Summing gravitational effects from loops of inflationary scalars

Abstract We develop a procedure for re-summing the large logarithms induced in gravity by loops of inflationary scalars. We first show how the scalar can be integrated out of the field equations in the presence of constant graviton field. We then extend this result to a fully conserved form which explains the need for a finite renormalization of the cosmological constant which was previously inferred from explicit computation. A variant of the renormalization group turns out to explain the large logarithmic corrections revealed by explicit computation in the electric field strength of gravitational radiation and in the potentials which characterize the response to a point mass. The implications for graviton loops are discussed.