# Vacuum energy in the effective field theory of general relativity

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates through two-loop calculations that in an effective field theory of general relativity, the graviton remains massless and a self-consistent theory exists on a flat background, with implications for the cosmological constant problem.

## Contribution

It provides a two-loop order analysis showing the stability of the massless graviton and a consistent EFT framework on Minkowski space, addressing the cosmological constant issue.

## Key findings

- Graviton remains massless at two-loop order.
- Self-consistent EFT of gravity coupled to matter on Minkowski space.
- Implications for the cosmological constant problem.

## Abstract

In the framework of an effective field theory of general relativity a model of scalar and vector bosons interacting with the metric field is considered. It is shown in the framework of a two-loop order calculation that for the cosmological constant term which is fixed by the condition of vanishing vacuum energy the graviton remains massless and there exists a self-consistent effective field theory of general relativity coupled to matter fields defined on a flat Minkowski background. This result is obtained under the assumption that the energy-momentum tensor of the gravitational field is given by the pseudotensor of Landau-Lifshitz's classic textbook. Implications for the cosmological constant problem are also briefly discussed.