Critical Gravity in Four Dimensions

Journal Article · Fri May 06 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.106.181302· OSTI ID:21538311

Lue, H ^[1]; Pope, C N ^[2]

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1. China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081 (China)
2. George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, Texas 77843 (United States)

We study four-dimensional gravity theories that are rendered renormalizable by the inclusion of curvature-squared terms to the usual Einstein action with a cosmological constant. By choosing the parameters appropriately, the massive scalar mode can be eliminated and the massive spin-2 mode can become massless. This ''critical'' theory may be viewed as a four-dimensional analogue of chiral topologically massive gravity, or of critical 'new massive gravity' with a cosmological constant, in three dimensions. We find that the on-shell energy for the remaining massless gravitons vanishes. There are also logarithmic spin-2 modes, which have positive energy. The mass and entropy of standard Schwarzschild-type black holes vanish. The critical theory might provide a consistent toy model for quantum gravity in four dimensions.

• OSTI ID: 21538311
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 18; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.181302; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
CHIRALITY
COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT
ENTROPY
FOUR-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
GRAVITATION
GRAVITONS
QUANTUM GRAVITY
SPIN
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FIELD THEORIES
GRAVITATIONAL RADIATION
MASSLESS PARTICLES
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POSTULATED PARTICLES
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
RADIATIONS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES