Quantum gravity corrections to gauge theories with a cutoff regularization (1706.04485v1)

Abstract: Gravity can be considered as an effective quantum field theory with reliable, but limited predictions. Though the influence of gravity on gauge and other interactions of elementary particles is still an open question. We calculate the lowest order quantum gravity contributions to the QED beta function in an effective field theory picture with a momentum cutoff. We use a recently proposed 4 dimensional improved momentum cutoff that preserves gauge and Lorentz symmetries. We find that there is a non-vanishing quadratic contribution to the photon 2-point function but after renormalization that does not lead to the running of the original coupling. We comment on corrections to the other gauge interactions and Yukawa couplings of heavy fermions. We argue that gravity cannot turn gauge interactions asymptotically free.