Related papers: Time and M-theory
The nature of time in quantum mechanics is closely related to the use of a complex, rather than say real, Hilbert space. This becomes particularly clear when considering quantum field theory in time dependent backgrounds, such as in…
This article gives an elementary account of the recently proposed theory of spontaneous quantum gravity. It is argued that a viable quantum theory of gravity should be falsifiable, and hence it should dynamically explain the observed…
We treat space and time as bona fide quantum degrees of freedom on an equal footing in Hilbert space. Motivated by considerations in quantum gravity, we focus on a paradigm dealing with linear, first-order Hamiltonian and momentum…
We study a class of theories in which space-time is treated classically, while interacting with quantum fields. These circumvent various no-go theorems and the pathologies of semi-classical gravity, by being linear in the density matrix and…
Loop quantum gravity, a non-perturbative and manifestly background free, quantum theory of gravity implies that at the kinematical level the spatial geometry is discrete in a specific sense. The spirit of background independence also…
These lectures discuss an S-matrix approach to quantum gravity, and its relation to more local spacetime approaches. Prominent among the problems of quantum gravity are those of unitarity and observables. In a unitary theory with solutions…
We revisit the issue of time in quantum geometrodynamics and suggest a quantization procedure on the space of true dynamic variables. This procedure separates the issue of quantization from enforcing the constraints caused by the general…
Quantum gravity has become a fertile interface between gravitational physics and quantum many-body physics, with its double goal of identifying the microscopic constituents of the universe and their fundamental dynamics, and of…
We explore the possibility of a Bohmian approach to the problem of finding a quantum theory incorporating gravitational phenomena. The major conceptual problems of canonical quantum gravity are the problem of time and the problem of…
By directly probing the initial conditions of our universe, cosmological surveys offer us a unique observational handle on quantum field theory in curved spacetime with dynamical gravity and might even allow us to glean information about a…
[Shortened abstract:] In this thesis we investigate a solution to the `problem of time' in canonical quantum gravity by splitting spacetime into surfaces of constant mean curvature parameterised by York time. We argue that there are reasons…
We present an approach to the problem of vacuum energy in cosmology, based on dynamical screening of Lambda on the horizon scale. We review first the physical basis of vacuum energy as a phenomenon connected with macroscopic boundary…
A new formulation of relativistic quantum mechanics is presented and applied to a free, massive, and spin zero elementary particle in the Minkowski spacetime. The reformulation requires that time and space, as well as the timelike and…
The holographic state of matter exists in the quantum gravitational regime, with black holes as the example. In this essay, we provide a microscopic derivation to the holographic thermodynamics and further discuss its implications for…
We develop a systematic classical framework to accommodate canonical quantization of geometric and matter perturbations on a quantum homogeneous isotropic flat spacetime. The existing approach of standard cosmological perturbations is…
Recently, it was shown that the quantum effects of the matter, could be used to determine the conformal degree of freedom of the space-time metric. So both gravity and quantum are geometrical features. Gravity determines the causal…
We discuss the hints for the disappearance of continuum space and time at microscopic scale. These include arguments for a discrete nature of them or for a fundamental non-locality, in a quantum theory of gravity. We discuss how these ideas…
We consider the cluster of problems raised by the relation between the notion of time, gravitational theory, quantum theory and thermodynamics; in particular, we address the problem of relating the "timelessness" of the hypothetical…
Gravity is a macroscopic manifestation of a microscopic quantum theory of space-time, just as the theories of elasticity and hydrodynamics are the macroscopic manifestation of the underlying quantum theory of atoms. The connection of…
Space-time quantum contributions to the classical Einstein equations of General Relativity are determined. The theoretical background is provided by the non-perturbative theory of manifestly-covariant quantum gravity and the…