Eur. Phys. J. C (2018) 78: 3
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5487-0

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Quantum corrections to the gravitational backreaction

Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK

^* e-mail: ibere.kuntz@sussex.ac.uk

Received: 3 November 2017
Accepted: 18 December 2017
Published online: 30 December 2017

Abstract

Effective field theory techniques are used to study the leading order quantum corrections to the gravitational wave backreaction. The effective stress-energy tensor is calculated and it is shown that it has a non-vanishing trace that contributes to the cosmological constant. By comparing the result obtained with LIGO’s data, the first bound on the amplitude of the massive mode is found: .