Do the gravitational corrections to the beta functions of the quartic and Yukawa couplings have an intrinsic physical meaning? (1707.06667v1)

Abstract: We study the beta functions of the quartic and Yukawa couplings of General Relativity and Unimodular Gravity coupled to the $\lambda\phi^4$ and Yukawa theories with masses. We show that the General Relativity corrections to those beta functions as obtained from the 1PI functional by using the standard MS multiplicative renormalization scheme of Dimensional Regularization are gauge dependent and, further, that they can be removed by a non-multiplicative, though local, field redefinition. An analogous analysis is carried out when General Relativity is replaced with Unimodular Gravity. Thus we show that any claim made about the change in the asymptotic behaviour of the quartic and Yukawa couplings made by General Relativity and Unimodular Gravity lack intrinsic physical meaning.