Causality in quantum field theory is defined by the vanishing of field commutators for space-like separations. However, this does not imply a direction for causal effects. Hidden in our conventions for quantization is a connection to the definition of an arrow of causality, i.e. what is the past and what is the future. If we mix quantization conventions within the same theory, we get a violation of microcausality. In such a theory with mixed conventions the dominant definition of the arrow of causality is determined by the stable states. In some quantum gravity theories, such as quadratic gravity and possibly asymptotic safety, such a mixed causality condition occurs. We discuss some of the implications.
In the understanding of the fundamental interactions, the origin of an arrow of time is viewed as problematic. However, quantum field theory has an arrow of causality, which tells us which time direction is the past lightcone and which is the future. This direction is tied to the conventions used in the quantization procedures. The different possible causal directions have related physics - in this sense they are covariant under time-reversal. However, only one causal direction emerges for a given set of conventions. This causal arrow tells us the direction that scattering reactions proceed. T…
We show how uncertainty in the causal structure of field theory is essentially inevitable when one includes quantum gravity. This includes the fact that lightcones are ill-defined in such a theory. This effect is small in the effective field theory regime, where it it independent of the UV completion of the theory, but grows with energy and represents an unknown uncertainty for a generic UV completion. We include details of the causality uncertainty which arises in a particular UV completion, i.e. quadratic gravity. We describe how the mechanisms uncovered in the effective field theory treatme…
Confining gauge theories contain glueballs and mesons with arbitrary spin, and these particles become metastable at large $N$. However, metastable higher spin particles, when coupled to gravity, are in conflict with causality. This tension can be avoided only if the gravitational interaction is accompanied by interactions involving other higher spin states well below the Planck scale $M_{\rm pl}$. These higher spin states can come from either the QCD sector or the gravity sector, but both these resolutions have some surprising implications. For example, QCD states can resolve the problem since…
We derive the arrows of time of our universe that follow from the no-boundary theory of its quantum state (NBWF) in a minisuperspace model. Arrows of time are viewed four-dimensionally as properties of the four-dimensional Lorentzian histories of the universe. Probabilities for these histories are predicted by the NBWF. For histories with a regular `bounce' at a minimum radius we find that fluctuations are small at the bounce and grow in the direction of expansion on either side. For recollapsing classical histories with big bang and big crunch singularities we find that the fluctuations are s…
We combine old and new quantum field theoretic arguments to show that any theory of stable or metastable higher spin particles can be coupled to gravity only when the gravity sector has a stringy structure. Metastable higher spin particles, free or interacting, cannot couple to gravity while preserving causality unless there exist higher spin states in the gravitational sector much below the Planck scale $M_{\rm pl}$. We obtain an upper bound on the mass $Λ_{\rm gr}$ of the lightest higher spin particle in the gravity sector in terms of quantities in the non-gravitational sector. We invoke the…
We study the causal structure of a class of weakly nonlocal gravitational theories (eventually coupled to matter) that are compatible with perturbative unitarity and finiteness at quantum level. In particular, we show that in nonlocal quantum gravity a Shapiro's time advance never occurs. Moreover, we provide a recipe to construct a general ultraviolet complete gravitational theory coupled to matter (with or without supersymmetry) compatible with causality. Therefore, nonlocal gravity is consistent with causality, as well as string theory.
The weak gravity conjecture states that quantum gravity theories have to contain a charged state with a charge-to-mass ratio bigger than unity. By studying unitarity and causality constraints on higher derivative corrections to the charge-to-mass ratio of extremal back holes, we demonstrate that heavy extremal black holes can play the role of the required charged state under several assumptions. In particular, our argument is applicable when the higher spin states Reggeizing graviton exchange are subdominant in the photon scattering. It covers (1) theories with light neutral bosons such as dil…
We show that causality constrains the sign of quartic Riemann corrections to the Einstein-Hilbert action. Our constraint constitutes a restriction on candidate theories of quantum gravity.
We study the constraints coming from local causality requirement in various $2+1$ dimensional dynamical theories of gravity. In topologically massive gravity, with a single parity non-invariant massive degree of freedom, and in new massive gravity, with two massive spin-$2$ degrees of freedom, causality and unitarity are compatible with each other and both require the Newton's constant to be negative. In their extensions, such as the Born-Infeld gravity and the minimal massive gravity the situation is similar and quite different from their higher dimensional counterparts, such as quadratic (e.…
We examine the question as to whether the f(R) gravity theories, in both metric and in Palatini formalisms, permit space-times in which the causality is violated. We show that the field equations of these f(R) gravity theories admit solutions with violation of causality for a physically well-motivated perfect-fluid matter content.
In any quantum theory of gravity we do expect corrections to Einstein gravity to occur. Yet, at fundamental level, it is not apparent what the most relevant corrections are. We argue that the generic curvature square corrections present in lower dimensional actions of various compactified string theories provide a natural passage between the classical and quantum realms of gravity. The Gauss-Bonnet and $({\rm Riemann})^2$ gravities, in particular, provide concrete examples in which inconsistency of a theory, such as, a violation of microcausality, and a classical limit on black hole entropy ar…
Quantum gravity, the initial low entropy state of the Universe, and the problem of time are interlocking puzzles. In this article, we address the origin of the arrow of time from a cosmological perspective motivated by a novel approach to quantum gravitation. Our proposal is based on a quantum counterpart of the equivalence principle, a general covariance of the dynamical phase space. We discuss how the nonlinear dynamics of such a system provides a natural description for cosmological evolution in the early Universe. We also underscore connections between the proposed non-perturbative quantum…
We study the local causality issue via the Shapiro time-delay computations in the on-shell consistent exotic massive gravity in three dimensions. The theory shows time-delay as opposed to time-advance despite having a ghost at the linearized level both for asymptotically flat and anti-de Sitter spacetimes. We also prove a Birkhoff-like theorem: any solution with a hypersurface orthogonal non-null Killing vector field is conformally flat; and find some exact solutions.
In this paper we tackle the issue of causality in quantum gravity, in the context of 3d spin foam models. We identify the correct procedure for implementing the causality/orientation dependence restriction that reduces the path integral for BF theory to that of quantum gravity in first order form. We construct explicitly the resulting causal spin foam model. We then add matter degrees of freedom to it and construct a causal spin foam model for 3d quantum gravity coupled to matter fields. Finally, we show that the corresponding spin foam amplitudes admit a natural approximation as the Feynman a…
In gauge/gravity duality, points which are not causally related on the boundary cannot be causally related through the bulk; this is the statement of boundary causality. By the Gao-Wald theorem, the averaged null energy condition in the bulk is sufficient to ensure this property. Here we proceed in the converse direction: we derive a necessary as well as sufficient condition for the preservation of boundary causality under perturbative (quantum or stringy) corrections to the bulk. The condition that we find is a (background-dependent) constraint on the amount by which light cones can "open" ov…
Conceptual problems regarding the arrow of time in classical physics, quantum physics, cosmology, and quantum gravity are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the dynamical role of the quantum indeterminism, and to various concepts of timelessness.
Classifying consistent effective field theories for the gravitational interaction has recently been the subject of intense research. Demanding the absence of causality violation in high energy graviton scattering processes has led to a hierarchy of constraints on higher derivative terms in the Lagrangian. Most of these constraints have relied on analysis that is performed in general relativistic backgrounds, as opposed to a generic solution to the equations of motion which are perturbed by higher curvature operators. Hence, these constraints are necessary but may not be sufficient to ensure th…
We consider the shift of charge-to-mass ratio for extremal black holes in the context of effective field theory, motivated by the Weak Gravity Conjecture. We constrain extremality corrections in different regimes subject to unitarity and causality constraints. In the asymptotic IR, we demonstrate that for any supersymmetric theory in flat space, and for all minimally coupled theories, logarithmic running at one loop pushes the Wilson coefficient of certain four-derivative operators to be larger at lower energies, guaranteeing the existence of sufficiently large black holes with $Q>M$. We ident…
The de Rham-Gabadadze-Tolley massive gravity admits pp-wave backgrounds on which linear fluctuations are shown to undergo time advances for all values of the parameters. The perturbations may propagate in closed time-like curves unless the parameter space is constrained to a line. These classical phenomena take place well within the theory's validity regime.
Gravitational Faraday rotation, gravitational spin Hall effect, and spin-refined causality analysis from Magnusian matrix in effective field theories of gravity
We formulate a non-perturbative lattice model of two-dimensional Lorentzian quantum gravity by performing the path integral over geometries with a causal structure. The model can be solved exactly at the discretized level. Its continuum limit coincides with the theory obtained by quantizing 2d continuum gravity in proper-time gauge, but it disagrees with 2d gravity defined via matrix models or Liouville theory. By allowing topology change of the compact spatial slices (i.e. baby universe creation), one obtains agreement with the matrix models and Liouville theory.
We explore, in the context of AdS/CFT correspondence, the causality constraints on the Noncritical Einstein-Weyl (NEW) gravity model in five dimensions. The scalar and shear channels are considered as small metric perturbations around an AdS black brane background. Our results show that causality analysis on the propagation of these two channels imposes a new bound on the coupling of the Weyl-squared terms in the NEW gravity. This new bound imposes more stringent restrictions than those of the tachyon-free condition, improving predictive power of the theory.
We analyse the classical and quantum geometry of the Barrett-Crane spin foam model for four dimensional quantum gravity, explaining why it has to be considering as a covariant realization of the projector operator onto physical quantum gravity states. We discuss how causality requirements can be consistently implemented in this framework, and construct causal transiton amplitudes between quantum gravity states, i.e. realising in the spin foam context the Feynman propagator between states. The resulting causal spin foam model can be seen as a path integral quantization of Lorentzian first order…
Resumming quantum fluctuations at the level of the gravitational path integral is expected to result in non-local effective actions and thus in a non-trivial momentum dependence of the propagator. Which properties the (dressed) graviton propagator has to satisfy and whether they can all be met are key open questions. In this work we present criteria and conditions for the momentum dependence of a graviton propagator which is consistent with unitarity, causality, and stability in a non-perturbative setting. To this end, we revisit several aspects of these conditions, highlighting some caveats a…
It is well known that non-local theories of gravity have been a flourish arena of studies for many reasons, for instance, the UV incompleteness of General Relativity (GR). In this paper we check the consistency of ST-homogeneous Gödel-type metrics within the non-local gravity framework. The non-local models considered here are ghost-free but not necessarily renormalizable since we focus on the classical solutions of the field equations. Furthermore, the non-locality is displayed in the action through transcendental entire functions of the d'Alembert operator $\Box$ that are mathematically repr…
I prove that classical gravity coupled with quantized matter can be renormalized with a finite number of independent couplings, plus field redefinitions, without introducing higher-derivative kinetic terms in the gravitational sector, but adding vertices that couple the matter stress-tensor with the Ricci tensor. The theory is called "acausal gravity", because it predicts the violation of causality at high energies. Renormalizability is proved by means of a map M that relates acausal gravity with higher-derivative gravity. The causality violations are governed by two parameters, a and b, that …
William H. Miller III Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University（约翰斯·霍普金斯大学）；International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（塔塔基础研究所国际理论科学中心）；Chennai Mathematical institute（金奈数学研究所）；Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar（印度理工学院甘地纳格尔分校）
In this thesis, we studied the Topologically Massive Gravity (TMG) in two perspectives. Firstly, by using real scalar and abelian gauge fields, we built the Weyl-invariant extension of TMG which unifies cosmological TMG and Topologically Massive Electrodynamics (TME) with a Proca mass term. Here, we have demonstrated that the presence of (Anti)-de Sitter spaces as the background solution, spontaneously breaks the local Weyl symmetry, whereas the radiative corrections at two-loop level breaks the symmetry in flat vacuum. The breaking of Weyl symmetry fixes all the dimensionful parameters and pr…
We introduce the term smooth entanglement entropy transfer, a phenomenon that is a consequence of the causality-cancellation property of the quantum gravity environment. The causality-cancellation of the quantum gravity space removes the causal dependencies of the local systems. We study the physical effects of the causality-cancellation and show that it stimulates entropy transfer between the quantum gravity environment and the independent local systems of the quantum gravity space. The entropy transfer reduces the entropies of the contributing local systems and increases the entropy of the q…
We discuss the treatment of quantum-gravitational fluctuations in the space-time background as an `environment', using the formalism for open quantum-mechanical systems, which leads to a microscopic arrow of time. After reviewing briefly the open-system formalism, and the motivations for treating quantum gravity as an `environment', we present an example from general relativity and a general framework based on non-critical strings, with a Liouville field that we identify with time. We illustrate this approach with calculations in the contexts of two-dimensional models and $D$ branes. Finally, …
In the Rastall gravity a non-minimal coupling between geometry and matter fields is considered. Then the usual energy-momentum tensor conservation law is not valid. Here a Lagrangian formalism is proposed to the Rastall theory of gravity. The Gödel-type universe is studied in this gravitational model. Then it is studied whether this theory permits causality violation. The field equations do not exclude solutions with a breakdown of causality for a perfect fluid as matter content. In this case, an expression for the critical radius (beyond which the causality is violated) is determined. In addi…
[Abridged] In its standard formulation, the $f(T)$ field equations are not invariant under local Lorentz transformations, and thus the theory does not inherit the causal structure of special relativity. A locally Lorentz covariant $f(T)$ gravity theory has been devised recently, and this local causality problem has been overcome. The nonlocal question, however, is left open. If gravitation is to be described by this covariant $f(T)$ gravity theory there are a number of issues that ought to be examined in its context, including the question as to whether its field equations allow homogeneous Gö…
The $f(R)$ gravity theories provide an alternative way to explain the current cosmic acceleration without a dark energy matter component. If gravity is governed by a $f(R)$ theory a number of issues should be reexamined in this framework, including the violation of causality problem on nonlocal scale. We examine the question as to whether the $f(R)$ gravity theories permit space-times in which the causality is violated. We show that the field equations of these $f(R)$ gravity theories do not exclude solutions with breakdown of causality for a physically well-motivated perfect-fluid matter cont…
Quantum gravity in an AdS spacetime is described by an SU(N) Yang-Mills theory on a sphere, a bounded many-body system. We argue that in the high temperature phase the theory is intrinsically non-perturbative in the large N limit. At any nonzero value of the 't Hooft coupling $λ$, an exponentially large (in N^2) number of free theory states of wide energy range (of order N) mix under the interaction. As a result the planar perturbation theory breaks down. We argue that an arrow of time emerges and the dual string configuration should be interpreted as a stringy black hole.
We discuss the Gödel-type solutions within the dynamical Chern-Simons modified gravity in four dimensions. Within our study, we show that in the vacuum case the causal solutions are possible which cannot take place within the non-dynamical framework. Another our result consists in the possibility for completely causal solutions for all types of matters we study in the paper, that is, relativistic fluid, cosmological constant, scalar and electromagnetic fields.
The gravity/gauge theory duality has provided us a way of studying QCD at short distances from straightforward calculations in classical general relativity. Among numerous results obtained so far, one of the most striking is the universality of the ratio of the shear viscosity to the entropy density. For all gauge theories with Einstein gravity dual, this ratio is η/s=1/4π. However, in general higher-curvature gravity theories, including two concrete models under discussion - the Gauss-Bonnet gravity and the (Riemann)^2 gravity - the ratio η/s can be smaller than 1/4π(thus violating the conjec…
We distinguish between the notions of asymptotic causality and infrared causality for gravitational effective field theories, and show that the latter gives constraints consistent with gravitational positivity bounds. We re-explore the scattering of gravitational waves in a spherically symmetric background in the EFT of gravity in $D\ge 5$, for which the leading-order correction to Einstein gravity is determined by the Gauss-Bonnet operator. We reproduce the known result that the truncated effective theory exhibits apparent time advances relative to the background geometry for specific polaris…
In this note we discuss the relation between the constraints imposed by causality in the bulk of $AdS$ and the condition of positivity of the energy measured in ideal calorimeters in a collider experiment in the dual CFT. We first extend the analysis in the literature and recover all bounds imposed by causality of the boundary theory in the bulk dynamics for all polarizations of the graviton and the gauge boson field. These results translate to specific bounds for the ratio of central charges $\frac{a}{c}$ in the dual CFT, already found by analyzing the energy one point function. Then, we gene…
Within the low-energy effective field theories of QED and gravity, the low-energy speed of light or that of gravitational waves can typically be mildly superluminal in curved spacetimes. Related to this, small scattering time advances relative to the curved background can emerge from known effective field theory coefficients for photons or gravitons. We clarify why these results are not in contradiction with causality, analyticity or Lorentz invariance, and highlight various subtleties that arise when dealing with superluminalities and time advances in the gravitational context. Consistent low…
We prove a lower bound on the integrated null energy along achronal geodesic segments using induced gravity on a brane in AdS/CFT. The bound follows from the assumption that bulk causality respects brane causality, and matches a bound recently conjectured by Freivogel and Krommydas for semiclassical gravity. We also prove a more general upper bound on the same quantity that follows simply from achronality. We check that the lower bound is satisfied in recent constructions of traversable wormholes, and demonstrate that the bound is related to causality in the ambient spacetime of the wormhole.
We explore the relation between positivity of the energy constraints in conformal field theories and causality in their dual gravity description. Our discussion involves CFTs with different central charges whose description, in the gravity side, requires the inclusion of quadratic curvature corrections. It is enough, indeed, to consider the Gauss-Bonnet term. We find that both sides of the AdS/CFT correspondence impose a restriction on the Gauss-Bonnet coupling. In the case of 6d supersymmetric CFTs, we show the full matching of these restrictions. We perform this computation in two ways. Firs…
A theory governing the metric and matter fields in spacetime is {\it locally causal} if the probability distribution for the fields in any region is determined solely by physical data in the region's past, i.e. it is independent of events at space-like separated points. General relativity is manifestly locally causal, since the fields in a region are completely determined by physical data in its past. It is natural to ask whether other possible theories in which the fundamental description of space-time is classical and geometric -- for instance, hypothetical theories which stochastically coup…
A new approach is described to help improve the foundations of relativistic viscous fluid dynamics and its coupling to general relativity. Focusing on neutral conformal fluids constructed solely in terms of hydrodynamic variables, we derive the most general viscous energy-momentum tensor yielding equations of motion of second order in the derivatives, which is shown to provide a novel type of generalization of the relativistic Navier-Stokes equations for which causality holds. We show how this energy-momentum tensor may be derived from conformal kinetic theory. We rigorously prove existence, u…
We consider higher derivative corrections to the graviton three-point coupling within a weakly coupled theory of gravity. Lorentz invariance allows further structures beyond the one present in the Einstein theory. We argue that these are constrained by causality. We devise a thought experiment involving a high energy scattering process which leads to causality violation if the graviton three-point vertex contains the additional structures. This violation cannot be fixed by adding conventional particles with spins $J \leq 2$. But, it can be fixed by adding an infinite tower of extra massive par…
We examine the question as to whether the Palatini f(R) gravity theories permit space-times in which the causality is violated. We show that every perfect-fluid Gödel-type solution of Palatini f(R) gravity with density $ρ$ and pressure $p$ that satisfy the weak energy condition $ρ+p \geq 0$ is necessarily isometric to the Gödel geometry, demonstrating therefore that these theories present causal anomalies in the form of closed time-like curves. This result extends a theorem on Gödel-type models to the framework of Palatini f(R) gravity theory. We concretely examine the Gödel-type perfect-fluid…
Higher-derivative gravity theories, such as Lovelock theories, generalize Einstein's general relativity (GR). Modifications to GR are expected when curvatures are near Planckian and appear in string theory or supergravity. But can such theories describe gravity on length scales much larger than the Planck cutoff length scale? Here we find causality constraints on Lovelock theories that arise from the requirement that the equations of motion (EOM) of perturbations be hyperbolic. We find a general expression for the "effective metric" in field space when Lovelock theories are perturbed around so…
For the construction of the Lorentzian path integral for gravity one faces two main questions: Firstly, what configurations to include, in particular whether to allow Lorentzian metrics that violate causality conditions. And secondly, how to evaluate a highly oscillatory path integral over unbounded domains. Relying on Picard-Lefschetz theory to address the second question for discrete Regge gravity, we will illustrate that it can also answer the first question. To this end we will define the Regge action for complexified variables and study its analytical continuation. Although there have bee…
The vacuum diagram is calculated at second order for theories with self-interacting massless fields in the framework of finite causal perturbation theory. It is pointed out that the infrared behaviour of the vacuum diagram leads to unstable Fock vacua for QCD or massless QED, but not for quantum gravity. Therefore a radical rearrangement of the physical system must take place for such theories. Conversely, stability of the Fock vacuum for massless interacting fields is another hint at the possibility that quantum gravity should be treated as an effective theory.
We investigate the structure of equations of motion and lagrangian constraints in a general theory of massive spin 2 field interacting with external gravity. We demonstrate how consistency with the flat limit can be achieved in a number of specific spacetimes. One such example is an arbitrary static spacetime though equations of motion in this case may lack causal properties. Another example is provided by external gravity fulfilling vacuum Einstein equations with arbitrary cosmological constant. In the latter case there exists one-parameter family of theories describing causal propagation of …
