Quantum gravity of Kerr-Schild spacetimes and the logarithmic correction to Schwarzschild black hole entropy

Abstract

Abstract: In the context of effective field theory, we consider quantum gravity with minimally coupled massless particles. Fixing the background geometry to be of the Kerr-Schild type, we fully determine the one-loop effective action of the theory whose finite non-local part is induced by the long-distance portion of quantum loops. This is accomplished using the non-local expansion of the heat kernel in addition to a non-linear completion technique through which the effective action is expanded in gravitational curvatures. Via Euclidean methods, we identify a logarithmic correction to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of Schwarzschild black hole. Using dimensional transmutation the result is shown to exhibit an interesting interplay between the UV and IR properties of quantum gravity.