Some Remarks on High Derivative Quantum Gravity

Abstract

We analyze the perturbative implications of the most general high derivative approach to quantum gravity based on a diffeomorphism-invariant local action. In particular, we consider the superrenormalizable case with a large number of metric derivatives in the action. The structure of ultraviolet divergences is analyzed in some detail. We show that they are independent of the gauge-fixing condition and the choice of field reparametrization. The cosmological counterterm is shown to vanish under certain parameter conditions. We elaborate on the unitarity problem of high derivative approaches and the distribution of masses of unphysical ghosts. We also discuss the properties of the low energy regime and explore the possibility of having a multiscale gravity with different scaling regimes compatible with Einstein gravity at low energies. Finally, we show that the ultraviolet scaling of matter theories is not affected by the quantum corrections of high derivative gravity. As a consequence, asymptotic freedom is stable under those quantum gravity corrections.