Related papers: Invariant lengths using existing Special Relativit…
We investigate the problem of metric fluctuations in the presence of the vacuum fluctuations of matter fields and critically assess the usual assertion that vacuum energy implies a Planckian cosmological constant. A new stochastic classical…
We review connections between the metric of spacetime and the quantum fluctuations of fields. In particular, we discuss the finding that the spacetime metric can be expressed entirely in terms of the 2-point correlators of the fluctuations…
Lorentz invariance is a fundamental symmetry of both Einstein's theory of general relativity and quantum field theory. However, deviations from Lorentz invariance at energies approaching the Planck scale are predicted in many quantum…
We argue that massive quantum fields source low-frequency long-wavelength metric fluctuations through the quantum fluctuations of their stress-energy, given reasonable assumptions about the analytic structure of its correlators. This can be…
Quantum vacuum fluctuations tend to be strongly anti-correlated, which reduces their observable effects. However, time dependence can upset the cancellation of these anti-correlated fluctuations and greatly enhance their effects. This form…
It is argued that the fundamental length scale for the quantum dynamics of spacetime need not be equal to the Planck length. Possibly, this new length scale is related to a nonvanishing cosmological constant or vacuum energy density.
We present a gauge-invariant treatment of singularity resolution using loop quantum gravity techniques with respect to local SU(2) transformations. Our analysis reveals many novel features of quantum geometry which were till now hidden in…
The phenomenologically observed flatness - or near flatness - of spacetime cannot be understood as emerging from continuum Planck (or sub-Planck) scales using known physics. Using dimensional arguments it is demonstrated that any…
In black hole physics, inflationary cosmology, and quantum field theories, it is conjectured that the physical laws are subject to radical changes below the Planck length. Such changes are due to effects of quantum gravity believed to…
Our conventional system of physical units is based on local or microscopic {\it dimensional} quantities which are {\it defined}, for convenience or otherwise aesthetic reasons, to be spacetime-independent. A more general choice of units may…
I argue that the linearity of quantum mechanics is an emergent feature at the Planck scale, along with the manifold structure of space-time. In this regime the usual causality violation objections to nonlinearity do not apply, and nonlinear…
The source of the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe is still unknown. We examine some consequences of the possible scale invariance of the empty space at large scales. The central hypothesis of this work is that, at macroscopic…
Extending the commutator algebra of quantum $\kappa$-Poincar\'e symmetry to the whole of the phase space, and assuming that this algebra is to be covariant under action of deformed Lorentz generators, we derive the transformation properties…
A fundamental spacetime scale in the universe leads to noncommutative spacetime and thence to a modified energy - momentum dispersion relation or equivalently to a modification of Lorentz symmetry as shown by the author and others. This…
An overview of space tests searching for small deviations from special relativity arising at the Planck scale is given. Potential high-sensitivity space-based experiments include ones with atomic clocks, masers, and electromagnetic…
Nature succeeds in accelerating extended and massive objects to relativistic velocities. Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei and in galactic superluminal sources and gamma-ray bursts fireballs have bulk Lorentz factors from a few to several…
Some recent studies of the properties of D-particles suggest that in string theory a rather conventional description of spacetime might be available up to scales that are significantly smaller than the Planck length. We test this…
String theory suggests modifications of our spacetime such as extra dimensions and the existence of a mininal length scale. In models with addidional dimensions, the Planck scale can be lowered to values accessible by future colliders.…
In the event symmetric approach to quantum gravity it is assumed that the fundamental laws of physics must be invariant under exchange of any two space-time events. The fact that this symmetry if obviously not observed is attributed to the…
We argue that a quantum aether is consistent with the principle of relativity and can provide an economical way of having an invariant quantum gravity or Planck scale. We also show that it may change the effective scale at which quantum…