English

Why space could be quantised on a different scale to matter

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2021-08-17 v3 Quantum Physics

Abstract

The scale of quantum mechanical effects in matter is set by Planck's constant, \hbar. This represents the quantisation scale for material objects. In this article, we present a simple argument why the quantisation scale for space, and hence for gravity, may not be equal to \hbar. Indeed, assuming a single quantisation scale for both matter and geometry leads to the `worst prediction in physics', namely, the huge difference between the observed and predicted vacuum energies. Conversely, assuming a different quantum of action for geometry, β\beta \ll \hbar, allows us to recover the observed density of the Universe. Thus, by measuring its present-day expansion, we may in principle determine, empirically, the scale at which the geometric degrees of freedom should be quantised.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2005.12724,
  title  = {Why space could be quantised on a different scale to matter},
  author = {Matthew J. Lake},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2005.12724},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

5 pages of main text summarising the contents of a talk given at the 4th International Conference on Holography, String Theory and Discrete Approach, Hanoi, 3rd-8th August 2020, plus an appendix giving technical the details of the model. No figures. Published version

R2 v1 2026-06-23T15:49:17.715Z