We propose a class of multidimensional higher derivative theories of gravity without extra real degrees of freedom besides the graviton field. The propagator shows up the usual real graviton pole in k 2 = 0 and extra complex conjugates poles that do not contribute to the absorptive part of the physical scattering amplitudes. Indeed, they may consistently be excluded from the asymptotic observable states of the theory making use of the Lee–Wick and Cutkosky, Landshoff, Olive and Polkinghorne prescription for the construction of a unitary S-matrix. Therefore, the spectrum consists of the graviton and short lived elementary unstable particles that we named “anti-gravitons” because of their repulsive contribution to the gravitational potential at short distance. However, another interpretation of the complex conjugate pairs is proposed based on the Calmet's suggestion, i.e. they could be understood as black hole precursors long established in the classical theory. Since the theory is CPT invariant, the conjugate complex of the micro black hole precursor can be interpreted as a white hole precursor consistently with the 't Hooft complementarity principle. It is proved that the quantum theory is super-renormalizable in even dimension, i.e. only a finite number of divergent diagrams survive, and finite in odd dimension. Furthermore, turning on a local potential of the Riemann tensor we can make the theory finite in any dimension. The singularity-free Newtonian gravitational potential is explicitly computed for a range of higher derivative theories. Finally, we propose a new super-renormalizable or finite Lee–Wick standard model of particle physics.
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