A fully consistent linear perturbation theory for cosmology is derived in the presence of quantum corrections as they are suggested by properties of inverse volume operators in loop quantum gravity. The underlying constraints present a consistent deformation of the classical system, which shows that the discreteness in loop quantum gravity can be implemented in effective equations without spoiling space-time covariance. Nevertheless, non-trivial quantum corrections do arise in the constraint algebra. Since correction terms must appear in tightly controlled forms to avoid anomalies, detailed insights for the correct implementation of constraint operators can be gained. The procedures of this article thus provide a clear link between fundamental quantum gravity and phenomenology.
A Wheeler-Dewitt quantum constraint operator for four-dimensional, non-perturbative Lorentzian vacuum quantum gravity is defined in the continuum. The regulated Wheeler-DeWitt constraint operator is densely defined, does not require any renormalization and the final operator is anomaly-free and at least symmmetric. The technique introduced here can also be used to produce a couple of other completely well-defined regulated operators including but not exhausting a) the Euclidean Wheeler-DeWitt operator, b)the generator of the Wick rotation transform that maps solutions to the Euclidean Hamilton…
The relation between an isotropic and an anisotropic model in loop quantum cosmology is discussed in detail, comparing the strict symmetry reduction with a perturbative implementation of symmetry. While the latter cannot be done in a canonical manner, it allows to consider the dynamics including the role of small non-symmetric degrees of freedom for the symmetric evolution. This serves as a model for the general situation of perturbative degrees of freedom in a background independent quantization such as loop quantum gravity, and for the more complicated addition of perturbative inhomogeneitie…
Euclidean gravity provides an interesting test system for an analysis of cosmological perturbations in an effective Hamiltonian constraint with holonomy modifications from loop quantum gravity. This paper presents a discussion of scalar modes, with a specific form of the holonomy modification function derived from a general expansion in a connection formulation. Compared with some previous models, the constraint brackets are deformed in a different and more restricted way. A general comparison of anomaly-free brackets in various effective and operator versions shows overall consistency between…
Anomaly freedom has been one of the most important issues in canonical quantization of gravity. In a physically meaningful (anomaly free) theory, the constraint operators must be first class, and their commutator algebra is expected to resemble the corresponding classical Poisson-bracket algebra. In this paper, we review the "constructive" approach to obtaining a consistent set of constraints: start with a Hamiltonian constraint and generate the corresponding diffeomorphism constraint as a commutator of two Hamiltonians. Closure of the constraint operator algebra then requires that the diffeom…
The trace anomaly of quantum fields in electromagnetic or gravitational backgrounds implies the existence of massless scalar poles in physical amplitudes involving the stress-energy tensor. Considering first the axial anomaly and using QED as an example, we compute the full one-loop triangle amplitude of the fermionic stress tensor with two current vertices, <T^{mn} J^a J^b>, and exhibit the scalar pole in this amplitude associated with the trace anomaly, in the limit of zero electron mass m -> 0. To emphasize the infrared aspect of the anomaly, we use a dispersive approach and show that this …
We study the perturbation of the effective Hamiltonian constraint with holonomy correction from Euclidean loop quantum gravity. The Poisson bracket between the corrected Hamiltonian constraint and the diffeomorphism constraint is derived for vector modes. Some specific form of the holonomy correction function $f^{i}_{cd}$ is found, which satisfies that the constraint algebra is anomaly-free. This result confirms the possibility of non-trivial holonomy corrections from full theory while preserving anomaly-free constraint algebra in the perturbation framework. It also gives valuable hints on the…
Major observational efforts in the coming decade are designed to probe the equation of state of dark energy. Measuring a deviation of the equation-of-state parameter w from -1 would indicate a dark energy that cannot be represented solely by a cosmological constant. While it is commonly assumed that any implied modification to the LambdaCDM model amounts to the addition of new dynamical fields, we propose here a framework for investigating whether or not such new fields are required when cosmological observations are combined with a set of minimal assumptions about the nature of gravitational …
We investigate the non-perturbative degrees of freedom of a class of weakly non-local gravitational theories that have been proposed as an ultraviolet completion of general relativity. At the perturbative level, it is known that the degrees of freedom of non-local gravity are the same of the Einstein--Hilbert theory around any maximally symmetric spacetime. We prove that, at the non-perturbative level, the degrees of freedom are actually eight in four dimensions, contrary to what one might guess on the basis of the "infinite number of derivatives" present in the action. It is shown that six of…
We investigate vector perturbations with holonomy corrections in the framework of loop quantum cosmology. Conditions to achieve anomaly freedom for these perturbations are found at all orders. This requires the introduction of counter-terms in the hamiltonian constraint. We also show that anomaly freedom requires the diffeomorphism constraint to hold its classical form when scalar matter is added although the issue of a vector matter source, required for full consistency, remains to be investigated. The gauge-invariant variable and the corresponding equation of motion are derived. The propagat…
We discuss aspects of non-perturbative unitarity in quantum field theory. The additional ghost degrees of freedom arising in "truncations" of an effective action at a finite order in derivatives could be fictitious degrees of freedom. Their contributions to the fully-dressed propagator -- the residues of the corresponding ghost-like poles -- vanish once all operators compatible with the symmetry of the theory are included in the effective action. These "fake ghosts" do not indicate a violation of unitarity.
Fourth order derivative gravity in 3+1-dimensions is perturbatively renormalizable and is shown to describe a unitary theory of gravitons in a limited coupling parameter space. The running gravitational constant which includes graviton contribution is computed. Generically, gravitational Newton's constant vanishes at short distances in this perturbatively renormalizable and unitary theory.
General Relativity receives quantum corrections relevant at macroscopic distance scales and near event horizons. These arise from the conformal scalar degrees of freedom in the extended effective field theory of gravity generated by the trace anomaly of massless quantum fields in curved space. The origin of these conformal scalar degrees of freedom as massless poles in two-particle intermediate states of anomalous amplitudes in flat space is exposed. At event horizons the conformal anomaly scalar degrees of freedom can have macroscopically large effects on the geometry, potentially removing th…
We performed a study of the perturbative instabilities in Einstein-Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory with a gravitational Chern-Simons term, which is dual to a strongly coupled field theory with both chiral and mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly. With an analysis of the fluctuations in the near horizon regime at zero temperature, we found that there might be two possible sources of instabilities. The first one corresponds to a real mass-squared which is below the BF bound of AdS$_2$, and it leads to the bell-curve phase diagram at finite temperature. The effect of mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly is…
We consider three dimensional gravity with a positive cosmological constant and non- zero gravitational Chern-Simons term. This theory has inflating de Sitter solutions and local metric degrees of freedom. The Euclidean signature partition function of the theory is evaluated including both perturbative and non-perturbative corrections. The perturbative one-loop correction is computed using heat kernel techniques. The non- perturbative corrections come from gravitational instantons with non-trivial topology which can be enumerated explicitly. We compute the sum over an infinite class of ge- ome…
We revisit the problem of building the Lagrangian of a large class of metric theories that respect spatial covariance, which propagate at most two degrees of freedom and in particular no scalar mode. The Lagrangians are polynomials built of the spatially covariant geometric quantities. By expanding the Lagrangian around a cosmological background and focusing on the scalar modes only, we find the conditions for the coefficients of the monomials in order to eliminate the scalar mode at the linear order in perturbations. We find the conditions up to $d=4$ with $d$ the total number of derivatives …
This article lays out a complete framework for an effective theory of cosmological perturbations with corrections from canonical quantum gravity. Since several examples exist for quantum-gravity effects that change the structure of space-time, the classical perturbative treatment must be rethought carefully. The present discussion provides a unified picture of several previous works, together with new treatments of higher-order perturbations and the specification of initial states.
Quantum gravity is made more difficult in part by its constraint structure. The constraints are classically first-class; however, upon quantization they become partially second-class. To study such behavior, we focus on a simple problem with finitely many degrees of freedom and demonstrate how the projection operator formalism for dealing with quantum constraints is well suited to this type of example.
Holonomy corrections to scalar perturbations are investigated in the loop quantum cosmology framework. Due to the effective approach, modifications of the algebra of constraints generically lead to anomalies. In order to remove those anomalies, counter-terms are introduced. We find a way to explicitly fulfill the conditions for anomaly freedom and we give explicit expressions for the counter-terms. Surprisingly, the "new quantization scheme" naturally arises in this procedure. The gauge invariant variables are found and equations of motion for the anomaly-free scalar perturbations are derived.…
According to recent astrophysical observations the large scale mean pressure of our present universe is negative suggesting a positive cosmological constant like term. This article addresses the question of whether non-perturbative effects of self-interacting quantum fields in curved space-times may yield a significant contribution. Focusing on the trace anomaly of quantum chromo-dynamics (QCD), a preliminary estimate of the expected order of magnitude yields a remarkable coincidence with the empirical data, indicating the potential relevance of this effect. PACS: 04.62.+v, 12.38.Aw, 12.38.Lg,…
We have proceeded analogy of Einstein tensor and alternative form of Einstein field equations for generic coeffcients of eight terms in third order of Lovelock Lagrangian. We have found constraint between the coeffcients into two forms, an independent and a dimensional dependent versions. Each form has three degrees of freedom, and not only the exact coeffcients of third order Lovelock Lagrangian satisfy the two forms of constraints, also the two independent cubic of Weyl tensor satisfy the independent constraint in six dimensions and yield the dimensional dependent version identically indepen…
Relying only on the standard model of elementary particles and gravity, we study the details of a new source of gravitational waves whose origin is in quantum physics. Namely, it is well known that massless fields in curved backgrounds suffer from the so-called "trace anomaly". This anomaly can be cast in terms of new scalar degrees of freedom which take account of macroscopic effects of quantum matter in gravitational fields. The linearized effective action for these fields describes scalar (as opposed to transverse) gravitational waves, which are absent in Einstein's theory. Since these new …
