Related papers: De Sitter Invariance and a Possible Mechanism of G…
The most prominent realization of gravity as a gauge theory similar to the gauge theories of the standard model comes from enlarging the gauge group from the Lorentz group to the de Sitter group. To regain ordinary Einstein-Cartan gravity…
A new derivation is given of the known generalized position-momentum uncertainty relation, which takes into account gravity. The problem of two massive particles, the relative motion of which is described by the Schroedinger equation, is…
The quantization of Einstein-Maxwell theory with a cosmological constant is considered. We obtain all logarithmically divergent terms in the one-loop effective action that involve only the background electromagnetic field. This includes…
A new approach to the cosmological constant problem is proposed by modifying Einstein's theory of general relativity, using instead a scalar-tensor theory of gravitation. This theory of gravity crucially incorporates the concept of quantum…
This is a summary of two lectures I gave at the Davis Conference on Cosmic Inflation. I explain why the quantum theory of de Sitter (dS) space should have a finite number of states and explore gross aspects of the hypothetical quantum…
This paper, which is meant to be a tribute to Minkowski's geometrical insight, rests on the idea that the basic observed symmetries of spacetime homogeneity and of isotropy of space, which are displayed by the spacetime manifold in the…
We report here on two works on Lorentz invariant massive gravity. In the first part, we derive the decoupling limit of massive gravity on de Sitter, relying on embedding de Sitter into an higher dimensional Minkowski spacetime. This enables…
It is shown by the author that if gravitons are super-strong interacting particles and the low-temperature graviton background exists, the basic cosmological conjecture about the Dopplerian nature of redshifts may be false. In this case, a…
The cosmological constant problem is principally concerned with trying to understand how the zero-point energy of quantum fields contributes to gravity. Here we take the approach that by addressing a fundamental unresolved issue in quantum…
The Poincare' group generalizes the Galilei group for high-velocity kinematics. The de Sitter group is assumed to go one step further, generalizing Poincare' as the group governing high-energy kinematics. In other words, ordinary special…
The two surprising features of gravity are (a) the principle of equivalence and (b) the connection between gravity and thermodynamics. Using principle of equivalence and special relativity in the {\it local inertial frame}, one could obtain…
We present a simple algebraic argument for the conclusion that the low energy limit of a quantum theory of gravity must be a theory invariant, not under the Poincare group, but under a deformation of it parameterized by a dimensional…
One of the major issues confronting theoretical physics is finding a quantum theory of gravity and a resolution to the cosmological constant problem. It is believed that a true quantum theory of gravity will lead to a solution to the this…
Based on a family of indefinite unitary representations of the diffeomorphism group of an oriented smooth $4$-manifold, a manifestly covariant $4$ dimensional and non-perturbative algebraic quantum field theory formulation of gravity is…
We consider classical and quantum dynamics of a free particle in de Sitter's space-times with different topologies to see what happens to space-time singularities of removable type in quantum theory. We find analytic solution of the…
We develop a purely quantum theory based on the novel principle of relativity, termed the quantum principle of relativity, instead of directly applying the diffeomorphism invariance. We demonstrate that the essence of the principle can be…
Several lines of evidence hint that quantum gravity at very small distances may be effectively two-dimensional. I summarize the evidence for such ``spontaneous dimensional reduction,'' and suggest an additional argument coming from the…
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…
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…
A quantization of unimodular gravity is described, which results in a quantum effective action which is also unimodular, ie a function of a metric with fixed determinant. A consequence is that contributions to the energy momentum tensor of…