Vacuum energy in the effective field theory of general relativity. II. Inclusion of fermions and a comment on the QCD contribution

Abstract

Recently, in the framework of a two-loop order calculation for an effective field theory of scalar and vector fields interacting with the metric field, we have shown that for the cosmological constant term which is fixed by the condition of vanishing vacuum energy the graviton remains massless and there exists a self-consistent effective field theory of general relativity defined on a flat Minkowski background. In the current paper, we extend the two-loop analysis for an effective field theory of fermions interacting with the gravitational field and obtain an analogous result. We also address the issues of fine-tuning of the strong interaction contribution to the vacuum energy and the compatibility of chiral symmetry in the light quark sector with the consistency of the effective field theory of general relativity in a flat Minkovski background.