The present status of theories of quantum gravity are reviewed from the low energy point of view. String theory relates classical black-hole type solutions of Einstein-like equations (e.g. axidilaton gravity) to the string vacuum. Several such solutions are proposed and their properties are investigated, including their behavior under supersymmetry transformations. A general feature of all possible quantum theories of gravitation is that they lead to a field theory description at low (as compared to the Planck mass) energies. The theoretical consistency, uniqueness and consequences of such an effective theory are investigated. I show that a power counting theorem allows for the momentum expansion that defines the effective theory even in the presence of large masses. I also show that graviton-graviton scattering is free of potential infrared and collinear divergencies that plague perturbative discussions of Yang-Mills theories.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-3016 |
| Date | 01 January 1997 |
| Creators | Torma, Tibor |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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