Flow Equation of Quantum Einstein Gravity in a Higher-Derivative Truncation

dc.creatorLauscher, O.
dc.creatorReuter, M.
dc.date2002-05-07
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T12:03:38Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T12:03:38Z
dc.descriptionMotivated by recent evidence indicating that Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) might be nonperturbatively renormalizable, the exact renormalization group equation of QEG is evaluated in a truncation of theory space which generalizes the Einstein-Hilbert truncation by the inclusion of a higher-derivative term $(R^2)$. The beta-functions describing the renormalization group flow of the cosmological constant, Newton's constant, and the $R^2$-coupling are computed explicitly. The fixed point (FP) properties of the 3-dimensional flow are investigated, and they are confronted with those of the 2-dimensional Einstein-Hilbert flow. The non-Gaussian FP predicted by the latter is found to generalize to a FP on the enlarged theory space. In order to test the reliability of the $R^2$-truncation near this FP we analyze the residual scheme dependence of various universal quantities; it turns out to be very weak. The two truncations are compared in detail, and their numerical predictions are found to agree with a suprisingly high precision. Due to the consistency of the results it appears increasingly unlikely that the non-Gaussian FP is an artifact of the truncation. If it is present in the exact theory QEG is probably nonperturbatively renormalizable and ``asymptotically safe''. We discuss how the conformal factor problem of Euclidean gravity manifests itself in the exact renormalization group approach and show that, in the $R^2$-truncation, the investigation of the FP is not afflicted with this problem. Also the Gaussian FP of the Einstein-Hilbert truncation is analyzed; it turns out that it does not generalize to a corresponding FP on the enlarged theory space.
dc.description107 pages, latex, 9 figures
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0205062
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0205062
dc.identifierPhys.Rev.D66:025026,2002
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevD.66.025026
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/207855
dc.subjectHigh Energy Physics - Theory
dc.subjectGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
dc.titleFlow Equation of Quantum Einstein Gravity in a Higher-Derivative Truncation
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