Towards a Unitary, Renormalizable, and Ultraviolet-Complete Quantum Theory of Gravity

• Main Author: Christian F. Steinwachs
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-07-01
• Series: Frontiers in Physics
• Subjects: quantum gravity; perturbation theory; renormalization; Lorentz violation; anisotropic scaling Hořava-Lifshitz gravity
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphy.2020.00185/full

For any fundamental quantum field theory, unitarity, renormalizability, and relativistic invariance are considered to be essential properties. Unitarity is inevitably connected to the probabilistic interpretation of the quantum theory, while renormalizability guarantees its completeness. Relativistic invariance, in turn, is a symmetry that derives from the structure of spacetime. So far, the perturbative attempt to formulate a fundamental local quantum field theory of gravity based on the metric field seems to be in conflict with at least one of these properties. In quantum Hořava gravity, a quantum Lifshitz field theory of gravity characterized by an anisotropic scaling between space and time, unitarity and renormalizability can be retained while Lorentz invariance is sacrificed at high energies and must emerge only as approximate symmetry at low energies. This article reviews various approaches to perturbative quantum gravity, with a particular focus on recent progress in the quantization of Hořava gravity, supporting its theoretical status as a unitary, renormalizable, and ultraviolet-complete quantum theory of gravity.