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arxiv: 1608.02942 · v2 · pith:BF37IFXKnew · submitted 2016-08-09 · ✦ hep-th · gr-qc· hep-ph

Positivity of Curvature-Squared Corrections in Gravity

classification ✦ hep-th gr-qchep-ph
keywords termcompletiongravityultravioletassumingcoefficientcorrectioncorrections
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We study the Gauss-Bonnet (GB) term as the leading higher-curvature correction to pure Einstein gravity. Assuming a tree-level ultraviolet completion free of ghosts or tachyons, we prove that the GB term has a nonnegative coefficient in dimensions greater than four. Our result follows from unitarity of the spectral representation for a general ultraviolet completion of the GB term.

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