Search results for "Relativity"
showing 10 items of 1213 documents
Proper Time Flow Equation for Gravity
2004
We analyze a proper time renormalization group equation for Quantum Einstein Gravity in the Einstein-Hilbert truncation and compare its predictions to those of the conceptually different exact renormalization group equation of the effective average action. We employ a smooth infrared regulator of a special type which is known to give rise to extremely precise critical exponents in scalar theories. We find perfect consistency between the proper time and the average action renormalization group equations. In particular the proper time equation, too, predicts the existence of a non-Gaussian fixed point as it is necessary for the conjectured nonperturbative renormalizability of Quantum Einstein…
Scale-dependent metric and causal structures in Quantum Einstein Gravity
2006
Within the asymptotic safety scenario for gravity various conceptual issues related to the scale dependence of the metric are analyzed. The running effective field equations implied by the effective average action of Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) and the resulting families of resolution dependent metrics are discussed. The status of scale dependent vs. scale independent diffeomorphisms is clarified, and the difference between isometries implemented by scale dependent and independent Killing vectors is explained. A concept of scale dependent causality is proposed and illustrated by various simple examples. The possibility of assigning an "intrinsic length" to objects in a QEG spacetime is a…
Free field realization of cylindrically symmetric Einstein gravity
1998
Cylindrically reduced Einstein gravity can be regarded as an $SL(2,R)/SO(2)$ sigma model coupled to 2D dilaton gravity. By using the corresponding 2D diffeomorphism algebra of constraints and the asymptotic behaviour of the Ernst equation we show that the theory can be mapped by a canonical transformation into a set of free fields with a Minkowskian target space. We briefly discuss the quantization in terms of these free-field variables, which is considerably simpler than in the other approaches.
Renormalization group improved gravitational actions: A Brans-Dicke approach
2003
A new framework for exploiting information about the renormalization group (RG) behavior of gravity in a dynamical context is discussed. The Einstein-Hilbert action is RG-improved by replacing Newton's constant and the cosmological constant by scalar functions in the corresponding Lagrangian density. The position dependence of $G$ and $\Lambda$ is governed by a RG equation together with an appropriate identification of RG scales with points in spacetime. The dynamics of the fields $G$ and $\Lambda$ does not admit a Lagrangian description in general. Within the Lagrangian formalism for the gravitational field they have the status of externally prescribed ``background'' fields. The metric sat…
Fractal Spacetime Structure in Asymptotically Safe Gravity
2005
Four-dimensional Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) is likely to be an asymptotically safe theory which is applicable at arbitrarily small distance scales. On sub-Planckian distances it predicts that spacetime is a fractal with an effective dimensionality of 2. The original argument leading to this result was based upon the anomalous dimension of Newton's constant. In the present paper we demonstrate that also the spectral dimension equals 2 microscopically, while it is equal to 4 on macroscopic scales. This result is an exact consequence of asymptotic safety and does not rely on any truncation. Contact is made with recent Monte Carlo simulations.
Fluid membranes and2dquantum gravity
2011
We study the RG flow of two dimensional (fluid) membranes embedded in Euclidean D-dimensional space using functional RG methods based on the effective average action. By considering a truncation ansatz for the effective average action with both extrinsic and intrinsic curvature terms we derive a system of beta functions for the running surface tension, bending rigidity and Gaussian rigidity. We look for non-trivial fixed points but we find no evidence for a crumpling transition at $T\neq0$. Finally, we propose to identify the $D\rightarrow 0$ limit of the theory with two dimensional quantum gravity. In this limit we derive new beta functions for both cosmological and Newton's constants.
Flow equation of quantum Einstein gravity in a higher-derivative truncation
2002
Motivated by recent evidence indicating that Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) might be nonperturbatively renormalizable, the exact renormalization group equation of QEG is evaluated in a truncation of theory space which generalizes the Einstein-Hilbert truncation by the inclusion of a higher-derivative term $(R^2)$. The beta-functions describing the renormalization group flow of the cosmological constant, Newton's constant, and the $R^2$-coupling are computed explicitly. The fixed point (FP) properties of the 3-dimensional flow are investigated, and they are confronted with those of the 2-dimensional Einstein-Hilbert flow. The non-Gaussian FP predicted by the latter is found to generalize to …
Neutrino pair annihilation ( $$\nu {\bar{\nu }}\rightarrow e^-e^+$$ ν ν ¯ → e - e + ) in the presence of quintessence surrounding a black hole
2021
Quintessence fields, introduced to explain the speed-up of the Universe, might affect the geometry of spacetime surrounding black holes, as compared to the standard Schwarzschild and Kerr geometries. In this framework, we study the neutrino pairs annihilation into electron-positron pairs ($\nu{\bar \nu}\to e^-e^+$) near the surface of a neutron star, focusing, in particular, on the Schwarzschild-like geometry in presence of quintessence fields. The effect of the latter is to increase the minimum photon-sphere radius ($R_{ph}$), increasing in such a way the maximum energy deposition rate near to $R_{ph}$. The rate turns out to be several orders of magnitude greater than the rate computed in …
Constraining inverse-curvature gravity with supernovae
2005
We show that the current accelerated expansion of the Universe can be explained without resorting to dark energy. Models of generalized modified gravity, with inverse powers of the curvature can have late time accelerating attractors without conflicting with solar system experiments. We have solved the Friedman equations for the full dynamical range of the evolution of the Universe. This allows us to perform a detailed analysis of Supernovae data in the context of such models that results in an excellent fit. Hence, inverse curvature gravity models represent an example of phenomenologically viable models in which the current acceleration of the Universe is driven by curvature instead of dar…
Comment on `Critical scalar field collapse in AdS$_3$: an analytical approach'
2014
We comment on the derivation of an analytical solution presented in arXiv:1309.1629, show that it belongs to a family of separable solutions previously constructed in arXiv:gr-qc/0109002, and question its relevance to critical collapse.