We consider a theory of scalars minimally coupled to an auxiliary background metric. The theory is generally covariant and subject to the constraint of vanishing energy-momentum tensor. Eliminating the auxiliary metric leads to a reparametrization invariant, nonpolynomial, metric-independent action for the scalar fields. Working in the limit of a large number of physical scalars, a composite massless spin-2 state, the graviton, was identified in previous work, in a two-into-two scalar scattering process. Here, we further explore the possibility that dynamical emergent gravity is a natural feature of generally covariant quantum field theories, by studying the self-interactions of the emergent composite graviton. We show that the fine-tuning previously imposed to ensure the vanishing of the cosmological constant, as well as the existence of the massless spin-2 state, also assures that the emergent graviton’s cubic self-interactions are consistent with those of Einstein’s general relativity, up to higher-derivative corrections. We also demonstrate in a theory with more than one type of scalar that the composite graviton coupling is universal.

• Received 17 November 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.98.024041

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Published by the American Physical Society