Gravitational Theories Beyond General Relativity

by Iberï Kuntz

Overview

Despite the success of general relativity in explaining classical gravitational phenomena, several problems at the interface between gravitation and high energy physics still remain open. The purpose of this thesis is to explore quantum gravity and its phenomenological consequences for dark matter, gravitational waves and inflation. A new formalism to classify gravitational theories based on their degrees of freedom is introduced and, in light of this classification, it is argued that dark matter is no different from modified gravity. Gravitational waves are shown to be damped due to quantum degrees of freedom. The consequences for gravitational wave events are also discussed. The non-minimal coupling of the Higgs boson to gravity is studied in connection with Starobinsky inflation and its implications for the vacuum instability problem is analyzed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030211967
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	05/22/2019
Series:	Springer Theses
Edition description:	1st ed. 2019
Pages:	82
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction.- Equivalence between dark matter and modified gravity.- Gravitational waves in quantum gravity.- Backreaction of quantum gravitational modes.- Higgs-Starobinsky inflation.- Vacuum stability during inflation.- Conclusions.- Appendix.