This book tackles quantum gravity via the so-called background field method and its effective action functional. The author presents an explicitly covariant and effective technique to calculate the de Witt coefficients and to analyze the Schwinger-de Wit asymptotic expansion of the effective action. He also investigates the ultraviolet behaviour of higher-derivative quantum gravity.The book addresses theoretical physicists, graduate students as well as researchers, but should also be of interest to physicists working in mathematical or elementary particle physics.

This monograph studies the heat kernel for the spin-tensor Laplacians on Lie groups and maximally symmetric spaces. It introduces many original ideas, methods, and tools developed by the author and provides a list of all known exact results in explicit form – and derives them – for the heat kernel on spheres and hyperbolic spaces. Part I considers the geometry of simple Lie groups and maximally symmetric spaces in detail, and Part II discusses the calculation of the heat kernel for scalar, spinor, and generic Laplacians on spheres and hyperbolic spaces in various dimensions. This text will be a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students working in various areas of mathematics – such as global analysis, spectral geometry, stochastic processes, and financial mathematics – as well in areas of mathematical and theoretical physics – including quantum field theory, quantum gravity, string theory, and statistical physics.

This book is aimed at theoretical as well as primarily physicists graduate students in field working quantum theory, quantum gravity, theories, gauge to sdme and and, it is not extent, general relativity cosmology. Although aimed at a I that it also be of level, hope in mathematically rigorous may terest to mathematical and mathematicians in physicists working spectral of differential mani geometry, spectral asymptotics on operators, analysis differential and mathematical methods in folds, geometry quantum theory. Thisbook will be considered too abstract some but certainly by physicists, not detailed and most mathematicians. This in completeenoughby means, thatthe material is at the level of particular, presented "physical" So, rigor. there theorems and areno and technicalcalculationsare lemmas, proofs long omitted. I tried detailed to a ofthe basic Instead, give presentation ideas, methodsandresults. Itried makethe to as andcom Also, exposition explicit as the lessabstractandhaveillustratedthe plete possible, methods language and results withsome As is well "onecannot examples. known, cover every in an text. The in this thing," especially introductory approach presented book the lines is a further of the so called along goes (and development) fieldmethod ofDe Witt. As a Ihavenot dealt at background consequence, allwithmanifoldswith boundary, non Laplacetype (ornonminimal) opera Riemann Cartan manifolds well with as as recent tors, developments many and advanced such Ashtekar's more as topics, approach, supergravity, strings, matrix etc. The membranes, interested reader is referred models, M theory tothe literature.