Related papers: Conformal Gravity Challenges String Theory
A finite and unitary nonlocal formulation of quantum gravity is applied to the cosmological constant problem. The entire functions in momentum space at the graviton-standard model particle loop vertices generate an exponential suppression…
I review the problem of dark energy focusing on the cosmological constant as the candidate and discuss its implications for the nature of gravity. Part 1 briefly overviews the currently popular `concordance cosmology' and summarises the…
We have discussed a particular class of exact cosmological solutions of the 4-dimensional low energy string gravity in the string frame. In the vacuum without matter and the 2-form fields, the exact cosmological solutions always give…
I briefly discuss the challenges presented by attempting to modify general relativity to obtain an explanation for the observed accelerated expansion of the universe. Foremost among these are the questions of theoretical consistency - the…
String theory is at the moment the only advanced approach to a unification of all interactions, including gravity. But, in spite of the more than thirty years of its existence, it does not make any empirically testable predictions, and it…
We examine the general issue of whether a scale dependent cosmological constant can be consistent with general covariance, a problem that arises naturally in the treatment of quantum gravitation where coupling constants generally run as a…
A cosmological theory that predicts a late-time accelerated attractor with a constant dark matter to dark energy ratio can be said to solve the Coincidence Problem. Such cosmologies are naturally generated in the context of non-standard…
We study the quantum aspects of the conformal gravity in four dimensions, specifically addressing a known discrepancy in beta functions between general quadratic curvature theories and conformal gravity, which corresponds to two scalar…
The search for a consistent and empirically established quantum theory of gravity is among the biggest open problems of fundamental physics. The obstacles are of formal and of conceptual nature. Here, I address the main conceptual problems,…
In spite of its great phenomenological success, current models of scalar field-driven inflation suffer from important unresolved conceptual issues. New fundamental physics will be required to address these questions. String theory is a…
The cosmological constant and its phenomenology remain among the greatest puzzles in theoretical physics. We review how modifications of Einstein's general relativity could alleviate the different problems associated with it that result…
We first find the linear approximation of the second plus fourth order derivative massive conformal gravity action. Then we reduce the linearized action to separated second order derivative terms, which allows us to quantize the theory by…
We review recent progress on the resolution of gravitational singularities in string theory. The main example is the fundamental string in five dimensions which is singular in the standard supergravity description but regular after taking…
We trace the origin of the cosmological constant problem to the assumption that Newton's constant $G$ sets the scale for cosmology. And then we show that once this assumption is relaxed, the very same cosmic acceleration which has served to…
Realizing dark energy and the observed de Sitter spacetime in quantum gravity has proven to be obstructed in most every usual approach. We argue that additional degrees of freedom of the left- and right-movers in string theory and a…
Among the available quantum gravity proposals, string theory, loop quantum gravity, non-commutative geometry, group field theory, causal sets, asymptotic safety, causal dynamical triangulation, emergent gravity are among the best motivated…
The cosmological constant is not an absolute constant. The gravitating part of the vacuum energy is adjusted to the energy density of matter and to other types of the perturbations of the vacuum. We discuss how the vacuum energy responds…
We first review the cosmological constant problem, and then mention a conjecture of Feynman according to which the general relativistic theory of gravity should be reformulated in such a way that energy does not couple to gravity. We point…
We develop the canonical formalism for a system of $N$ bodies in lineal gravity and obtain exact solutions to the equations of motion for N=2. The determining equation of the Hamiltonian is derived in the form of a transcendental equation,…
There ought to exist a reformulation of quantum mechanics which does not refer to an external classical spacetime manifold. Such a reformulation can be achieved using the language of noncommutative differential geometry. A consequence which…