June 25, 2015
In this work nonperturbative aspects of quantum gravity are investigated using the lattice formulation, and some new results are presented for critical exponents, amplitudes and invariant correlation functions. Values for the universal scaling dimensions are compared with other nonperturbative approaches to gravity in four dimensions, and specifically to the conjectured value for the universal critical exponent $\nu =1 /3$. It is found that the lattice results are generally c...
December 10, 2021
Asymptotically nonlocal field theories represent a sequence of higher-derivative theories whose limit point is a ghost-free, infinite-derivative theory. Here, we extend previous work on pure scalar and Abelian gauge theories to asymptotically nonlocal non-Abelian theories. In particular, we confirm that there is a limit in which the Lee-Wick spectrum can be decoupled, but where the hierarchy problem is resolved via an emergent nonlocal scale that regulates loop diagrams and t...
May 26, 2022
Nonlocal gravity (NLG) is a classical nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation developed in close analogy with the nonlocal electrodynamics of media. It appears that the nonlocal aspect of the universal gravitational interaction could simulate dark matter. Within the Newtonian regime of NLG, we investigate the deviation of the gravitational force from the Newtonian inverse square law as a consequence of the existence of the effective dark matter. In particu...
September 23, 2020
Spacetime---the union of space and time---is both the actor and the stage during physical processes in our fascinating Universe. In Lorentz invariant local theories, the existence of a maximum signalling speed (the "speed of light") determines a notion of causality in spacetime, distinguishing the past from the future, and the cause from the effect. This thesis is dedicated to the study of \emph{deviations} from locality. Focussing on a particular class of \emph{non-local} th...
November 1, 1995
We investigate the effects of the gravitational field on the quantum dynamics of non-relativistic particles. We consider N non-relativistic particles, interacting with the linearized gravitational field. Using the Feynman - Vernon influence functional technique, we trace out the graviton field, to obtain a master equation for the system of particles to first order in $G$. The effective interaction between the particles, as well as the self-interaction is non-local in time and...
May 24, 2024
Several approaches to quantum gravity lead to nonlocal modifications of fields' dynamics. This, in turn, can give rise to nonlocal modifications of quantum mechanics at non-relativistic energies. Here, we analyze the nonlocal Schr\"{o}dinger evolution of a quantum harmonic oscillator in one such scenario, where the problem can be addressed without the use of perturbation theory. We demonstrate that although deviations from standard quantum predictions occur at low occupation ...
May 12, 2016
We derive the N=1 supersymmetric extension for a class of weakly nonlocal four dimensional gravitational theories.The construction is explicitly done in the superspace and the tree-level perturbative unitarity is explicitly proved both in the superfield formalism and in field components. For the minimal nonlocal supergravity the spectrum is the same as in the local theory and in particular it is ghost-free. The supersymmetric extension of the super-renormalizable Starobinsky ...
March 4, 2016
Nonlocal gravity has been shown to provide a phenomenologically viable infrared modification of GR. A natural question is whether the required nonlocality can emerge from perturbative quantum loop corrections due to light particles. We show that this is not the case. For the value of the mass scale of the non-local models required by cosmology, the perturbative form factors obtained from the loop corrections, in the present cosmological epoch, are in the regime where they are...
November 7, 1996
We carry out the first step of a program conceived, in order to build a realistic model, having the particle spectrum of the standard model and renormalized masses, interaction terms and couplings, etc. which include the class of quantum gravity corrections, obtained by handling gravity as an effective theory. This provides an adequate picture at low energies, i.e. much less than the scale of strong gravity (the Planck mass). Hence our results are valid, irrespectively of any...
March 10, 2016
In this paper, we will consider scattering diagrams in the context of infinite-derivative theories. First, we examine a finite-order higher-derivative scalar field theory and find that we cannot eliminate the external momentum divergences of scattering diagrams in the regime of large external momenta. Then, we employ an infinite-derivative scalar toy model and obtain that the external momentum dependence of scattering diagrams is convergent as the external momenta become very...