Structure of Correlated Worldline Theories of Quantum Gravity

TitleStructure of Correlated Worldline Theories of Quantum Gravity
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsBarvinsky, AO, Carney, D, Stamp, PCE
JournalPhys. Rev.
VolumeD
Issue98
Pages084052
Date Published2018/06/21
Abstract

We consider the general form of "Correlated Worldline" (CWL) theories of quantum gravity. We show that one can have 2 different kinds of CWL theory, in which the generating functional is written as either a sum or a product over multiple copies of the coupled matter and gravitational fields. In both versions, the paths in a functional formulation are correlated via gravity itself, causing a breakdown of the superposition principle; however, the product form survives consistency tests not satisfied by the summed form. To better understand the structure of these two theories, we show how to perform diagrammatic expansions in the gravitational coupling for each version of CWL theory, using particle propagation and scalar fields as examples. We explicitly calculate contributions to 2-point and 4-point functions, again for each version of the theory, up to 2nd-order in the gravitational coupling.

URLhttps://arxiv.org/abs/1806.08043
DOI10.1103/PhysRevD.98.084052