Related papers: Conformal Gravity Challenges String Theory
The configuration space of general relativity is superspace - the space of all Riemannian 3-metrics modulo diffeomorphisms. However, it has been argued that the configuration space for gravity should be conformal superspace - the space of…
We review the history of the ghost problem in quantum field theory from the Pauli-Villars regulator theory to currently popular fourth-order derivative quantum gravity theories. While these theories all appear to have unitarity-violating…
The Cosmological Constant Problem emerges when Quantum Field Theory is applied to the gravitational theory, due to the enormous magnitude of the induced energy of the vacuum. The unique known solution of this problem involves an extremely…
A finite quantum gravity theory is used to resolve the cosmological constant problem. A fundamental quantum gravity scale, \Lambda_G \leq 10^{-3} eV, is introduced above which the quantum corrections to the vacuum energy density coupled to…
We consider two problems that have vexed physicists for several decades -- dark matter and the cosmological constant. The problem has been that the former has not been detected while the latter gives a far higher value than detected by…
The mystery of the cosmological constant is probably the most pressing obstacle to significantly improving the models of elementary particle physics derived from string theory. The problem arises because in the standard framework of low…
We review some recent developments in the conformal gravity theory that has been advanced as a candidate alternative to standard Einstein gravity. As a quantum theory the conformal theory is both renormalizable and unitary, with unitarity…
We investigate the spacetime of a spinning cosmic string in conformal invariant gravity, where the interior consists of a gauged scalar field. We find exact solutions of the exterior of a stationary spinning cosmic string, where we write…
The conformal cosmological model presented by Mannheim predicts a negative value for the effective gravitational constant, G. It also involves a scalar field, S, which is treated classically. In this paper we point out that a classical…
We review the current status and prospects for the conformal invariant fourth order theory of gravity which has recently been advanced by Mannheim and Kazanas as a candidate alternative to the standard second order Einstein theory. We…
We address issues on the origin of gravity and the cosmological constant problem based on a recent understanding about the correspondence between noncommutative field theory and gravity. We suggest that the cosmological constant problem can…
Coupling any interacting quantum mechanical system to gravity in one (time) dimension requires the cosmological constant to belong to the matter energy spectrum and thus to be quantised, even though the gravity sector is free of any quantum…
A central aspect of the cosmological constant problem is to understand why vacuum energy does not gravitate. In order to account for this observation, while allowing for nontrivial dynamics of the quantum vacuum, we motivate a novel…
Coupling any interacting quantum mechanical system to gravity in one dimension requires the cosmological constant to belong to the matter energy spectrum and thus to be quantized, even though the gravity sector is free of any quantum…
The old cosmological-constant (CC) problem indicates an inconsistency of the usual formulation of semiclassical gravity. The usual formulation of semiclassical gravity also seems to be inconsistent with the conventional interpretation of…
"Brane Induced Gravity" is regarded as a promising framework for addressing the cosmological constant problem, but it also suffers from a ghost instability for parameter values that make it phenomenologically viable. We carry out a detailed…
One of the greatest problems of standard cosmology is the Big Bang singularity. Previously it has been shown that non-local ghostfree higher-derivative modifications of Einstein gravity in the ultra-violet regime can admit non-singular…
We analyze conformal gravity in translationally invariant approximation, where the metric is taken to depend on time but not on spatial coordinates. We find that the field mode which in perturbation theory has a ghostlike kinetic term,…
Motivated by the apparent dependence of string $\sigma$--models on the sum of spacetime metric and antisymmetric tensor fields, we reconsider gravity theories constructed from a nonsymmetric metric. We first show that all such "geometrical"…
We propose a solution to the longstanding cosmological constant (CC) problem which is based on the fusion of two existing concepts. The first is the suggestion that the proper description of classical gravitational effects is the gauge…