Melonic Phase Transition in Group Field Theory

Group field theories have recently been shown to admit a 1/N expansion dominated by so-called ‘melonic graphs’, dual to triangulated spheres. In this note, we deepen the analysis of this melonic sector. We obtain a combinatorial formula for the melonic amplitudes in terms of a graph polynomial related to a higher-dimensional generalization of the Kirchhoff tree-matrix theorem. Simple bounds on these amplitudes show the existence of a phase transition driven by melonic interaction processes. We restrict our study to the Boulatov–Ooguri models, which describe topological BF theories and are the basis for the construction of 4-dimensional models of quantum gravity.     

Gravity,Quantum Fields and Quantum Information: Problems with Classical Channel and Stochastic Theories

In recent years an increasing number of papers have attempted to mimic or supplant quantum field theory in discussions of issues related to gravity by the tools and through the perspective of quantum information theory, often in the context of alternative quantum theories. In this article, we point out three common problems in such treatments. First, we show that the notion of interactions mediated by an information channel is not, in general, equivalent to the treatment of interactions by quantum field theory. When used to describe gravity, this notion may lead to inconsistencies with general relativity. Second, we point out that in general one cannot replace a quantum field by a classical stochastic field, or mock up the effects of quantum fluctuations by that of classical stochastic sources (noises), because in so doing important quantum features such as coherence and entanglement will be left out. Third, we explain how under specific conditions semi-classical and stochastic theories indeed can be formulated from their quantum origins and play a role at certain regimes of interest.     

How Not to Establish the Non-renormalizability of Gravity

General relativity cannot be formulated as a perturbatively renormalizable quantum field theory. An argument relying on the validity of the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy formula aims at dismissing gravity as non-renormalizable per se, against hopes (underlying programs such as Asymptotic Safety) that d-dimensional GR could turn out to have a non-perturbatively renormalizable d–dimensional quantum field theoretic formulation. In this note we discuss various forms of highly problematic semi-classical extrapolations assumed by both sides of the debate concerning what we call The Entropy Argument, and show that a large class of dimensional reduction scenarios leads to the blow-up of Bekenstein–Hawking entropy.     

A remark on quantum gravity

We discuss the structure of Dyson-Schwinger equations in quantum gravity and conclude in particular that all relevant skeletons are of first order in the loop number. There is an accompanying sub-Hopf algebra on gravity amplitudes equivalent to identities between n-graviton scattering amplitudes which generalize the Slavnov-Taylor identities. These identities map the infinite number of charges and finite numbers of skeletons in gravity to an infinite number of skeletons and a finite number of charges needing renormalization. Our analysis suggests that gravity, regarded as a probability conserving but perturbatively non-renormalizable theory, is renormalizable after all, thanks to the structure of its Dyson-Schwinger equations.     

Avoiding Haag’s Theorem with Parameterized Quantum Field Theory

Under the normal assumptions of quantum field theory, Haag’s theorem states that any field unitarily equivalent to a free field must itself be a free field. Unfortunately, the derivation of the Dyson series perturbation expansion relies on the use of the interaction picture, in which the interacting field is unitarily equivalent to the free field but must still account for interactions. Thus, the traditional perturbative derivation of the scattering matrix in quantum field theory is mathematically ill defined. Nevertheless, perturbative quantum field theory is currently the only practical approach for addressing scattering for realistic interactions, and it has been spectacularly successful in making empirical predictions. This paper explains this success by showing that Haag’s Theorem can be avoided when quantum field theory is formulated using an invariant, fifth path parameter in addition to the usual four position parameters, such that the Dyson perturbation expansion for the scattering matrix can still be reproduced. As a result, the parameterized formalism provides a consistent foundation for the interpretation of quantum field theory as used in practice and, perhaps, for better dealing with other mathematical issues.     

Quantum gravity on the lattice

I review the lattice approach to quantum gravity, and how it relates to the non-trivial ultraviolet fixed point scenario of the continuum theory. After a brief introduction covering the general problem of ultraviolet divergences in gravity and other non-renormalizable theories, I discuss the general methods and goals of the lattice approach. An underlying theme is the attempt at establishing connections between the continuum renormalization group results, which are mainly based on diagrammatic perturbation theory, and the recent lattice results, which apply to the strong gravity regime and are inherently non-perturbative. A second theme in this review is the ever-present natural correspondence between infrared methods of strongly coupled non-abelian gauge theories on the one hand, and the low energy approach to quantum gravity based on the renormalization group and universality of critical behavior on the other. Towards the end of the review I discuss possible observational consequences of path integral quantum gravity, as derived from the non-trivial ultraviolet fixed point scenario. I argue that the theoretical framework naturally leads to considering a weakly scale-dependent Newton’s constant, with a scaling violation parameter related to the observed scaled cosmological constant (and not, as naively expected, to the Planck length). Invited lecture presented at the conference “Quantum Gravity: Challenges and Perspectives”, Bad Honnef, 14–16 April 2008. To appear in the proceedings edited by Hermann Nicolai.     

Gravitational Gauge Interactions of Dirac Field

Gravitational interactions of Dirac field are studied in this paper. Based on gauge principle, quantum gauge theory of gravity, which is perturbatively renormalizable, is formulated in the Minkowski space-time. In quantum gauge theory of gravity, gravity is treated as a kind of fundamental interactions, which is transmitted by gravitational gauge field, and Dirac field couples to gravitational field through gravitational gauge covariant derivative. Based on this theory, we can easily explain gravitational phase effect, which has already been detected by COW experiment.     

Can the equivalence principle survive quantization?

It is well known that Einstein gravity is non-renormalizable; however a generalized approach is proposed that leads to Einstein gravity after renormalization. This then implies that at least one candidate for quantum gravity treats all matter on an equal footing with regard to the gravitational behaviour. Harsh constraints are also placed on any anti-matter gravity theory if one does not wish to violate the conservation of energy. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Higher-Order Interference in Extensions of Quantum Theory

Quantum interference, manifest in the two slit experiment, lies at the heart of several quantum computational speed-ups and provides a striking example of a quantum phenomenon with no classical counterpart. An intriguing feature of quantum interference arises in a variant of the standard two slit experiment, in which there are three, rather than two, slits. The interference pattern in this set-up can be written in terms of the two and one slit patterns obtained by blocking one, or more, of the slits. This is in stark contrast with the standard two slit experiment, where the interference pattern cannot be written as a sum of the one slit patterns. This was first noted by Rafael Sorkin, who raised the question of why quantum theory only exhibits irreducible interference in the two slit experiment. One approach to this problem is to compare the predictions of quantum theory to those of operationally-defined ‘foil’ theories, in the hope of determining whether theories that do exhibit higher-order interference suffer from pathological—or at least undesirable—features. In this paper two proposed extensions of quantum theory are considered: the theory of Density Cubes proposed by Daki?, Paterek and Brukner, which has been shown to exhibit irreducible interference in the three slit set-up, and the Quartic Quantum Theory of ?yczkowski. The theory of Density Cubes will be shown to provide an advantage over quantum theory in a certain computational task and to posses a well-defined mechanism which leads to the emergence of quantum theory—analogous to the emergence of classical physics from quantum theory via decoherence. Despite this, the axioms used to define Density Cubes will be shown to be insufficient to uniquely characterise the theory. In comparison, Quartic Quantum Theory is a well-defined theory and we demonstrate that it exhibits irreducible interference to all orders. This feature of ?yczkowski’s theory is argued not to be a genuine phenomenon, but to arise from an ambiguity in the current definition of higher-order interference in operationally-defined theories. Thus, to begin to understand why quantum theory is limited to a certain kind of interference, a new definition of higher-order interference is needed that is applicable to, and makes good operational sense in, arbitrary operationally-defined theories.     

Gravity-Induced Four-Fermion Contact Interaction Implies Gravitational Intermediate W and Z Type Gauge Bosons

Coupling fermions to gravity necessarily leads to a non-renormalizable, gravitational four-fermion contact interaction. In this essay, we argue that augmenting the Einstein–Cartan Lagrangian with suitable kinetic terms quadratic in the gravitational gauge field strengths (torsion and curvature) gives rise to new, massive propagating gravitational degrees of freedom. This is to be seen in close analogy to Fermi’s effective four-fermion interaction and its emergent W and Z bosons.     

The theory of non-renormalizable interactions: The large N expansion

A particular class of non-renormalizable interactions is studied in the infinite cut-off limit. In this paper we consider the quadrilinear interaction of an N-component field; the Lagrangian is invariant under the action of the O(N) group. The Green functions are expanded in powers of 1/N; we prove that this expansion is finite and renormalizable at all orders in not too high dimensions, the outputs are not C^∞ in the coupling constant around the origin: this property explains why divergences are present in the standard perturbative expansion. The interactions of both spin-zero and $\text{spin}\text{-}\text{1}\text{2}$ fields have been studied: peculiar problems arise in the case of a current-current interaction.     

Coupling of gravity to matter viaSO(3, 2) gauge fields

We consider gravity from the quantum field theory point of view and introduce a natural way of coupling gravity to matter by following the gauge principle for particle interactions. The energy-momentum tensor for the matter fields is shown to be conserved and follows as a consequence of the dynamics in a spontaneously brokenSO(3, 2) gauge theory of gravity. All known interactions are described by the gauge principle at the microscopic level.     

Construction of gauge invariant effective nucleonic theories: Functional approach

Starting from relativistic quantum field theories, describing interacting nucleons and pions coupled to the dynamical electromagnetic field, the pion degrees of freedom are eliminated by means of functional integration. Apart from taking into account some operators perturbatively in e, e.g. the vacuum polarization, this procedure is exact, giving effective theories for nucleons and photons. The subsequent nonrelativistic reduction yields the corresponding nonrelativistic quantum field.theory. The latter is unique, irrespective of the precise form of the original nucleon-pion interaction. Nucleonic potentials and electromagnetic interactions are mutually consitent. Local gauge invariance is satisfied at any stage of the formal development.     

CPT violation does not lead to violation of Lorentz invariance and vice versa

We present a class of interacting nonlocal quantum field theories, in which the CPT invariance is violated while the Lorentz invariance is present. This result rules out a previous claim in the literature that the CPT violation implies the violation of Lorentz invariance. Furthermore, there exists the reciprocal of this theorem, namely that the violation of Lorentz invariance does not lead to the CPT violation, provided that the residual symmetry of Lorentz invariance admits the proper representation theory for the particles. The latter occurs in the case of quantum field theories on a noncommutative space–time, which in place of the broken Lorentz symmetry possesses the twisted Poincaré invariance. With such a CPT-violating interaction and the addition of a C-violating (e.g., electroweak) interaction, the quantum corrections due to the combined interactions could lead to different properties for the particle and antiparticle, including their masses.     

Quantum gravity as Escher's Dragon

The main obstacle in attempts to construct a consistent quantum gravity is the absence of independent flat time. This can in principle be cured by going out to higher dimensions. The modern paradigm assumes that the fundamental theory of everything is some form of string theory living in space of more than four dimensions. We advocate another possibility that the fundamental theory is a form of D=4 higher derivative gravity. This class of theories has a nice feature of renormalizability, so that perturbative calculations are feasible. There are also finite N=4 supersymmetric conformal supergravity theories. This possibility is particularly attractive. Einstein's gravity is obtained in a natural way as an effective low-energy theory. The N=1 supersymmetric version of the theory has a natural higher dimensional interpretation due to V.I. Ogievetsky and E.S. Sokatchev, which involves embedding our curved Minkowski spacetime manifold into flat eight-dimensional space. Assuming that a variant of the finite N=4 theory also admits a similar interpretation, this may eventually allow one to construct consistent quantum theory of gravity. We argue, however, that, even though future gravity theory will probably use higher dimensions as construction scaffolds, its physical content and meaning should refer to four dimensions, where an observer lives.     

The search for quantum gravity effects I

In this contribution the search for effects from possible theories of quantum gravity is reviewed. In order to distinguish quantum gravity effects from standard effects, first the standard theory and the principles it is based on has to be described. We show that standard physics (the Maxwell equations, the Dirac equation, gravity as a metric theory) is completely based on the Einstein equivalence principle, EEP (for obtaining the Einstein equations, some more requirements are needed). As a consequence, all deviations from the EEP are related to new effects originating from quantum gravity. The variety and structure of these effects is described and the expected magnitude of the effects and a corresponding strategy for the search for these effects are discussed. We stress the advantages of space for performing experiments searching for quantum gravity effects. At the end we make some remarks concerning the daily-life applications of high-precision techniques. PACS 04.80.Cc; 03.30.+p; 06.20.-f; 04.60.-m     

Gravitational Gauge Interactions of Scalar Field

Quantum gauge theory of gravity is formulated based on gauge principle. Because the Lagrangian has strict local gravitational gauge symmetry, gravitational gauge theory is a perturbatively renormalizable quantum theory. Gravitational gauge interactions of scalar field are studied in this paper. In quantum gauge theory of gravity, scalar field minimal couples to gravitational field through gravitational gauge covariant derivative. Comparing the Lagrangian for scalar field in quantum gauge theory of gravity with the corresponding Lagrangian in quantum fields in curved space-time, the definition for metric in curved space-time in geometry picture of gravity can be obtained, which is expressed by gravitational gauge field. In classical level, the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian approaches are also discussed.