A bootstrap strategy for asymptotic safety

K. Falls, D. F. Litim, K. Nikolakopoulos, C. Rahmede

Published 2013-01-17, updated 2016-04-07Version 2

A search strategy for asymptotic safety is put forward and tested for a simplified version of gravity in four dimensions using the renormalization group. Taking the action to be a high-order polynomial of the Ricci scalar, a self-consistent ultraviolet fixed point is found where curvature invariants become increasingly irrelevant with increasing mass dimension. Intriguingly, universal scaling exponents take near-Gaussian values despite the presence of residual interactions. Asymptotic safety of metric gravity would seem in reach if this pattern carries over to the full theory.