A Kinetic Theory Approach to Quantum Gravity

We describe a kinetic theory approach to quantum gravity by which we mean a theory of the microscopic structure of space-time, not a theory obtained by quantizing general relativity. A figurative conception of this program is like building a ladder with two knotty poles: quantum matter field on the right and space-time on the left. Each rung connecting the corresponding knots represents a distinct level of structure. The lowest rung is hydrodynamics and general relativity; the next rung is semiclassical gravity, with the expectation value of quantum fields acting as source in the semiclassical Einstein equation. We recall how ideas from the statistical mechanics of interacting quantum fields helped us identify the existence of noise in the matter field and its effect on metric fluctuations, leading to the establishment of the third rung: stochastic gravity, described by the Einstein–Langevin equation. Our pathway from stochastic to quantum gravity is via the correlation hierarchy of noise and induced metric fluctuations. Three essential tasks beckon: (1) deduce the correlations of metric fluctuations from correlation noise in the matter field; (2) reconstituting quantum coherence—this is the reverse of decoherence—from these correlation functions; and (3) use the Boltzmann–Langevin equations to identify distinct collective variables depicting recognizable metastable structures in the kinetic and hydrodynamic regimes of quantum matter fields and how they demand of their corresponding space-time counterparts. This will give us a hierarchy of generalized stochastic equations—call them the Boltzmann–Einstein hierarchy of quantum gravity—for each level of space-time structure, from the the macroscopic (general relativity) through the mesoscopic (stochastic gravity) to the microscopic (quantum gravity).     

Stochastic Gravity

We give a summary of the status of currentresearch in stochastic semiclassical gravity and suggestdirections for further investigations. This theorygeneralizes the semiclassical Einstein equation to an Einstein-Langevin equation with a stochasticsource term arising from the fluctuations of theenergy-momentum tensor of quantum fields. We mentionrecent efforts in applying this theory to the study of black hole fluctuation and backreactionproblems, linear response of hot flat space, andstructure formation in inflationary cosmology. Toexplore the physical meaning and implications of thisstochastic regime in relation to both classical andquantum gravity, we find it useful to take the view thatsemiclassical gravity is mesoscopic physics and thatgeneral relativity is the hydrodynamic limit of certain spacetime quantum substructures. We view theclassical spacetime depicted by general relativity as acollective state and the metric or connection functionsas collective variables. Three basic issues —stochasticity, collectivity, correlations — andthree processes — dissipation, fluctuations,decoherence — underscore the transformation fromquantum microstructure and interaction to the emergenceof classical macrostructure and dynamics. We discuss ways toprobe into the high-energy activity from below and maketwo suggestions: via effective field theory and thecorrelation hierarchy. We discuss how stochastic behavior at low energy in an effective theoryand how correlation noise associated with coarse-grainedhigher correlation functions in an interacting quantumfield could carry nontrivial information about the high-energy sector. Finally, we describeprocesses deemed important at the Planck scale,including tunneling and pair creation, wave scatteringin random geometry, growth of fluctuations and forms, Planck-scale resonance states, and spacetimefoams.     

Stress Tensor Fluctuations and Passive Quantum Gravity

The quantum fluctuations of the stress tensor of a quantum field are discussed, as are the resulting space-time metric fluctuations. Passive quantum gravity is an approximation in which gravity is not directly quantized, but fluctuations of the space-time geometry are driven by stress tensor fluctuations. We discuss a decomposition of the stress tensor correlation function into three parts, and consider the physical implications of each part. The operational significance of metric fluctuations and the possible limits of validity of semiclassical gravity are discussed.     

Semiclassical corrections to the Einstein equation and Induced Matter Theory

The induced Einstein equation on a perturbed brane in the Induced Matter Theory is re-analyzed. We indicate that in a conformally flat background, the local quantum corrections to the Einstein equation can be obtained via the IMT. Using the FRW metric as the 4D gravitational model, we show that the classical fluctuations of the brane may be related to the quantum corrections to the classical Einstein equation. In other words, the induced Einstein equation on the perturbed brane can correspond with the semiclassical Einstein equation.     

Curvature Vacuum Correlations in N-Dimensional Einstein Gravity

Under the flat Euclidean space–time background, the expressions for the leading terms of several two-point curvature vacuum correlation functions in N-dimensional Einstein gravity are calculated by using the perturbative expansion of the metric. It is shown that the contributions of the leading terms of such two-point curvature vacuum correlation functions are all vanishing.     

Fluctuations of an Evaporating Black Hole from Back Reaction of Its Hawking Radiation: Questioning a Premise in Earlier Work

This paper delineates the first steps in a systematic quantitative study of the spacetime fluctuations induced by quantum fields in an evaporating black hole. We explain how the stochastic gravity formalism can be a useful tool for that purpose within a low-energy effective field theory approach to quantum gravity. As an explicit example we apply it to the study of the spherically-symmetric sector of metric perturbations around an evaporating black hole background geometry. For macroscopic black holes we find that those fluctuations grow and eventually become important when considering sufficiently long periods of time (of the order of the evaporation time), but well before the Planckian regime is reached. In addition, the assumption of a simple correlation between the fluctuations of the energy flux crossing the horizon and far from it, which was made in earlier work on spherically-symmetric induced fluctuations, is carefully analyzed and found to be invalid. Our analysis suggests the existence of an infinite amplitude for the fluctuations of the horizon as a three-dimensional hypersurface. We emphasize the need for understanding and designing operational ways of probing quantum metric fluctuations near the horizon and extracting physically meaningful information. Dedicated to Rafael Sorkin on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Semiclassical states in loop quantum gravity: an introduction

Unifying general relativity and quantum mechanics is a great challenge left to us by Einstein. To face this challenge, considerable progress has been made in non-perturbative canonical (loop) quantum gravity during the past 20 years. The kinematical Hilbert space of the quantum theory is constructed rigorously. However, the semiclassical analysis of the theory is still a crucial and open issue. In this review, we first introduce our work on constructing a semiclassical weave state, using the [ω] operator on the kinematical Hilbert space of loop quantum gravity. Then we give an introduction to the two different approaches currently investigated for constructing coherent states in the kinematical Hilbert space. The current status of semiclassical analysis in loop quantum gravity is then summarized.     

Toward a Collective Treatment of Quantum Gravitational Interactions

In this paper we study the gravitational effects induced by the quantum fluctuations of the energy–momentum tensor of scalar fields. Our treatment is based on the two-point correlation function of this operator. In a large N limit, this treatment constitutes the next contribution after the semiclassical treatment. The specific example we study are the gravitational interactions between outgoing configurations giving rise to Hawking radiation and in-falling configurations. Even when the latter are in vacuum state, the interactions grow boundlessly upon approaching the horizon. Their main effect is to wash out the trans-Planckian correlations which existed in a given background geometry. When evaluated in the lowest order, these interactions express themselves in terms of a stochastic ensemble of metric fluctuations. The propagation of Hawking radiation in this ensemble resembles that of sound propagation in a random medium. The analogies with acoustic black holes are manifest even though certain features differ.     

RG flows of Quantum Einstein Gravity in the linear-geometric approximation

We construct a novel Wetterich-type functional renormalization group equation for gravity which encodes the gravitational degrees of freedom in terms of gauge-invariant fluctuation fields. Applying a linear-geometric approximation the structure of the new flow equation is considerably simpler than the standard Quantum Einstein Gravity construction since only transverse-traceless and trace part of the metric fluctuations propagate in loops. The geometric flow reproduces the phase-diagram of the Einstein–Hilbert truncation including the non-Gaussian fixed point essential for Asymptotic Safety. Extending the analysis to the polynomial f(R)$f\left(R\right)$-approximation establishes that this fixed point comes with similar properties as the one found in metric Quantum Einstein Gravity; in particular it possesses three UV-relevant directions and is stable with respect to deformations of the regulator functions by endomorphisms.     

Oscillatory Phase of Inflaton and Power-Law Expansion in Bianchi Type-I Universe

A homogeneous massive scalar field, minimally coupled to the spatially homogeneous and anisotropic background metric, in the semiclassical theory of gravity is examined. In the oscillatory phase of inflaton, the approximate leading solution to the semiclassical Einstein equation for the Bianchi type-I universe shows, each scale factor in each direction obeys t ^2/3 power-law expansion. Further noted that the evolution of scale factors are mutually correlated.     

Particle Creation in the Oscillatory Phase of Inflaton

A thermal squeezed state representation of inflaton is constructed for a flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) background metric and the phenomenon of particle creation is examined during the oscillatory phase of inflaton, in the semiclassical theory of gravity. An approximate solution to the semiclassical Einstein equation is obtained in thermal squeezed state formalism perturbatively and is found obey the same power-law expansion as that of classical Einstein equation. In addition to that the solution shows oscillatory in nature except on a particular condition. It is also noted that, the coherently oscillating nonclassical inflaton, in thermal squeezed vacuum state, thermal squeezed state, and thermal coherent state, suffers particle production and the created particles exhibit oscillatory behavior. The present study can account for the postinflation particle creation due to thermal and quantum effects of inflation in a flat FRW universe.     

A Semiclassical Theory of a Dissipative Henon—Heiles System

A semiclassical theory of a dissipative Henon—Heiles system is proposed. Based on -scaling of an equation for the evolution of the Wigner quasiprobability distribution function in the presence of dissipation and thermal diffusion, we derive a semiclassical equation for quantum fluctuations, governed by the dissipation and the curvature of the classical potential. We show how the initial quantum noise gets amplified by classical chaotic diffusion, which is expressible in terms of a correlation of stochastic fluctuations of the curvature of the potential due to classical chaos, and ultimately settles down to equilibrium under the influence of dissipation. We also establish that there exists a critical limit to the expansion of phase space. The limit is set by chaotic diffusion and dissipation. Our semiclassical analysis is corroborated by numerical simulation of a quantum operator master equation.     

Gauge-Invariant and Gauge-Fixing Independent Effective Action in One-Loop Quantum Gravity

The one-parameter dependent family of the gauge invariant and gauge fixing independent effective actions is considered in one-loop approximation. The one-loop unique effective action (chosing as the representative of this family) in d = 4 Einstein quantum gravity with scalar field and Brans-Dicke quantum theory in flat space, in d = 4 Einstein gravity on De Sitter background, in higher derivative gravity on d-dimensional torus compactified background is calculated. The configuration-space metric dependence of the unique effective action in these calculations is investigated. The appearing problems (the configuration-space metric dependence of the physical quantities like induced gravitational constant) are discussed.     

Stability of the Einstein static universe in IR modified Hořava gravity

Recently, Hořava proposed a power counting renormalizable theory for (3+1)-dimensional quantum gravity, which reduces to Einstein gravity with a non-vanishing cosmological constant in IR, but possesses improved UV behaviors. In this work, we analyze the stability of the Einstein static universe by considering linear homogeneous perturbations in the context of an IR modification of Hořava gravity, which implies a ‘soft’ breaking of the ‘detailed balance’ condition. The stability regions of the Einstein static universe is parameterized by the linear equation of state parameter w=p/ρ and the parameters appearing in the Hořava theory, and it is shown that a large class of stable solutions exists in the respective parameter space.     

Merging Higher Derivative Gravity and Quantum Mechanics

The most general quantum mechanical wave equation for a massive scalar particle in a metric generated by a spherically symmetric mass distribution is considered within the framework of higher derivative gravity (HDG). The exact effective Hamiltonian is constructed and the significance of the various terms is discussed using the linearized version of the above-mentioned theory. Not only does this analysis shed new light on the long standing problem of quantum gravity concerning the exact nature of the coupling between a massive scalar field and the background geometry, it also greatly improves our understanding of the role of HDG's coupling parameters in semiclassical calculations.     

Semiclassical Cosmological Perturbations Generated During Inflation

Interaction with the environment may induce stochastic semiclassical dynamicsin open quantum systems. In the gravitational context, stress-energy fluctuationsof quantum matter fields give rise to a stochastic behavior in the spacetimegeometry. The Einstein—Langevin equation is a suitable tool to take these effectsinto account when addressing the backreaction problem in semiclassical gravity.We analyze within this framework the generation of gravitational fluctuationsduring inflation, which are of great interest for large-scale structure formationin cosmology.     

Dynamics of bound vector solitons induced by stochastic perturbations: Soliton breakup and soliton switching

We respectively investigate breakup and switching of the Manakov-typed bound vector solitons (BVSs) induced by two types of stochastic perturbations: the homogenous and nonhomogenous. Symmetry-recovering is discovered for the asymmetrical homogenous case, while soliton switching is found to relate with the perturbation amplitude and soliton coherence. Simulations show that soliton switching in the circularly-polarized light system is much weaker than that in the Manakov and linearly-polarized systems. In addition, the homogenous perturbations can enhance the soliton switching in both of the Manakov and non-integrable (linearly- and circularly-polarized) systems. Our results might be helpful in interpreting dynamics of the BVSs with stochastic noises in nonlinear optics or with stochastic quantum fluctuations in Bose–Einstein condensates.     

Quantum Cosmology in CGBD Theory

We apply the theory developed in quantum cosmology to a model of charged generalized Brans–Dicke gravity. This is a quantum model of gravitation interacting with a charged Brans–Dicke type scalar field which is considered in the Pauli frame. The Wheeler–DeWitt equation describing the evolution of the quantum Universe is solved in the semiclassical approximation by applying the WKB approximation. The wave function of the Universe is also obtained by applying both the Vilenkin-like and the Hartle–Hawking-like boundary conditions. We then make predictions from the wave functions and infer that the Vilenkin's boundary condition is more reasonable in the Brans–Dicke gravity models leading a large vacuum energy density at the beginning of the inflation.     

Semiclassical quantum gravity: statistics of combinatorial Riemannian geometries

This paper is a contribution to the development of a framework, to be used in the context of semiclassical canonical quantum gravity, in which to frame questions about the correspondence between discrete spacetime structures at “quantum scales” and continuum, classical geometries at large scales. Such a correspondence can be meaningfully established when one has a “semiclassical” state in the underlying quantum gravity theory, and the uncertainties in the correspondence arise both from quantum fluctuations in this state and from the kinematical procedure of matching a smooth geometry to a discrete one. We focus on the latter type of uncertainty, and suggest the use of statistical geometry as a way to quantify it. With a cell complex as an example of discrete structure, we discuss how to construct quantities that define a smooth geometry, and how to estimate the associated uncertainties. We also comment briefly on how to combine our results with uncertainties in the underlying quantum state, and on their use when considering phenomenological aspects of quantum gravity.