We study the functional renormalization group of a three-dimensional tensorial Group Field Theory (GFT) with gauge group SU(2). This model generates (generalized) lattice gauge theory amplitudes, and is known to be perturbatively renormalizable up to order 6 melonic interactions. We consider a series of truncations of the exact Wetterich--Morris equation, which retain increasingly many perturbatively irrelevant melonic interactions. This tensorial analogue of the ordinary local potential approximation allows to investigate the existence of non-perturbative fixed points of the renormalization group flow. Our main finding is a candidate ultraviolet fixed point, whose qualitative features are reproduced in all the truncations we have checked (with up to order 12 interactions). This may be taken as evidence for an ultraviolet completion of this GFT in the sense of asymptotic safety. Moreover, this fixed point has a single relevant direction, which suggests the presence of two distinct infrared phases. Our results generally support the existence of GFT phases of the condensate type, which have recently been conjectured and applied to quantum cosmology and black holes.
Application of the Weinberg's conditions of asymptotic safety to amplitudes and not to couplings of the effective action can help to uniquely define the running in the UV and avoid some of the asymptotic safety program problems. The idea is illustrated by the 4-graviton amplitude in string theory and its symmetries.
In the asymptotic-safety scenario for gravity, nonzero interactions are present in the ultraviolet. This property should also percolate into the matter sector. Symmetry- based arguments suggest that nonminimal derivative interactions of scalars with curvature tensors should therefore be present in the ultraviolet regime. We perform a nonminimal test of the viability of the asymptotic-safety scenario by working in a truncation of the Renormalization Group flow, where we discover the existence of an interacting fixed point for a corresponding nonminimal coupling. The back-coupling of such nonmin…
Form factors constitute the key building block when organising the gravitational dynamics in terms of a curvature expansion. They generalise the concept of momentum-dependent couplings to curved spacetime. Moreover, they may capture modifications of the gravitational interactions at high energy scales in a non-perturbative way. We briefly review the role of form factors in various quantum gravity programmes with special emphasis on non-local, ghost-free gravity and asymptotically safe gravity. In this context, we introduce a quantum gravity motivated scalar toy model, which demonstrates that L…
The present practice of Asymptotic Safety in gravity is in conflict with explicit calculations in low energy quantum gravity. This raises the question of whether the present practice meets the Weinberg condition for Asymptotic Safety. I argue, with examples, that the running of $Λ$ and $G$ found in Asymptotic Safety are not realized in the real world, with reasons which are relatively simple to understand. A comparison/contrast with quadratic gravity is also given, which suggests a few obstacles that must be overcome before the Lorentzian version of the theory is well behaved. I make a suggest…
A key incentive of quantum gravity is the removal of spacetime singularities plaguing the classical theory. We compute the non-perturbative momentum-dependence of a specific structure function within the gravitational asymptotic safety program which encodes the quantum corrections to the graviton propagator for momenta above the Planck scale. The resulting quantum corrected Newtonian potential approaches a constant negative value as the distance between the two point masses goes to zero, thereby removing the classical singularity. The generic nature of the underlying mechanism suggests that it…
Planck Scale Cosmology and Asymptotic Safety in Resummed Quantum Gravity
在Weinberg的渐近安全方法中，一个UV稳定不动点的有限维临界面产生了一个具有有限个物理参数的量子引力理论。我们认为，在费曼的原始配方的理论的延伸，我们恢复这个不动点UV行为从一个确切的重新安排各自的微扰系列。我们的结果与Alberter { \it et al.}并与Kreimer的最近的Hopf-代数Dyson-Schwinger重整化理论结果进行了比较。我们得到了无量纲引力常数和宇宙学常数的第一性原理预言，我们的结果支持了Bonanno和Schmidter的普朗克尺度宇宙学.最后，我们对目前观测到的宇宙学常数值进行了估计。
We discuss asymptotic safety in four-dimensional $\mathcal{N} = 1$ supersymmetric gauge theories. Our main conclusion is that in a reasonable definition of this phenomenon there are currently no controlled examples of it; there are reasons to believe that it does not occur.
Over the last years the Asymptotic Safety program has matured into a serious candidate for a quantum theory of gravity compatible with observations. The rapid technical progress in computing renormalisation group flows for gravity and gravity-matter systems in the non-perturbative regime has put many interesting physical questions within reach. In particular, the construction of the non-perturbative quantum corrections to the propagation of fields on a fluctuating spacetime allows addressing the effective propagation of matter on a quantum spacetime or the possible resolution of spacetime sing…
Considering the scale dependent effective spacetimes implied by the functional renormalization group in d-dimensional Quantum Einstein Gravity, we discuss the representation of entire evolution histories by means of a single, (d + 1)-dimensional manifold furnished with a fixed (pseudo-) Riemannian structure. This "scale-space-time" carries a natural foliation whose leaves are the ordinary spacetimes seen at a given resolution. We propose a universal form of the higher dimensional metric and discuss its properties. We show that, under precise conditions, this metric is always Ricci flat and adm…
A star of mass greater than a critical mass is believed to undergo gravitational collapse to form a singularity, owing to Hawking-Penrose singularity theorem which is based on the Raychaudhuri equation in the absence of torsion. We argue that the spin-aspect of matter can lead to the evasion of singularity, caused by its mass-aspect, via torsion in asymptotically safe gravity.
We explore the phenomenology of scalar fields coupled to asymptotically safe quantum gravity, in light of their potential significance for dark matter, for the inflaton as well as dynamical dark energy, and in the Higgs sector in and beyond the Standard Model. This work is a step towards delineating the boundaries of the asymptotically safe swampland by exploiting the constraining power of the asymptotic-safety paradigm. Firstly, we strengthen indications that quantum gravitational fluctuations could drive scalar potentials towards flatness, with intriguing potential implications for inflation…
Horndeski gravity is a popular contender for a phenomenological model of dynamical dark energy, and as such subject to observational constraints. In this work, we ask whether Horndeski gravity can be more than a phenomenological model and instead become a fundamental theory, which extends towards high energy scales and includes quantum effects. We find that within the asymptotic-safety paradigm, an ultraviolet completion of a simple class of models of Horndeski gravity is achievable, but places strong constraints on the couplings of the theory. These constraints are not compatible with dynamic…
This is an introduction to asymptotically safe quantum gravity, explaining the main idea of asymptotic safety and how it could solve the problem of predictivity in quantum gravity. In the first part, the concept of an asymptotically safe fixed point is discussed within the functional Renormalization Group framework for gravity, which is also briefly reviewed. A concise overview of key results on asymptotically safe gravity is followed by a short discussion of important open questions. The second part highlights how the interplay with matter provides observational consistency tests for all quan…
We study the asymptotic safety conjecture for quantum gravity in the presence of matter fields. A general line of reasoning is put forward explaining why gravitons dominate the high-energy behaviour, largely independently of the matter fields as long as these remain sufficiently weakly coupled. Our considerations are put to work for gravity coupled to Yang-Mills theories with the help of the functional renormalisation group. In an expansion about flat backgrounds, explicit results for beta functions, fixed points, universal exponents, and scaling solutions are given in systematic approximation…
We study the dependence on field parametrization of the functional renormalization group equation in the $f(R)$ truncation for the effective average action. We perform a systematic analysis of the dependence of fixed points and critical exponents in polynomial truncations. We find that, beyond the Einstein-Hilbert truncation, results are qualitatively different depending on the choice of parametrization. In particular, we observe that there are two different classes of fixed points, one with three relevant directions and the other with two. The computations are performed in the background appr…
We propose a scenario with string theory in the deep ultraviolet, an intermediate asymptotically safe scaling regime for gravity and matter, and the Standard Model in the infrared. This could provide a new perspective to tackle challenges of the two models: For instance, the gravitational Renormalization Group flow could connect a negative microscopic to a positive macroscopic cosmological constant, potentially rendering string theory on an anti-de Sitter background observationally viable. Further, the unitarity of a string-theoretic ultraviolet completion could be inherited by an asymptotical…
Asymptotic Safety implies that observables including scattering amplitudes remain finite at the highest energy scales. Traditionally, this feature is connected to an interacting fixed point of the Wilsonian renormalization group that provides the high-energy completion of the theory. In this article, we discuss a different facet of Asymptotic Safety, reviewing its imprint on the quantum effective action. We start with a concise introduction to the form factor framework for gravity and gravity-matter systems, before giving an encyclopaedic overview of gravity-mediated scattering amplitudes deri…
