Higher derivative quantum gravity near four dimensions

• Autor(a) principal: Berredo-Peixoto,Guilherme de
• Data de Publicação: 2005
• Outros Autores: Shapiro,Ilya L.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Journal of Physics
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-97332005000700022

We investigate the role of the Gauss-Bonnet term for the n = 4 and n = 4-e renormalization group, for both conformal and general versions of the theory. The cancellation of the quantum effects of the Gauss-Bonnet term in the n = 4 limit represents an efficient test for the correctness of previous calculations and also resolves two long-standing problems concerning quantum corrections in quantum gravity. In the case of n = 4-epsilon renormalization group there is a number of new nontrivial fixed points, that may indicate to a rich nonperturbative structure of the theory. At the same time, if we do not treat e as a small parameter, the renormalization group is spoiled by an extensive gauge fixing ambiguity.