English

Spacetime foam

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2011-09-01 v2 Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory Quantum Physics

Abstract

Spacetime is composed of a fluctuating arrangement of bubbles or loops called spacetime foam, or quantum foam. We use the holographic principle to deduce its structure, and show that the result is consistent with gedanken experiments involving spacetime measurements. We propose to use laser-based atom interferometry techniques to look for spacetime fluctuations. Our analysis makes it clear that the physics of quantum foam is inextricably linked to that of black holes. A negative experimental result, therefore, might have non-trivial ramifications for semiclassical gravity and black hole physics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.gr-qc/0201022,
  title  = {Spacetime foam},
  author = {Y. Jack Ng},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/0201022},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

7 pages, LaTeX; will appear in the Dec. 2002 special issue of Int. J. Mod. Phys. D (this essay received an honorable mention in the GRF essay contest)