Calmet2017_Article_GravitationalEffectiveActionAt.pdf (445.38 kB)
Gravitational effective action at second order in curvature and gravitational waves
Version 2 2023-06-12, 08:42
Version 1 2023-06-09, 07:44
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-12, 08:42 authored by Xavier CalmetXavier Calmet, Salvatore Capozziello, Daniel PryerWe consider the full effective theory for quantum gravity at second order in curvature including non-local terms. We show that the theory contains two new degrees of freedom beyond the massless graviton: namely a massive spin-2 ghost and a massive scalar field. Furthermore, we show that it is impossible to fine-tune the parameters of the effective action to eliminate completely the classical spin-2 ghost because of the non-local terms in the effective action. Being a classical field, it is not clear anyway that this ghost is problematic. It simply implies a repulsive contribution to Newton’s potential. We then consider how to extract the parameters of the effective action and show that it is possible to measure, at least in principle, the parameters of the local terms independently of each other using a combination of observations of gravitational waves and measurements performed by pendulum type experiments searching for deviations of Newton’s potential.
Funding
Particle Physics Theory at Royal Holloway and Sussex; G0742; STFC-SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL; ST/J000477/1
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
European Physical Journal C: Particles and FieldsISSN
1434-6044Publisher
Springer VerlagExternal DOI
Issue
9Volume
77Page range
1-6Article number
a589Department affiliated with
- Physics and Astronomy Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Theoretical Particle Physics Research Group Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2017-08-31First Open Access (FOA) Date
2017-09-12First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2017-08-31Usage metrics
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