Transmutation of nonlocal scale in infinite derivative field theories

We propose a new class of single-field scalar quantum field theories with non-polynomial interactions leading to a two-point Green's function that can be naturally continued beyond the naive cutoff scale. This provides a new prospect for self-completing theories in the UV-domain. In our approach, the formal power series for the scalar potential has a vanishing radius of convergence and is defined through Borel resummation. We discuss concrete examples, among others with a spe...

Higher derivative theories of gravity are associated with a mass scale to insure the correct dimensionality of the covariant derivatives. This mass scale is known as the scale of non-locality. In this paper, by considering a higher derivative toy model, we show that for a system of $n$ particles the effective mass scale is inversely proportional to the square root of the number of particles. We demonstrate that as the number of particles increases the corresponding effective ...

Infinite derivative theory of gravity is a modification to the general theory of relativity. Such modification maintains the massless graviton as the only true physical degree of freedom and avoids ghosts. Moreover, this class of modified gravity can address classical singularities. In this thesis some essential aspects of an infinite derivative theory of gravity are studied. Namely, we considered the Hamiltonian formalism, where the true physical degrees of freedom for infin...

We propose a renormalization scheme for non-local Quantum Field Theories (QFTs) with infinite derivatives inspired by string theory. Our Non-locality Renormalization Scheme (NRS) is inspired by Dimensional Regularization (DR) in local QFTs and is shown to significantly improve the UV behavior of non-local QFTs. We illustrate the scheme using simple examples from the phi3 and phi4 theories, then we evaluate the viability of NRS-enhanced non-local QFTs to solve the hierarchy pr...

We construct a theory of real scalar fields that interpolates between two different theories: a Lee-Wick theory with $N$ propagator poles, including $N-1$ Lee-Wick partners, and a nonlocal infinite-derivative theory with kinetic terms modified by an entire function of derivatives with only one propagator pole. Since the latter description arises when taking the $N\rightarrow\infty$ limit, we refer to the theory as "asymptotically nonlocal." Introducing an auxiliary-field form...

We give an indication that gravity coupled to an infinite number of fields might be a renormalizable theory. A toy model with an infinite number of interacting fermions in four-dimentional space-time is analyzed. The model is finite at any order in perturbation theory. However, perturbation theory is valid only for external momenta smaller than $\lambda ^{-\frac{1}{2}}$ , where $\lambda$ is the coupling constant.

We investigate the non-perturbative regimes in the class of non-Abelian theories that have been proposed as an ultraviolet completion 4-D Quantum Field Theory (QFT) generalizing the kinetic energy operators to an infinite series of higher-order derivatives inspired by string field theory. We prove that, at the non-perturbative level, the physical spectrum of the theory is actually corrected by the 'infinite number of derivatives' present in the action. We derive a set of Dyso...

Asymptotically nonlocal field theories represent a sequence of higher-derivative theories whose limit point is a ghost-free, infinite-derivative theory. Here we extend this framework, developed previously in a theory of real scalar fields, to gauge theories. We focus primarily on asymptotically nonlocal scalar electrodynamics, first identifying equivalent gauge-invariant formulations of the Lagrangian, one with higher-derivative terms and the other with auxiliary fields inste...

We review an approach developed in the last few years by our group in which GR is modified in the infrared, at an effective level, by nonlocal terms associated to a mass scale. We begin by recalling the notion of quantum effective action and its associated nonlocalities, illustrating some of their features with the anomaly-induced effective actions in $D=2$ and $D=4$. We examine conceptual issues of nonlocal theories such as causality, degrees of freedoms and ghosts, stressin...

We analyze the perturbative implications of the most general high derivative approach to quantum gravity based on a diffeomorphism invariant local action. In particular, we consider the super-renormalizable case with a large number of metric derivatives in the action. The structure of ultraviolet divergences is analyzed in some detail. We show that they are independent of the gauge fixing condition and the choice of field reparametrization. The cosmological counterterm is sho...