Asymptotically Safe Gravity-Fermion Systems on Curved Backgrounds

We set up a consistent background field formalism for studying the renormalization group (RG) flow of gravity coupled to Nf Dirac fermions on maximally symmetric backgrounds. Based on Wetterich's equation, we perform a detailed study of the resulting fixed point structure in a projection including the Einstein–Hilbert action, the fermion anomalous dimension, and a specific coupling of the fermion bilinears to the spacetime curvature. The latter constitutes a mass-type term that breaks chiral symmetry explicitly. Our analysis identified two infinite families of interacting RG fixed points, which are viable candidates to provide a high-energy completion through the asymptotic safety mechanism. The fixed points exist for all values of Nf outside of a small window situated at low values Nf and become weakly coupled in the large Nf-limit. Symmetry-wise, they correspond to "quasi-chiral" and "non-chiral" fixed points. The former come with enhanced predictive power, fixing one of the couplings via the asymptotic safety condition. Moreover, the interplay of the fixed points allows for cross-overs from the non-chiral to the chiral fixed point, giving a dynamical mechanism for restoring the symmetry approximately at intermediate scales. Our discussion of chiral symmetry breaking effects provides strong indications that the topology of spacetime plays a crucial role when analyzing whether quantum gravity admits light chiral fermions.