Spontaneous symmetry breaking due to polarization corrections (Q1819759)

A model of self-interacting scalar and gravitational fields is constructed, in which the vacuum state with spontaneously broken symmetry arises as a solution of the field equations. The gravitational Lagrangian containing curvature-squared contributions is treated in the first-order formalism. The problems of cosmological singularities and conformal anomalies are discussed. In the case of vanishing Weyl tensor and constant scalar curvature, the curvature-squared contributions may be interpreted as being generated by the vacuum polarization, also in first- order formalism.