Causality constraints on the graviton 3-point coupling

by Prof. Jose D. Edelstein (University of Santiago de Compostela - Spain)

Thursday 11 Jun 2015, 14:30 → 15:30 Europe/Rome

Aula Teorici (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia)

I will consider higher derivative corrections to the graviton 3-point coupling within a weakly coupled theory of gravity. Lorentz invariance allows further structures beyond that of Einstein’s theory. I will argue that these structures are constrained by causality, and show that the problem cannot be fixed by adding conventional particles with spins J ≤ 2, but adding an infinite tower of massive particles with higher spins. Implications of this result in the context of AdS/CFT, quantum gravity in asymptotically flat space-times, and non-Gaussianity features of primordial gravitational waves are discussed.