Related papers: An Introduction to Cascading Gravity and Degravita…
If visible matter alone is present in the Universe, general relativity (GR) and its Newtonian weak field limit (WFL) cannot explain several pieces of evidence, from the largest to the smallest scales. The most investigated solution is the…
A stochastic theory of gravity is described in which the metric tensor is a random variable such that the spacetime manifold is a fluctuating physical system at a certain length scale. A general formalism is described for calculating…
When the semi-positive cosmological constant is dynamical, the naive Euclidean Einstein action is unbounded from below and the Hartle-Hawking wavefunction of the universe is not normalizable. With the inclusion of back-reaction (a crucial…
In three spacetime dimensions, general relativity drastically simplifies, becoming a ``topological'' theory with no propagating local degrees of freedom. Nevertheless, many of the difficult conceptual problems of quantizing gravity are…
Quantum gravity has matured over the last decade to a theory which can tell in a precise and explicit way how cosmological singularities of general relativity are removed. A branch of the universe "before" the classical big bang is obtained…
In quantum cosmology, it is expected that the Big Bang singularity is resolved and the universe undergoes a bounce. We find that for Gaussian initial states, matter-gravity entanglement entropy rises rapidly during the bounce, declines, and…
A classical two dimensional theory of gravity which has a number of interesting features (including a Newtonian limit, black holes and gravitational collapse) is quantized using conformal field theoretic techniques. The critical dimension…
(from the talk:) I shall here speak on gravity in (1+1)-dimensional space-time --- lineal gravity. The purpose of studying lower dimensional theories, and specifically lower dimensional gravity, is to gain insight into difficult…
We define `third derivative' General Relativity, by promoting the integration measure in Einstein-Hilbert action to be an arbitrary $4$-form field strength. We project out its local fluctuations by coupling it to another $4$-form field…
Within the context of Newton's theory of gravitation, restricted to point-like test particles and central bodies, stable circular orbits in ordinary space are related to stable circular paths on a massless, unmovable, undeformable…
We investigate the localization of four-dimensional metastable gravity in supersymmetric dilatonic domain walls through massive modes by considering several scenarios in the model. We compute corrections to the Newtonian potential for small…
Recent criticism of higher-dimensional extensions of Einstein's theory is considered. This may have some justification as regards string theory, but is misguided as applied to five-dimensional theories with a large extra dimension. Such…
Causal Dynamical Triangulations in four dimensions provide a background-independent definition of the sum over geometries in nonperturbative quantum gravity, with a positive cosmological constant. We present evidence that a macroscopic…
We consider a linearized, effective quantum theory of gravitation in which gravity weakens at energies higher than ~10^-3 eV in order to accommodate the apparent smallness of the cosmological constant. Such a theory predicts departures from…
We highlight the fact that the lack of scale invariance in the gravitational field equations of General Relativity results from the underlying assumption that the appropriate scale for the gravitational force should be linked to the atomic…
The equations of motion describing all physical systems, except gravity, remain invariant if a constant is added to the Lagrangian. In the conventional approach, gravitational theories break this symmetry exhibited by all other physical…
The vacuum of quantum fields contains correlated fluctuations. When restricted to one side of a surface these have a huge entropy of entanglement that scales with the surface area. If UV physics renders this entropy finite, then a…
Gravitational theories differing from General Relativity may explain the accelerated expansion of the Universe without a cosmological constant. However, to pass local gravitational tests, a "screening mechanism" is needed to suppress, on…
In the Cascading Gravity brane-world scenario, our 3-brane lies within a succession of lower-codimension branes, each with their own induced gravity term, embedded into each other in a higher-dimensional space-time. In the 6+1-dimensional…
It is believed that classical behavior emerges in a quantum system due to decoherence. It has also been proposed that gravity can be a source of this decoherence. We examine this in detail by studying a number of quantum systems, including…