arXiv subjects

Astrid Eichhorn

Publications and source records attributed to Astrid Eichhorn.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Asymptotic safety, string theory and the weak gravity conjecture

We propose a scenario with string theory in the deep ultraviolet, an intermediate asymptotically safe scaling regime for gravity and matter, and the Standard Model in the infrared. This could provide a new perspective to tackle challenges of the two models: For instance, the gravitational Renormalization Group flow could connect a negative microscopic to a positive macroscopic cosmological constant, potentially rendering string theory on an anti-de Sitter background observationally viable. Further, the unitarity of a string-theoretic ultraviolet completion could be inherited by an asymptotically safe fixed point, despite the presence of higher-order interactions. We discuss necessary conditions on the scale of asymptotic safety and the string scale for our scenario to be viable. As a first test, we explore the weak-gravity conjecture in the context of asymptotically safe gravity.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

A link that matters: Towards phenomenological tests of unimodular asymptotic safety

Constraining quantum gravity from observations is a challenge. We expand on the idea that the interplay of quantum gravity with matter could be key to meeting this challenge. Thus, we set out to confront different potential candidates for quantum gravity -- unimodular asymptotic safety, Weyl-squared gravity and asymptotically safe gravity -- with constraints arising from demanding an ultraviolet complete Standard Model. Specifically, we show that within approximations, demanding that quantum gravity solves the Landau-pole problems in Abelian gauge couplings and Yukawa couplings strongly constrains the viable gravitational parameter space. In the case of Weyl-squared gravity with a dimensionless gravitational coupling, we also investigate whether the gravitational contribution to beta functions in the matter sector calculated from functional Renormalization Group techniques is universal, by studying the dependence on the regulator, metric field parameterization and choice of gauge.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Towards implications of asymptotically safe gravity for particle physics

We review aspects of the interplay of asymptotically safe gravity with matter, focusing on the potential predictive power of the quantum scale-symmetry underlying the asymptotically safe fixed point. We explain how an asymptotically safe fixed point for the Standard Model, induced by quantum-gravity fluctuations, might i) render the Standard Model ultraviolet complete and ii) allow us to calculate the values of some of the Standard-Model couplings. In particular, we highlight that such a fixed point might explain the mass-difference between the top and bottom quark.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Asymptotic safety casts its shadow

We set out to bridge the gap between regular black-hole spacetimes and observations of a black-hole shadow by the Event Horizon Telescope. We explore modifications of spinning and non-spinning black-hole spacetimes inspired by asymptotically safe quantum gravity which features a scale dependence of the Newton coupling. As a consequence, the predictions of our model, such as the shadow shape and size, depend on one free parameter determining the curvature scale at which deviations from General Relativity set in. In more general new-physics settings, it can also depart substantially from the Planck scale. In this case, the free parameter is constrained by observations, since the corresponding curvature scale is significantly below the Planck-scale. The leading new-physics effect can be recast as a scale-dependent black-hole mass, resulting in distinct observational signatures of our model. As a concrete example, we show that two mass-measurements, extracted from the size of the shadow and from Keplerian orbital motion of stars, allow to distinguish the classical from the modified, regular black-hole spacetime, yielding a bound on the free parameter. For spinning black holes, we further find that the singularity-resolving new physics puts a characteristic dent in the shadow. Finally, we argue, based on the underlying physical mechanism, that the effects we derive could be generic consequences of a large class of quantum-gravity theories.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Spectral dimension on spatial hypersurfaces in causal set quantum gravity

An important probe of quantum geometry is its spectral dimension, defined via a spatial diffusion process. In this work we study the spectral dimension of a ``spatial hypersurface'' in a manifoldlike causal set using the induced spatial distance function. In previous work, the diffusion was taken on the full causal set, where the nearest neighbours are unbounded in number. The resulting super-diffusion leads to an increase in the spectral dimension at short diffusion times, in contrast to other approaches to quantum gravity. In the current work, by using a temporal localisation in the causal set, the number of nearest spatial neighbours is rendered finite. Using numerical simulations of causal sets obtained from $d=3$ Minkowski spacetime, we find that for a flat spatial hypersurface, the spectral dimension agrees with the Hausdorff dimension at intermediate scales, but shows clear indications of dimensional reduction at small scales, i.e., in the ultraviolet. The latter is a direct consequence of ``discrete asymptotic silence'' at small scales in causal sets.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

How perturbative is quantum gravity?

We explore asymptotic safety of gravity-matter systems, discovering indications for a near-perturbative nature of these systems in the ultraviolet. Our results are based on the dynamical emergence of effective universality at the asymptotically safe fixed point. Our findings support the conjecture that an asymptotically safe completion of the Standard Model with gravity could be realized in a near-perturbative setting.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Zooming in on fermions and quantum gravity

We zoom in on the microscopic dynamics for fermions and quantum gravity within the asymptotic-safety paradigm. A key finding of our study is the unavoidable presence of a nonminimal derivative coupling between the curvature and fermion fields in the ultraviolet. Its backreaction on the properties of the Reuter fixed point remains small for finite fermion numbers within a bounded range. This constitutes a nontrivial test of the asymptotic-safety scenario for gravity and fermionic matter, additionally supplemented by our studies of the momentum-dependent vertex flow which indicate the subleading nature of higher-derivative couplings. Moreover our study provides further indications that the critical surface of the Reuter fixed point has a low dimensionality even in the presence of matter.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

An asymptotically safe guide to quantum gravity and matter

Asymptotic safety generalizes asymptotic freedom and could contribute to understanding physics beyond the Standard Model. It is a candidate scenario to provide an ultraviolet extension for the effective quantum field theory of gravity through an interacting fixed point of the Renormalization Group. Recently, asymptotic safety has been established in specific gauge-Yukawa models in four dimensions in perturbation theory, providing a starting point for asymptotically safe model building. Moreover, an asymptotically safe fixed point might even be induced in the Standard Model under the impact of quantum fluctuations of gravity in the vicinity of the Planck scale. This review contains an overview of the key concepts of asymptotic safety, its application to matter and gravity models, exploring potential phenomenological implications and highlighting open questions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

$d=4$ as the critical dimensionality of asymptotically safe interactions

We explore the question why our universe is four dimensional from an asymptotically safe vantage point. We find hints that asymptotically safe quantum fluctuations of gravity can only solve the $U(1)$ Landau-pole problem in the Standard Model in four dimensions. This could single out the observed dimensionality of the universe as the critical dimensionality of asymptotically safe interactions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Steps towards Lorentzian quantum gravity with causal sets

Causal set quantum gravity is a Lorentzian approach to quantum gravity, based on the causal structure of spacetime. It models each spacetime configuration as a discrete causal network of spacetime points. As such, key questions of the approach include whether and how a reconstruction of a sufficiently coarse-grained spacetime geometry is possible from a causal set. As an example for the recovery of spatial geometry from discrete causal structure, the construction of a spatial distance function for causal sets is reviewed. Secondly, it is an open question whether the path sum over all causal sets gives rise to an expectation value for the causal set that corresponds to a cosmologically viable spacetime. To provide a tool to tackle the path sum over causal sets, the derivation of a flow equation for the effective action for causal sets in matrix-model language is reviewed. This could provide a way to coarse-grain discrete networks in a background-independent way. Finally, a short roadmap to test the asymptotic-safety conjecture in Lorentzian quantum gravity using causal sets is sketched.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Status of background-independent coarse-graining in tensor models for quantum gravity

A background-independent route towards a universal continuum limit in discrete models of quantum gravity proceeds through a background-independent form of coarse graining. This review provides a pedagogical introduction to the conceptual ideas underlying the use of the number of degrees of freedom as a scale for a Renormalization Group flow. We focus on tensor models, for which we explain how the tensor size serves as the scale for a background-independent coarse-graining flow. This flow provides a new probe of a universal continuum limit in tensor models. We review the development and setup of this tool and summarize results in the 2- and 3-dimensional case. Moreover, we provide a step-by-step guide to the practical implementation of these ideas and tools by deriving the flow of couplings in a rank-4-tensor model. We discuss the phenomenon of dimensional reduction in these models and find tentative first hints for an interacting fixed point with potential relevance for the continuum limit in four-dimensional quantum gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Towards background independent quantum gravity with tensor models

We explore whether the phase diagram of tensor models could feature a pregeometric, discrete and a geometric, continuum phase for the building blocks of space. The latter are associated to rank $d$ tensors of size $N$. We search for a universal large $N$ scaling limit in a rank-3 model with real tensors that could be linked to a transition between the two phases. We extend the conceptual development and practical implementation of the flow equation for the pregeometric setting. This provides a pregeometric "coarse-graining" by going from many microscopic to few effective degrees of freedom by lowering $N$. We discover several candidates for fixed points of this coarse graining procedure, and specifically explore the impact of a novel class of interactions allowed in the real rank-3 model. In particular, we explain how most universality classes feature dimensional reduction, while one candidate, involving a tetrahedral interaction, might potentially be of relevance for three-dimensional quantum gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Mass difference for charged quarks from asymptotically safe quantum gravity

We propose a scenario to retrodict the top and bottom mass and the Abelian gauge coupling from first principles in a microscopic model including quantum gravity. In our approximation, antiscreening quantum-gravity fluctuations induce an asymptotically safe fixed point for the Abelian hypercharge leading to a uniquely fixed infrared value that is observationally viable for a particular choice of microscopic gravitational parameters. The unequal quantum numbers of the top and bottom quark lead to different fixed-point values for the top and bottom Yukawa under the impact of gauge and gravity fluctuations. This results in a dynamically generated mass difference between the two quarks. To work quantitatively, the preferred ratio of electric charges of bottom and top in our approximation lies in close vicinity to the Standard-Model value of $Q_b/Q_t =-1/2$.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Induced Spatial Geometry from Causal Structure

Motivated by the Hawking-King-McCarthy-Malament (HKMM) theorem and the associated reconstruction of spacetime geometry from its causal structure $(M,\prec)$ and local volume element $ε$, we define a one-parameter family of spatial distance functions on a Cauchy hypersurface $Σ$ using only $(M,\prec)$ and $ε$. The parameter corresponds to a "mesoscale" cut-off which, when appropriately chosen, provides a distance function which approximates the induced spatial distance function to leading order. This admits a straightforward generalisation to the discrete analogue of a Cauchy hypersurface in a causal set. For causal sets which are approximated by continuum spacetimes, this distance function approaches the continuum induced distance when the mesoscale is much smaller than the scale of the extrinsic curvature of the hypersurface, but much larger than the discreteness scale. We verify these expectations by performing extensive numerical simulations of causal sets which are approximated by simple spacetime regions in 2 and 3 spacetime dimensions.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Towards conditions for black-hole singularity-resolution in asymptotically safe quantum gravity

We explore the fate of the curvature singularity of Schwarzschild (deSitter) black holes in asymptotically safe quantum gravity. Specifically, we upgrade the classical spacetime by including the running of the Newton coupling and cosmological constant. In this setting, the antiscreening character of the gravitational interaction can remove the singularity, yet a nonzero value of the cosmological constant in the ultraviolet appears to reintroduce it. We find hints that a finite value of the cosmological constant in the infrared is compatible with singularity resolution provided that the cosmological constant is driven to zero fast enough in the ultraviolet. We compare the corresponding bounds on the critical exponents to the literature.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Effective universality in quantum gravity

We investigate the asymptotic safety scenario for a scalar-gravity system. This system contains two avatars of the dynamical Newton coupling, a gravitational self-coupling and a scalar-graviton coupling. We uncover an effective universality for the dynamical Newton coupling on the quantum level: its momentum-dependent avatars are in remarkable quantitative agreement in the scaling regime of the UV fixed point. For the background Newton coupling, this effective universality is not present, but qualitative agreement remains.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Nonminimal hints for asymptotic safety

In the asymptotic-safety scenario for gravity, nonzero interactions are present in the ultraviolet. This property should also percolate into the matter sector. Symmetry- based arguments suggest that nonminimal derivative interactions of scalars with curvature tensors should therefore be present in the ultraviolet regime. We perform a nonminimal test of the viability of the asymptotic-safety scenario by working in a truncation of the Renormalization Group flow, where we discover the existence of an interacting fixed point for a corresponding nonminimal coupling. The back-coupling of such nonminimal interactions could in turn destroy the asymptotically safe fixed point in the gravity sector. As a key finding, we observe nontrivial indications of stability of the fixed-point properties under the impact of nonminimal derivative interactions, further strengthening the case for asymptotic safety in gravity-matter systems.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Probing Baryogenesis through the Higgs Self-Coupling

The link between a modified Higgs self-coupling and the strong first-order phase transition necessary for baryogenesis is well explored for polynomial extensions of the Higgs potential. We broaden this argument beyond leading polynomial expansions of the Higgs potential to higher polynomial terms and to non-polynomial Higgs potentials. For our quantitative analysis we resort to the functional renormalization group, which allows us to evolve the full Higgs potential to higher scales and finite temperature. In all cases we find that a strong first-order phase transition manifests itself in an enhancement of the Higgs self-coupling by at least 50%, implying that such modified Higgs potentials should be accessible at the LHC.

hep-ph↗