Faddeev-Popov ghosts in quantum gravity beyond perturbation theory

Abstract: We study the Faddeev-Popov ghost sector of asymptotically safe quantum gravity, which becomes non-perturbative in the ultraviolet. We point out that nonzero matter-ghost couplings and higher-order ghost self-interactions exist at a non-Gaussian fixed point for the gravitational couplings, i.e., in the ultraviolet. Thus the ghost sector in this non-perturbative ultraviolet completion does not keep the structure of a simple Faddeev-Popov determinant. We discuss implications of the new ghost couplings for the Renormalization Group flow in gravity, the form of the ultraviolet completion, and the relevant couplings, i.e., free parameters, of the theory.