# Cosmological and astrophysical tests of quantum gravity

## Abstract

Physics in the vicinity of an ultraviolet stable fixed point of a quantum field theory is parametrized by a renormalization group invariant macroscopic length scale, the correlation length $`\xi ,`$ with the quantum effective action a function of this length scale. Numerical simulations of quantum gravity suggest the existence of just such a fixed point. Since the quantum effective action is a function only of $`\xi ,`$ the cosmological constant must be $`k\xi ^2`$ with $`k`$ a pure number. Higher derivative terms are also parametrized by this length scale, so in particular the effective Newtonian dynamics of a test particle is modified at acceleration scales of order $`1/\xi .`$ Thus, renormalization group effects in quantum gravity provide a natural link between the phenomenological acceleration scale associated with galactic rotation curves and the value of the cosmological constant favoured by recent supernovae observations.

Quantum gravity is a difficult subject with a host of conceptual and computational problems that we are far from resolving. It is the aim of this paper to point out that even in the absence of a complete theory, general arguments based on the properties of the renormalization group in quantum field theory suggest that quantum gravity may provide simple explanations for some astrophysical and cosmological puzzles.

Let us begin by considering an approach to quantum gravity reviewed by Weinberg. Many quantum field theories can be formulated in arbitrary numbers of spacetime dimensions. Examples are Yang–Mills theories, the nonlinear sigma model (NLSM), and general relativity (GR). In such cases there is typically a spacetime dimension in which the coupling constant in these theories is dimensionless, called the upper critical dimension (ucd). For the NLSM and GR the ucd is 2 while for Yang–Mills theories it is 4. Above the ucd, the coupling constant has dimensions of length to positive powers and the theory is perturbatively non-renormalizable—as one probes physics at shorter distance scales, the effective coupling in these theories increases on dimensional grounds alone. Suppose that exactly at the ucd the theory is asymptotically free, in other words quantum loop effects tend to make the coupling decrease at shorter distances. If one formally treats the dimension of spacetime as an analytic variable following Wilson and Fisher, one can find a critical value of the coupling such that these two effects exactly cancel and the theory is scale invariant at a dimension $`D`$ larger than the ucd. This behaviour is encoded in a renormalization group equation $`G/\mathrm{ln}\rho \beta (G)=ϵG\beta _0G^2+\mathrm{}`$ where $`ϵDD_c,`$ $`D_c`$ is the ucd, $`G`$ is a dimensionless coupling, related to the coupling constant in $`D`$ dimensions by $`G_D=\rho ^ϵG,`$ $`\rho `$ is the cutoff and $`\beta _0>0`$ for asymptotically free theories. If $`DD_c`$ is small, one can find a fixed point i.e. $`G_c:\beta (G_c)=0`$ with $`G_c`$ small (in perturbation theory, $`G_cϵ/\beta _0`$) so that one can trust the qualitative features found in perturbative computations.

An important consequence of the existence of an ultraviolet stable fixed point is the existence of a macroscopic physical correlation length $`\xi ,`$ independent of $`\rho .`$ $`\xi `$ characterizes scaling violations as one considers physics at longer distances around the ultraviolet stable fixed point, marking the transition from physics described by the ultraviolet stable fixed point at $`G_c,`$ with the effective coupling $`G(r/\xi )`$ growing with increasing $`r,`$ to physics described by some other fixed point (in fact, such an infrared fixed point need not even exist at finite $`G`$): $`\xi =\rho \mathrm{exp}\left(^G𝑑G^{}/\beta (G^{})\right)\rho |GG_c|^{1/\beta ^{}(G_c)}.`$ While its existence is demonstrable in perturbation theory, $`\xi `$ cannot be determined in perturbation theory. Fixing $`\xi `$ specifies $`G:`$ this is the phenomenon of dimensional transmutation.

The effective action obtained by systematically computing in renormalized perturbation theory is a function of $`\xi `$ alone. All the terms in the effective action are directly computable from the bare action with no arbitrariness. One cannot compute this effective action analytically in dimensions far above the ucd because the Wilson–Fisher $`ϵ`$ expansion is not a good quantitative guide, but in principle one can compute this effective action numerically. The only features that I need are the existence of $`\xi `$ and the fact that the effective action is independent of any particular field configuration. Its equation of motion incorporates quantum corrections and one must use this quantum equation of motion for all physics with no change in the value of $`\xi .`$ This may seem surprising but in fact it has to be the case since the appearance of $`\xi `$ is an ultraviolet effect—in other words, it is the ultraviolet stable fixed point that implies the existence of $`\xi `$ and this is independent of the macroscopic field configuration at which one chooses to evaluate the effective action.

In the present work, I adopt a phenomenological stance and attempt to understand qualitative aspects of physics near the ultraviolet stable fixed point in quantum gravity. Happily, a more quantitative and constructive approach may not be too far in the future. Numerical simulations of lattice gravity have made great progress and support the qualititive features suggested by the $`ϵ`$ expansion. I focus on the recent lattice gravity results of Hamber and Williams in the Regge calculus approach. For $`G>G_c`$ the effective coupling at a physical separation $`r`$ behaves as

$$G(r)=G_c\left[1+c_1\left(\frac{r}{\xi }\right)^{1/\nu }+c_2\left(\frac{r}{\xi }\right)^{2/\nu }+\mathrm{}\right]$$
(1)   
where $`\nu 1/\beta ^{}(G_c).`$ In the case of pure gravity $`1/\nu 2.8`$ and the beta function has a negative slope at $`G_c,`$ so the effective coupling increases with distance. Further, $`1/\xi `$ is found to be very small close to the fixed point, on the order of the inverse anti–de Sitter radius (since the simulations are Euclidean). While the precise value of $`\nu `$ will change when matter is added, the negative slope of the beta function has been linked to the fact that gravity is attractive, so the sign of $`\nu `$ should not change.

For general relativity, in the present framework, one expects then that the effective action will be a function of a correlation length $`\xi `$ alone. Thus, for example, the cosmological constant term in the effective action will naturally be $`k\sqrt{g}(\xi ^2G_\xi )^1`$ with $`k`$ a computable pure number, and $`G_\xi `$ the value of Newton’s constant determined non-perturbatively by $`\xi .`$ ($`k`$ could be zero but numerical work does not suggest this.) Since the effective value of Newton’s constant grows with distance, it is natural to expect that important aspects of the physics will be incorporated in non-polynomial functions of derivatives. This is exactly analogous to Yang–Mills theory where physics at large momentum transfer is simple, while at small momentum transfer one sees qualitatively different physics characterized by the appearance of the scale $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{QCD}}.`$ In particular, if one considers ordinary Newtonian dynamics for a test particle, we would expect the appearance of an acceleration scale $`1/\xi .`$ (The modification of Newtonian dynamics is not due to the simple increase in the coupling constant, just as confinement in QCD is not due to just the logarithmic growth of the effective coupling.) Lastly, note that string theory does not preclude the existence of a non–perturbative ultraviolet stable fixed point for quantum gravity relevant for describing physics at scales much below the string scale.

Why should the scale dependence appear as an acceleration scale? For example, one might imagine that a frequency scale might appear for orbital motion. Here one must recall that the effective action’s scale dependence is independent of the geometry under consideration—the scale dependence must be something universal that can be defined in gravity for any geometry. Based on the principle of equivalence, I suggest that the only universal quantity that one can expect is an acceleration scale. This is clearly a speculation, but at least qualitative confirmation within the $`ϵ`$ expansion should be possible. Another obvious motivation for an acceleration scale is provided by a comparison to the difference in small and large momentum transfer processes in QCD.

How do these qualitative features match cosmological and astrophysical observations? I consider cosmology first. Recent observational work on supernovae appears to support a source term in the Friedman equation with positive energy and negative pressure, similar to a cosmological constant. The ratio of the energy in the cosmological constant–like term to the critical energy density $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is $`0.60.7`$ for a spatially flat universe, which is difficult to explain from a particle physics point of view.

If one identifies the Hubble length $`H_0^1=\xi ,`$ the existence of an ultraviolet stable fixed point in quantum gravity implies $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is naturally the same order of magnitude as $`H_0^2.`$ Why should the present value of the Hubble length be the correlation length $`\xi \mathrm{?}`$ As explained above, the quantum effective action is a function of $`\xi `$ for any geometry. While one could invoke anthropic considerations, only within a larger theory can one ask this question intelligently, just as only within a larger theory can one expect to compute the ratio of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{QCD}}`$ to the mass of the electron. The constancy of $`\xi `$ is important since variations of Newton’s constant are strongly constrained.

An explanation for the order of magnitude equality of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{matter}}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ requires a more complete theory as well, see for example. It is interesting to consider the effects of this scale on cosmology with spatial curvature, which is also a viable option. Spatial curvature appears as an integration constant in the equations of motion—it is possible albeit unnatural to have the scale of an integration constant different from the scale in the equations of motion.

Now consider galaxy scale physics. As is well–known, optical surface brightness in the disks of spiral galaxies falls off exponentially with radius. On the other hand, measured circular speeds of rotation as a function of distance from the center of the galaxy approach 220 $`(L/L_{})^{0.22}`$ km/s at distances on the order of twice the disk length scale. If starlight traces mass, the measured circular velocities should fall off as $`r^{1/2}.`$ While the evidence is most obvious for spiral galaxies, similar puzzles exist for other galaxies. One can either explain this by positing the existence of dark matter, such as a preponderance at larger radii of stars with low masses or more exotic forms of non–luminous matter, or one can suppose that there is new dynamics that sets in at these large distances.

There is a large body of phenomenological work reviewed in  that is referred to as the modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) programme, aimed at explaining observed rotation curves in terms of modifications of gravity at small accelerations. The tenets of MOND are that the actual acceleration of a particle $`𝐠`$ is related to the Newtonian acceleration $`𝐠_N`$ by $`\mu (g/a_0)𝐠=𝐠_N,`$ where $`\mu `$ is a (matrix) function with the important feature that it involves a fundamental acceleration $`a_0.`$ Explaining galaxy rotation curves requires that $`\mu (x)1`$ as $`x\mathrm{},`$ and $`\mu (x)x`$ as $`x0.`$ The MOND programme does a good job of explaining the observed rotation curves, including the Tully–Fisher relation. Phenomenology gives $`a_0\mathrm{2\; 10}^8\mathrm{cm}/\mathrm{s}^2`$ which is equivalent to a length scale of order the present Hubble length, a fact that has found no explanation. There are no experimental constraints from terrestrial measurements on observed deviations from Newtonian dynamics at the accelerations of interest here. Milgrom has argued already that MOND requires strongly non–local higher–derivative terms.

As discussed above, non–polynomial higher–derivative corrections will naturally appear in the quantum effective action with a scale set by $`\xi .`$ While it is not possible to compute these in a quantitative analytic form at present, the relation between the cosmological constant and the MOND acceleration scale are exactly what one expects in the quantum effective action from the existence of an ultraviolet stable fixed point. The small value of the acceleration scale is directly related to the large value of the correlation length. Note particularly in light of the comments above regarding the constancy of $`\xi `$ that the light observed from distant galaxies was emitted at a different value of the Hubble parameter, but the rotation curves are fit by an acceleration scale that is equivalent to the present Hubble parameter. Further, the increase in the effective Newtonian attraction at larger separations predicted is qualitatively consistent with the form suggested by phenomenology.

In conclusion, I have argued here that the dependence of the effective action of quantum gravity on the renormalization group invariant correlation length may account for the effective value of the cosmological constant and for the rotation curves of galaxies. There is no way to separate the cosmological implications and the implications for small accelerations of the appearance of $`\xi `$—quantum field theory predicts a universal scale parameter. The relations suggested in the present letter are conservative and can be tested numerically. The qualitative features of quantum gravity are in analogy with the proven physics of the NLSM, and are supported by the available lattice data. In ending I must mention that quantum gravity has been suggested previously as a source of infrared effects—see for example . The connections considered here have not been suggested in the literature—see, however,  for other work connecting a universal acceleration scale and a cosmological constant.

I am grateful to J. Cohn, H. Hamber, G. Lifschytz, M. Milgrom, J. Peebles, L. Randall, B. Ratra, P. Steinhardt, C. Thompson and M. White for their help. This work was supported in part by NSF grant PHY-9802484.