Quantum instability of de Sitter spacetime

Journal Article · Fri Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Phys. Rev. D; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.31.710· OSTI ID:6094728

Ford, L H

Various interacting field theories in de Sitter spacetime which contain a massless, minimally coupled scalar field are investigated. It is shown that the vacuum expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor can contain a term which is proportional to the metric tensor but with a coefficient which, to first order in the coupling constant, is a linear function of time. This term can act in such a way as to tend to cancel the cosmological constant and to cause the curvature of de Sitter space to decrease. The possibility that pure quantum gravity without matter fields may lead to an instability of de Sitter space is also discussed.

• Research Organization: Department of Physics, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155 and The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom
• OSTI ID: 6094728
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. D; (United States) Vol. 31:4; ISSN PRVDA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640106* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Cosmology
645400 -- High Energy Physics-- Field Theory
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
COUPLING CONSTANTS
EINSTEIN FIELD EQUATIONS
ENERGY-MOMENTUM TENSOR
EQUATIONS
FIELD EQUATIONS
FIELD THEORIES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METRICS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
QUANTUM GRAVITY
SCALAR FIELDS
SPACE-TIME
SYMMETRY BREAKING
TENSORS
UNIVERSE