Charge Renormalization due to Graviton Loops

TL;DR

This paper investigates how graviton loops influence gauge couplings, revealing a universal and often zero correction in four-dimensional theories, with implications for gauge theory behavior and quantum gravity effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the leading gauge coupling beta function term from graviton interactions is universal and zero in four dimensions, independent of various theoretical choices.

Findings

One-loop correction to gauge coupling from gravitons is zero in four dimensions.

The universal term is shown to be zero for abelian theories due to self-duality, to all loops.

Implications for gauge theories and quantum gravity are discussed.

Abstract

The leading term in the gauge coupling beta function comes due to interaction of gauge field with gravitons. It is shown to be a universal quantity for all gauge theories. At one-loop it is found to be zero in four dimensions. This is independent of the gravity action with metric as the field variable, gauge fixing condition and regularization scheme. This term being universally same for all gauge groups is further studied in the case of abelian gauge theories, where due to self-duality this term is shown to be zero to all loops, on-shell. Consequences of this are discussed.