Abstract
We compute the vacuum polarization associated with quantum massless fields around stars with spherical symmetry. The nonlocal contribution to the vacuum polarization is dominant in the weak field limit and induces quantum corrections to the static exterior metric that depend on the inner structure of the star. It also violates the null energy conditions. We argue that similar results also hold in the low energy limit of quantum gravity. Previous calculations of the vacuum polarization in spherically symmetric spacetimes, based on local approximations, are not adequate for Newtonian stars.
- Received 5 November 2004
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.71.064001
©2005 American Physical Society