Bimetric truncations for quantum Einstein gravity and asymptotic safety
- Institute of Physics, University of Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, D-55099 Mainz (Germany)
In the average action approach to the quantization of gravity the fundamental requirement of 'background independence' is met by actually introducing a background metric but leaving it completely arbitrary. The associated Wilsonian renormalization group defines a coarse graining flow on a theory space of functionals which, besides the dynamical metric, depend explicitly on the background metric. All solutions to the truncated flow equations known to date have a trivial background field dependence only, namely via the classical gauge fixing term. In this paper, we analyze a number of conceptual issues related to the bimetric character of the gravitational average action and explore a first nontrivial bimetric truncation in the simplified setting of conformally reduced gravity. Possible implications for the Asymptotic Safety program and the cosmological constant problem are discussed in detail.
- OSTI ID:
- 21336116
- Journal Information:
- Annals of Physics (New York), Vol. 325, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.aop.2009.11.009; PII: S0003-4916(09)00227-9; Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-4916
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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