the trace anomalies with a local dilatation Ward identity, we show that, in perturbation theory and within the BPHZL scheme, the Chern-Simons term has no radiative corrections. This implies, in particular, the vanishing of the corresponding $β$ function in the renormalization group equation.
Renormalization techniques in perturbative quantum field theory were known, from their inception, to have a strong combinatorial content emphasized, among others, by Zimmermann's celebrated forest formula. The present article reports on recent advances on the subject, featuring the role played by the Dynkin operators (actually their extension to the Hopf algebraic setting) at two crucial levels of renormalization, namely the Bogolioubov recursion and the renormalization group (RG) equations. For that purpose, an iterated integrals toy model is introduced to emphasize how the operators appear n…
We consider a scalar field theory in Minkowski spacetime and define a coarse grained Closed Time Path (CTP) effective action by integrating quantum fluctuations of wavelengths shorter than a critical value. We derive an exact CTP renormalization group equation and solve it using a derivative expansion approach. Explicit calculation is performed for the $λϕ^4$ theory. We discuss the relevance of the CTP average action in the study of non-equilibrium aspects of phase transitions in quantum field theory.
A fresh look at the renormalization group (in the sense of Stueckelberg-Petermann) from the point of view of algebraic quantum field theory is given, and it is shown that a consistent definition of local algebras of observables and of interacting fields in renormalized perturbative quantum field theory can be given in terms of retarded products. The dependence on the Lagrangian enters this construction only through the classical action. This amounts to the commutativity of retarded products with derivatives, a property named Action Ward Identity by Stora.
Given a Wilson action invariant under global chiral transformations, we can construct current composite operators in terms of the Wilson action. The short distance singularities in the multiple products of the current operators are taken care of by the exact renormalization group. The Ward-Takahashi identity is compatible with the finite momentum cutoff of the Wilson action. The exact renormalization group and the Ward-Takahashi identity together determine the products. As a concrete example, we study the Gaussian fixed-point Wilson action of the chiral fermions to construct the products of cu…
The gauge dependence problem of the effective action for general gauge theories in the framework of a modified functional renormalization group approach proposed recently is studied. It is shown that the effective action remains gauge-dependent on-shell.
If the Wilsonian renormalization group (RG) is formulated with a cutoff that breaks gauge invariance, then gauge invariance may be recovered only once the cutoff is removed and only once a set of effective Ward identities is imposed. We show that an effective Quantum Action Principle can be formulated in perturbation theory which enables the effective Ward identities to be solved order by order, even if the theory requires non-vanishing subtraction points. The difficulties encountered with non-perturbative approximations are briefly discussed.
We study general two-dimensional sigma-models which do not possess manifest Lorentz invariance. We show how demanding that Lorentz invariance is recovered as an emergent on-shell symmetry constrains these sigma-models. The resulting actions have an underlying group-theoretic structure and resemble Poisson-Lie T-duality invariant actions. We consider the one-loop renormalization of these models and show that the quantum Lorentz anomaly is absent. We calculate the running of the couplings in general and show, with certain non-trivial examples, that this agrees with that of the T-dual models obta…
We study the relationship between the renormalization group and the diffusion equation. We consider the exact renormalization group equation for a scalar field that includes an arbitrary cutoff function and an arbitrary quadratic seed action. As a generalization of the result obtained by Sonoda and Suzuki, we find that the correlation functions of diffused fields with respect to the bare action agree with those of bare fields with respect to the effective action, where the diffused field obeys a generalized diffusion equation determined by the cutoff function and the seed action and agrees wit…
Field theories on deformed spaces suffer from the IR/UV mxing and renormalization is generically spoiled. In work with R. Wulkenhaar, one of us realized a way to cure this desease by adding one more marginal operator. We review these ideas, show the application to $ϕ^3$ models and use heat kernel expansion methods for a scalar field theory coupled to an external gauge field on a $θ$-deformed space and derive noncommutative gauge actions.
The flow of the action induced by changing $N$ is computed in large $N$ matrix models. It is shown that the change in the action is non-analytic. This non-analyticity appears at the origin of the space of matrices if the action is even.
The exact renormalization group is applied to the world sheet theory describing bosonic open string backgrounds to obtain the equations of motion for the fields of the open string. Using loop variable techniques the equations can be constructed to be gauge invariant. Furthermore they are valid off the (free) mass shell. This requires keeping a finite cutoff. Thus we have the interesting situation of a scale invariant world sheet theory with a finite world sheet cutoff. This is possible because there are an infinite number of operators whose coefficients can be tuned. This is in the same sense …
In this paper, we study the one-loop induced photon's effective action in the very special relativity electrodynamics in $(2+1)$ spacetime (VSR-QED$_{3}$). Due to the presence of new nonlocal couplings resulting from the VSR gauge symmetry, we have additional graphs contributing to the $\langle AA\rangle$ and $\langle AAA \rangle$ amplitudes. From these contributions, we discuss the VSR generalization of the Abelian Maxwell-Chern-Simons Lagrangian, consisting in the dynamical part and the Chern-Simons-like self-couplings, respectively. We use the VSR-Chern-Simons electrodynamics to discuss som…
Starting from the geometric calculus based on Clifford algebra, the idea that physical quantities are Clifford aggregates ("polyvectors") is explored. A generalized point particle action ("polyvector action") is proposed. It is shown that the polyvector action, because of the presence of a scalar (more precisely a pseudoscalar) variable, can be reduced to the well known, unconstrained, Stueckelberg action which involves an invariant evolution parameter. It is pointed out that, starting from a different direction, DeWitt and Rovelli postulated the existence of a clock variable attached to parti…
Connes has extended Einstein's principle of general relativity to noncommutative geometry. The new principle implies that the Dirac operator is covariant with respect to Lorentz and internal gauge transformations and the Dirac operator must include Yukawa couplings. It further implies that the action for the metric, the gauge potentials and the Higgs scalar is coded in the spectrum of the covariant Dirac operator. This ``universal'' action has been computed by Chamseddine & Connes, it is the coupled Einstein-Hilbert and Yang-Mills-Higgs action. This result is rederived and we discuss the physi…
In this paper we provide strong evidence that there is no ambiguity in the choice of the horizon function underlying the Gribov-Zwanziger action. We show that there is only one correct possibility which is determined by the requirement of multiplicative renormalizability. As a consequence, this means that relations derived from other horizon functions cannot be given a consistent interpretation in terms of a local and renormalizable quantum field theory. In addition, we also discuss that the Kugo-Ojima functions $u(p^2)$ and $w(p^2)$ can only be defined after renormalization of the underlying …
This paper establishes the relation between traditional results from (euclidean) twistor theory and chiral formulations of General Relativity (GR), especially the pure connection formulation. Starting from a $SU(2)$-connection only we show how to construct natural complex data on twistor space, mainly an almost Hermitian structure and a connection on some complex line bundle. Only when this almost Hermitian structure is integrable is the connection related to an anti-self-dual-Einstein metric and makes contact with the usual results. This leads to a new proof of the non-linear-graviton theorem…
It has been argued that certain reduced actions play a role in AdS/CFT when comparing fast moving strings to long single trace operators in gauge theories. Such actions arise in two ways: as a limit of the string action and as a description of long single trace field theory operators. They are non-relativistic sigma models with the target space usually being a Kahler manifold. They are non-renormalizable and need a cut-off in the wave-length. If the total spin (or charge) contained in a minimal wavelength is large compared to one, the system behaves approximately classically and an expansion i…
We consider the application of quantum corrections computed using renormalization group arguments in the astrophysical domain and show that, for the most natural interpretation of the renormalization group scale parameter, a gravitational coupling parameter $G$ varying $10^{-7}$ of its value across a galaxy (which is roughly a variation of $10^{-12}$ per light-year) is sufficient to generate galaxy rotation curves in agreement with the observations. The quality of the resulting fit is similar to the Isothermal profile quality once both the shape of the rotation curve and the mass-to-light rati…
We perform a holographic renormalization of gravity duals to little string theories. In particular, we construct counterterms which yield a well-defined type II action for NS-sector linear dilaton backgrounds. Our methods are based on a similar recent construction in asymptotically flat spacetimes, and our work demonstrates in detail the parallels between asymptotically flat and linear dilaton boundary conditions. The counterterms guarantee that (i) the on-shell action is finite and (ii) asymptotically linear dilaton solutions are stationary points of the action under all boundary condition pr…
General Relativity can be reformulated as a diffeomorphism invariant SU(2) gauge theory. A new action principle for this "pure connection" formulation of GR is described.
Nonlinear supersymmetric(NLSUSY) general relativity(GR) is considered and a new fundamental action of the vacuum Einstein-Hilbert(EH)-type is obtained by the Einstein gravity analogue geomtrical arguments on new spacetime inspired by NLSUSY. The new action of NLSUSY GR is unstable and breaks spontaneously to EH action with matter(or New spacetime is unstable and induces spontaneously the phase transition to Riemann spacetime with matter), which may be the real shape of the big bang of the universe and give naturally the unified description of spacetime and matter. Some implications for the low…
Recently we made a proposal for realization of an effective BRS symmetry along the Wilsonian renormalization group flow. In this paper we show that the idea can be naturally extended for the most general gauge theories. Extensive use of the antifield formalism is made to reveal some remarkable structure of the effective BRS symmetry. The average action defined with a continuum analog of the block spin transformation obeys the quantum master equation (QME), provided that an UV action does so. We show that the RG flow described by the exact flow equations is generated by canonical transformation…
Renormalization group equations for massless GUT's in curved space-time with non-trivial topology are formulated. The asymptotics of the effective action both at high and low energies are obtained. It is shown that the Casimir energy contribution at high curvature (early Universe) becomes non-essential in the effective action.
In this paper, we study the one-loop induced effective action for a non-abelian gauge field in the very special relativity (VSR) framework in a $(2+1)$-dimensional spacetime. We show that there are new graphs contributing to the amplitudes of gluon $n$-point functions, e.g. $\langle GG\rangle$, $\langle GGG \rangle$ and $\langle GGGG \rangle$, originating from the non-local couplings generated in VSR. Using the one-loop analysis of the relevant graphs, we evaluate the VSR corrections to the induced kinetic term of the non-abelian gauge field action in three dimensions. Next, by applying the Wa…
Using the average action defined with a continuum analog of the block spin transformation, we show the presence of gauge symmetry along the Wilsonian renormalization group flow. As a reflection of the gauge symmetry, the average action satisfies the quantum master equation(QME). We show that the quantum part of the master equation is naturally understood once the measure contribution under the BRS transformation is taken into account. Furthermore an effective BRS transformation acting on macroscopic fields may be defined from the QME. The average action is explicitly evaluated in terms of the …
We critically analyze the introduction of an independent zero momentum mode field renormalization for Phi4. It leads to an infrared divergent effective action. It does not achieve its purpose: triviality still gives massless particles in the broken phase in the continuum limit. It leads to an effective potential which is not the low energy limit of the effective action.
We explore the gauge dependence of the effective average action within the functional renormalization group (FRG) approach. It is shown that in the framework of standard definitions of FRG for the Yang-Mills theory, the effective average action remains gauge-dependent on-shell, independent on the use of truncation scheme. Furthermore, we propose a new formulation of the FRG, based on the use of composite operators. In this case one can provide on-shell gauge-invariance for the effective average action and universality of $S$-matrix.
We consider the quantization of matter fields in a background described by the teleparallel equivalent to general relativity. The presence of local Lorentz and gauge symmetries gives rise to different coupling prescriptions, which we analyse separately. As expected, quantum matter fields produce divergences that cannot be absorbed by terms in the background action of teleparallel equivalent to general relativity. Nonetheless, the formulation of teleparallel gravity allows one to find out the source of the problem. By imposing local Lorentz invariance after quantization, we show that a modified…
Using the Pauli-Villars regularization, we make a perturbative analysis of the quantum master equation (QME), $Σ=0$, for the Wilsonian effective action. It is found that the QME for the UV action determines whether exact gauge symmetry is realized along the renormalization group (RG) flow. The basic task of solving the QME can be reduced to compute the Troost-van Niuwenhuizen-Van Proyen jacobian factor for the classical UV action. When the QME cannot be satisfied, the non-vanishing $Σ$ is proportional to a BRS anomaly, which is shown to be preserved along the RG flow. To see how the UV action …
We propose a method using perturbation theory in the running coupling constant and the idea of scaling to determine improved actions for lattice field theories combining Wilson's renormalization group with Symanzik's improvement program . The method is based on the analysis of a single renormalization group transformation. We test it on the hierarchical $O(N)$ invariant $σ$ model in two dimensions.
In this paper we discuss how the Magueijo-Smolin Doubly Special Relativity proposal may obtained from a singular Lagrangian action. The deformed energy-momentum dispersion relation rises as a particular gauge, whose covariance imposes the non-linear Lorentz group action. Moreover, the additional invariant scale is present from the beginning as a coupling constant to a gauge auxiliary variable. The geometrical meaning of the gauge fixing procedure and its connection to the free relativistic particle are also described.
The one-loop renormalization of a general chiral gauge theory without scalar and Majorana fields is fully worked out within Breitenlohner and Maison dimensional renormalization scheme. The coefficients of the anomalous terms introduced in the Slavnov-Taylor equations by the minimal subtraction algorithm are calculated and the asymmetric counterterms needed to restore the BRS symmetry, if the anomaly cancellation conditions are met, are computed. The renormalization group equation and its coefficients are worked out in the anomaly free case. The computations draw heavily from the existence of a…
Starting from Plebanski's action for general relativity with cosmological constant, we show that by integrating out all the auxiliary fields Krasnov's action immediately emerges. We also perform the Hamiltonian analysis of the latter and show that the constraints are those of the Ashtekar formalism.
We calculate the effective action of a superconductor, without assuming that either the electron-electron potential or the Fermi surface obey rotational invariance. This approach leads to the same gap equation and equilibrium free energy as more conventional methods. The results are used to obtain the Gell-Mann - Low renormalization group equations for the electron-electron potential.
We consider various forms of action allowing us to describe a perfect fluid in the framework of General Relativity. First we consider a potential motion without pressure. Starting from an action in terms of the current density vector built similarly to the action of a single particle, we build a series of equivalent actions through various changes of variables. The results are then generalized to the cases of motion with vorticity and the presence of pressure. The obtained forms of action are compared to the previously known variants. We discuss the possibilities to use the obtained results to…
We derive the effective action for classical strings coupled to dilatonic, gravitational, and axionic fields. We show how to use this effective action for: (i) renormalizing the string tension, (ii) linking ultraviolet divergences to the infrared (long-range) interaction between strings, (iii) bringing additional light on the special cancellations that occur for fundamental strings, and (iv) pointing out the limitations of Dirac's celebrated field-energy approach to renormalization.
We reformulate Euclidean general relativity without cosmological constant as an action governing the complex structure of twistor space. Extending Penrose's non-linear graviton construction, we find a correspondence between twistor spaces with partially integrable almost complex structures and four-dimensional space-times with off-shell metrics. Using this, we prove that our twistor action reduces to Plebanski's action for general relativity via the Penrose transform. This should lead to new insights into the geometry of graviton scattering as well as to the derivation of computational tools l…
We investigate the renormalization group approach to nonequilibrium field theory. We show that it is possible to derive nontrivial renormalization group flow from iterative coarse graining of a closed-time-path action. This renormalization group is different from the usual in quantum field theory textbooks, in that it describes nontrivial noise and dissipation. We work out a specific example where the variation of the closed-time-path action leads to the so-called Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation, and show that the renormalization group obtained by coarse graining this action, agrees with the dyna…
By combining two distinct renormalization group transformations, opposing scale transformations, we obtain a composite transformation which does not rescale the system, and drives it to a "geometrical" fixed point, controlling the effective geometry and locality. The latticized (deconstructed) action for an extra-dimensional field theory becomes a ``perfect action,'' with a linear ladder spectrum for N KK-modes.
This article is an extension of the author's second master thesis [1]. It aims to introduce to the theory of perturbatively quantized General Relativity coupled to Spinor Electrodynamics, provide the results thereof and set the notation to serve as a starting point for further research in this direction. It includes the differential geometric and Hopf algebraic background, as well as the corresponding Lagrange density and some renormalization theory. Then, a particular problem in the renormalization of Quantum General Relativity coupled to Quantum Electrodynamics is addressed and solved by a g…
The renormalization group (RG) properties of quantum gravity are explored, using the vielbein and the spin connection as the fundamental field variables. The scale dependent effective action is required to be invariant both under space time diffeomorphisms and local frame rotations. The nonperturbative RG equation is solved explicitly on the truncated theory space defined by a three parameter family of Holst-type actions which involve a running Immirzi parameter. We find evidence for the existence of an asymptotically safe fundamental theory, probably inequivalent to metric quantum gravity con…
We discuss the Polyakov effective action for a minimally coupled scalar field on a two dimensional curved space by considering a non-local covariant truncation of the effective average action. We derive the flow equation for the form factor in $\int\sqrt{g}R c_{k}(Δ)R$, and we show how the standard result is obtained when we integrate the flow from the ultraviolet to the infrared.
