Gravity's Rainbow induces topology change

Abstract

In this work, we explore the possibility that quantum fluctuations induce a topology change, in the context of Gravity's Rainbow. A semiclassical approach is adopted, where the graviton one-loop contribution to a classical energy in a background spacetime is computed through a variational approach with Gaussian trial wave functionals. The energy density of the graviton one-loop contribution, or equivalently the background spacetime, is then let to evolve, and consequently the classical energy is determined. More specifically, the background metric is fixed to be Minkowskian in the equation governing the quantum fluctuations, which behaves essentially as a backreaction equation, and the quantum fluctuations are let to evolve; the classical energy, which depends on the evolved metric functions, is then evaluated. Analyzing this procedure, a natural ultraviolet cutoff is obtained, which forbids the presence of an interior spacetime region, and this may result in a multiply connected spacetime. Thus, in the context of Gravity's Rainbow, this process may be interpreted as a change in topology, and in principle it results in the presence of a planckian wormhole. © 2014 The Author(s).