Scalar Gravitational Waves and Condensate Stars in the Effective Theory of Gravity

by Emil Mottola (Los Alamos)

Monday 27 Mar 2017, 14:15 → 15:15 Europe/Berlin

Main-2-313 (MPI Meeting rooms)

Classical General Relativity (GR) receives quantum corrections relevant at macroscopic distance scales and near event horizons. These arise from the scalar degree of freedom in the low energy Effective Field Theory (EFT) of gravity generated by the conformal anomaly of the stress-tensor of quantum fluctuations of massless (or light) fields. Several implications of this gravitationally coupled scalar are: 1) Scalar Gravitational Waves not present in classical GR 2) Large Vacuum Polarization Effects in the vicinity of Black 'Hole' Horizons leading to a very different interior with a physical surface called a Gravitational Condensate Star. These predictions of the EFT may be testable in forthcoming observations.