Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Frank Saueressig

Publications and source records attributed to Frank Saueressig.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Regular evaporating black holes with stable cores

A feature shared by many regular black hole spacetimes is the occurrence of a Cauchy horizon. It is then commonly believed that this renders the geometry unstable against perturbations through the mass-inflation effect. In this work, we perform the first dynamical study of this effect taking into account the mass-loss of the black hole due to Hawking radiation. It is shown that the time-dependence of the background leads to two novel types of late-time behavior whose properties are entirely determined by the Hawking flux. The first class of attractor-behavior is operative for regular black holes of the Hayward and renormalization group improved type and characterized by the square of the Weyl curvature growing as $v^6$ at asymptotically late times. This singularity is inaccessible to a radially free-falling observer though. The second class is realized by Reissner-Nordstr{ö}m black holes and regular black holes of the Bardeen type. In this case the curvature scalars remain finite as $v\rightarrow\infty$. Thus the Hawking flux has a profound effect on the mass-inflation instability, either weakening the effect significantly or even expelling it entirely.

gr-qc↗

Evidence for a novel shift-symmetric universality class from the functional renormalization group

Wetterich's equation provides a powerful tool for investigating the existence and universal properties of renormalization group fixed points exhibiting quantum scale invariance. Motivated by recent works on asymptotically safe scalar-tensor theories, we develop a novel approximation scheme which projects the functional renormalization group equation onto functions of the kinetic term. Applying this projection to scalars and gauge fields, our analysis identifies a new universality class with a very special spectrum of stability coefficients. The implications of our findings in the context of asymptotically safe gravity-matter systems are discussed.

hep-th↗

On the reconstruction problem in Quantum Gravity

Path integrals and the Wilsonian renormalization group provide two complementary computational tools for investigating continuum approaches to quantum gravity. The starting points of these constructions utilize a bare action and a fixed point of the renormalization group flow, respectively. While it is clear that there should be a connection between these ingredients, their relation is far from trivial. This results in the so-called reconstruction problem. In this work, we demonstrate that the map between these two formulations does not generate non-localities at quadratic order in the background curvature. At this level, the bare action in the path integral and the fixed-point action obtained from the Wilsonian renormalization group differ by local terms only. This conclusion does not apply to theories coming with a physical ultraviolet cutoff or a fundamental non-locality scale.

hep-th↗

Cartographing gravity-mediated scattering amplitudes: scalars and photons

The effective action includes all quantum corrections arising in a given quantum field theory. Thus it serves as a powerful generating functional from which quantum-corrected scattering amplitudes can be constructed via tree-level computations. In this work we use this framework for studying gravity-mediated two-to-two scattering processes involving scalars and photons as external particles. We construct a minimal basis of interaction monomials capturing all contributions to these processes. This classification goes beyond the expansions used in effective field theory since it retains the most general momentum dependence in the propagators and couplings. In this way, we derive the most general scattering amplitudes compatible with a relativistic quantum field theory. Comparing to tree-level scattering in general relativity, we identify the differential cross sections which are generated by the non-trivial momentum dependence of the interaction vertices.

hep-th↗

Probing Quadratic Gravity with the Event Horizon Telescope

Quadratic gravity constitutes a prototypical example of a perturbatively renormalizable quantum theory of the gravitational interactions. In this work, we construct the associated phase space of static, spherically symmetric, and asymptotically flat spacetimes. It is found that the Schwarzschild geometry is embedded in a rich solution space comprising horizonless, naked singularities and wormhole solutions. Characteristically, the deformed solutions follow the Schwarzschild solution up outside of the photon sphere while they differ substantially close to the center of gravity. We then carry out an analytic analysis of observable signatures accessible to the Event Horizon Telescope, comprising the size of the black hole shadow as well as the radiation emitted by infalling matter. On this basis, we argue that it is the brightness within the shadow region which constrains the phase space of solutions. Our work constitutes the first step towards bounding the phase space of black hole type solutions with a clear quantum gravity interpretation based on observational data.

gr-qc↗

Form Factors in Quantum Gravity - contrasting non-local, ghost-free gravity and Asymptotic Safety

Form factors constitute the key building block when organising the gravitational dynamics in terms of a curvature expansion. They generalise the concept of momentum-dependent couplings to curved spacetime. Moreover, they may capture modifications of the gravitational interactions at high energy scales in a non-perturbative way. We briefly review the role of form factors in various quantum gravity programmes with special emphasis on non-local, ghost-free gravity and asymptotically safe gravity. In this context, we introduce a quantum gravity motivated scalar toy model, which demonstrates that Lorentzian asymptotic safety may be compatible with the causal propagation of gravitons.

hep-th↗

Black Hole Remnants from Dynamical Dimensional Reduction?

A intriguing feature shared by many quantum gravity programs is the dynamical decrease of the spectral dimension from $D_s = 4$ at macroscopic to $D_s \approx 2$ at microscopic scales. In this note, we study the impact of this transition on the energy loss of static, spherically symmetric black holes due to Hawking radiation. We demonstrate that the decrease in the spectral dimension renders the luminosity of a black hole finite. While this slightly increases the life-time of light black holes, we find that this mechanism is insufficient to generate long-lived black hole remnants. We briefly comment on the relation of our findings to previous work on this topic.

hep-th↗

Scalar-Tensor theories within Asymptotic Safety

Asymptotic Safety provides an elegant mechanism for obtaining a consistent high-energy completion of gravity and gravity-matter systems. Following the initial idea by Steven Weinberg, the construction builds on an interacting fixed point of the theories renormalization group (RG) flow. In this work we use the Wetterich equation for the effective average action to investigate the RG flow of gravity supplemented by a real scalar field. We give a non-perturbative proof that the subspace of interactions respecting the global shift-symmetry of the scalar kinetic term is closed under RG transformations. Subsequently, we compute the beta functions in an approximation comprising the EinsteinHilbert action supplemented by the shift-symmetric quartic scalar self-interaction and the two lowest order shift-symmetric interactions coupling scalar-bilinears to the spacetime curvature. The computation utilizes the background field method with an arbitrary background, demonstrating that the results are manifestly background independent. Our beta functions exhibit an interacting fixed point suitable for Asymptotic Safety, where all matter interactions are non-vanishing. The presence of this fixed point is rooted in the interplay of the matter couplings which our work tracks for the first time. The relation of our findings with previous results in the literature is discussed in detail and we conclude with a brief outlook on potential phenomenological applications.

hep-th↗

Asymptotically Safe Gravity-Fermion systems on curved backgrounds

We set up a consistent background field formalism for studying the renormalization group (RG) flow of gravity coupled to $N_f$ Dirac fermions on maximally symmetric backgrounds. Based on Wetterich's equation we perform a detailed study of the resulting fixed point structure in a projection including the Einstein-Hilbert action, the fermion anomalous dimension, and a specific coupling of the fermion bilinears to the spacetime curvature. The latter constitutes a mass-type term which breaks chiral symmetry explicitly. Our analysis identifies two infinite families of interacting RG fixed points which are viable candidates to provide a high-energy completion through the asymptotic safety mechanism. The fixed points exist for all values of $N_f$ outside of a small window situated at low values $N_f$ and become weakly coupled in the large $N_f$-limit. Symmetry-wise, they correspond to "quasi-chiral" and "non-chiral" fixed points. The former come with enhanced predictive power, fixing one of the couplings via the asymptotic safety condition. Moreover, the interplay of the fixed points allows for cross-overs from the non-chiral to the chiral fixed point, giving a dynamical mechanism for restoring the symmetry approximately at intermediate scales. Our discussion of chiral symmetry breaking effects provides strong indications that the topology of spacetime plays a crucial role when analyzing whether quantum gravity admits light chiral fermions.

hep-th↗

A Information-Theoretic View on Spacetime

We argue in a quantitative way that the unitarity principle of quantum field theory together with the quantum information bound on correlation functions are in tension with a space which is made out of disconnected patches at microscopic scales.

hep-th↗

Asymptotically Safe Gravity with Fermions

We use the functional renormalization group equation for the effective average action to study the fixed point structure of gravity-fermion systems on a curved background spacetime. We approximate the effective average action by the Einstein-Hilbert action supplemented by a fermion kinetic term and a coupling of the fermion bilinears to the spacetime curvature. The latter interaction is singled out based on a "smart truncation building principle". The resulting renormalization group flow possesses two families of interacting renormalization group fixed points extending to any number of fermions. The first family exhibits an upper bound on the number of fermions for which the fixed points could provide a phenomenologically interesting high-energy completion via the asymptotic safety mechanism. The second family comes without such a bound. The inclusion of the non-minimal gravity-matter interaction is crucial for discriminating the two families. Our work also clarifies the origin of the strong regulator-dependence of the fixed point structure reported in earlier literature and we comment on the relation of our findings to studies of the same system based on a vertex expansion of the effective average action around a flat background spacetime.

hep-th↗

Finite Quantum Gravity Amplitudes -- no strings attached

We study the gravity-mediated scattering of scalar fields based on a parameterisation of the Lorentzian quantum effective action. We demonstrate that the interplay of infinite towers of spin zero and spin two poles at imaginary squared momentum leads to scattering amplitudes that are compatible with unitarity bounds, causal, and scale-free at trans-Planckian energy. Our construction avoids introducing non-localities or the massive higher-spin particles that are characteristic in string theory.

hep-th↗

Graviton-Mediated Scattering Amplitudes from the Quantum Effective Action

We employ the curvature expansion of the quantum effective action for gravity-matter systems to construct graviton-mediated scattering amplitudes for non-minimally coupled scalar fields in a Minkowski background. By design, the formalism parameterises all quantum corrections to these processes and is manifestly gauge-invariant. The conditions resulting from UV-finiteness, unitarity, and causality are analysed in detail and it is shown by explicit construction that the quantum effective action provides sufficient room to meet these structural requirements without introducing non-localities or higher-spin degrees of freedom. Our framework provides a bottom-up approach to all quantum gravity programs seeking for the quantisation of gravity within the framework of quantum field theory. Its scope is illustrated by specific examples, including effective field theory, Stelle gravity, infinite derivative gravity, and Asymptotic Safety.

hep-th↗

On characterizing the Quantum Geometry underlying Asymptotic Safety

The asymptotic safety program builds on a high-energy completion of gravity based on the Reuter fixed point, a non-trivial fixed point of the gravitational renormalization group flow. At this fixed point the canonical mass-dimension of coupling constants is balanced by anomalous dimensions induced by quantum fluctuations such that the theory enjoys quantum scale invariance in the ultraviolet. The crucial role played by the quantum fluctuations suggests that the geometry associated with the fixed point exhibits non-manifold like properties. In this work, we continue the characterization of this geometry employing the composite operator formalism based on the effective average action. Explicitly, we give a relation between the anomalous dimensions of geometric operators on a background $d$-sphere and the stability matrix encoding the linearized renormalization group flow in the vicinity of the fixed point. The eigenvalue spectrum of the stability matrix is analyzed in detail and we identify a "perturbative regime" where the spectral properties are governed by canonical power counting. Our results recover the feature that quantum gravity fluctuations turn the (classically marginal) $R^2$-operator into a relevant one. Moreover, we find strong indications that higher-order curvature terms present in the two-point function play a crucial role in guaranteeing the predictive power of the Reuter fixed point.

hep-th↗

Critical reflections on asymptotically safe gravity

Asymptotic safety is a theoretical proposal for the ultraviolet completion of quantum field theories, in particular for quantum gravity. Significant progress on this program has led to a first characterization of the Reuter fixed point. Further advancement in our understanding of the nature of quantum spacetime requires addressing a number of open questions and challenges. Here, we aim at providing a critical reflection on the state of the art in the asymptotic safety program, specifying and elaborating on open questions of both technical and conceptual nature. We also point out systematic pathways, in various stages of practical implementation, towards answering them. Finally, we also take the opportunity to clarify some common misunderstandings regarding the program.

gr-qc↗

Resolving Spacetime Singularities within Asymptotic Safety

A key incentive of quantum gravity is the removal of spacetime singularities plaguing the classical theory. We compute the non-perturbative momentum-dependence of a specific structure function within the gravitational asymptotic safety program which encodes the quantum corrections to the graviton propagator for momenta above the Planck scale. The resulting quantum corrected Newtonian potential approaches a constant negative value as the distance between the two point masses goes to zero, thereby removing the classical singularity. The generic nature of the underlying mechanism suggests that it will remain operative in the context of black hole and cosmic singularities.

hep-th↗

Form Factors in Asymptotic Safety: conceptual ideas and computational toolbox

Over the last years the Asymptotic Safety program has matured into a serious candidate for a quantum theory of gravity compatible with observations. The rapid technical progress in computing renormalisation group flows for gravity and gravity-matter systems in the non-perturbative regime has put many interesting physical questions within reach. In particular, the construction of the non-perturbative quantum corrections to the propagation of fields on a fluctuating spacetime allows addressing the effective propagation of matter on a quantum spacetime or the possible resolution of spacetime singularities based on first principle computations. In this article, we assemble a technical toolbox for carrying out investigations on this promising research frontier. As a specific example we present results for the momentum-dependent two-point function for a scalar field induced by the quantum fluctuations of the underlying geometry in a self-consistent way.

hep-th↗

Scales and hierachies in asymptotically safe quantum gravity: a review

The asymptotic safety program strives for a consistent description of gravity as a non-perturbatively renormalizable quantum field theory. In this framework the gravitational interactions are encoded in a renormalization group flow connecting the quantum gravity regime at trans-Planckian scales to observable low-energy physics. Our proceedings reviews the key elements underlying the predictive power of the construction and summarizes the state-of-the-art in determining its free parameters. The explicit construction of a realistic renormalization group trajectory describing our world shows that the flow dynamically generates two scales: the Planck scale where Newton's coupling becomes constant and a terrestrial scale where the cosmological constant freezes out. We also review the perspectives of determining the free parameters of the theory through cosmological observations.

gr-qc↗