Correções de origem quântica para a ação do vácuo e suas aplicações

Abstract

In this thesis, different aspects and applications of gravitational theories with quan-tum corrections are explored. The text is divided into three main parts. In the first part, the linearized solutions in different gravity theories with higher derivatives are considered. The Newtonian potential is calculated in the local models, super-renormalizable at the quantum level, and it is shown that the Newtonian singularity is cancelled due to the contributions of the extra massive modes. Then the gravitational collapse of a small mass is studied in non-local ghost-free gravity, being the main result the absence of singularity in the gravitational field solution and the possibility of non-mini black hole formation as the collapse result. In the second part, some issues about anomaly-induced inflation are studied. It is discussed the possibility of the transition between stable to unstable periods of inflation. It is shown that this transition is automatic if the quantum corrections in this period are neglected. In the following, we consider the effect of CPT and Lorentz-violating terms in the conformal anomaly-induced inflation. It is shown the new terms responsible to violate these symmetries do not affect the dynamics of the metric scale factor. Finally, in the third part, the quantum corrections for the Galileon model and for the theory of the massive antisymmetric tensor fields are obtained. It is shown that the propaga-tor of Galilean theory receives quantum corrections with higher derivatives and that the non-renormalization theorem for Galileon models remains, in a generalized way, valid in the low-energy region. Then, by means of explicit calculations of non-local semiclassical quantum corrections, the quantum equivalence between the massive antisymmetric tensor field models with the Proca theory and minimal massive scalar field model is confirmed.