Related papers: Chiral vacuum fluctuations in quantum gravity
In this paper we conjecture the existence of a new "ground" state in quantum gravity, supplying a wave function for the inflationary Universe. We present its explicit perturbative expression in the connection representation, exhibiting the…
Quantum gravitational effects in loop quantum cosmology lead to a resolution of the initial singularity and have the potential to solve the horizon problem and generate a quasi scale-invariant spectrum of density fluctuations. We consider…
It has been shown that at the semi-classical order, gravitational theories with quantum fluctuations can be effectively recast as modified theories of gravity with non-minimal gravity-matter couplings. We proceed from an observational…
An attempt is made to go beyond the standard semi-classical approximation for gravity in the Born-Oppenheimer decomposition of the wave-function in minisuperspace. New terms are included which correspond to quantum gravitational…
Real world quantum systems are open to perpetual influence from the wider environment. Quantum gravitational fluctuations provide a most fundamental source of the environmental influence through their universal interactions with all forms…
In order to find the correct theory of quantum gravity, one has to look for observational effects in any candidate theory. Here, we focus on canonical quantum gravity and calculate the quantum-gravitational contributions to the anisotropy…
Cosmological tensor perturbations equations are derived for Hamiltonian cosmology based on Ashtekar's formulation of general relativity, including typical quantum gravity effects in the Hamiltonian constraint as they are expected from loop…
Whereas the total energy in zero-point fluctuations of the particle physics vacuum gives rise to the cosmological constant problem, differences in the vacuum give rise to real physical phenomena, such as the Casimir effect. Hence we…
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…
Any canonical quantum theory can be understood to arise from the compatibility of the statistical geometry of distinguishable observations with the canonical Poisson structure of Hamiltonian dynamics. This geometric perspective offers a…
We consider the possibility that gravity breaks parity, with left and right handed gravitons coupling to matter with a different Newton's constant and show that this would affect their zero-point vacuum fluctuations during inflation. Should…
One of the virtues of the Ashtekar variables is the simplification of the initial value constraints for gravity. In the case of self-dual variables this entails a complexification of the phase space which comes at the expense of having to…
Spherically symmetric gravity in Ashtekar variables coupled to Yang-Mills theory in two dimensions and its relation to dilaton gravity and Poisson sigma models are discussed. After introducing its loop quantization, quantum corrections for…
The positive energy theorem precludes the possibility of Minkowski flat space decaying by any mechanism. In certain circumstances, however, large quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field could arise---not only at the Planck scale,…
The Casimir effect is a quantum phenomenon rooted in the fact that vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields are affected by the presence of physical objects and boundaries. Since the energy spectrum of the vacuum fluctuations depends on…
It has been argued since 1948, when it was experimentally demonstrated, that the Casimir effect-where two non-charged conducting plates have a weak but measurable force on each other dependent on the inverse fourth power of the distance…
We discuss effects of loss of coherence in low energy quantum systems caused by or related to gravitation, referred to as gravitational decoherence. These effects, resulting from random metric fluctuations, for instance, promise to be…
This work investigates alternative theories of gravity, the solutions to their field equations and the constraints that can be imposed upon them from observation and experiment. Specifically, we consider the cosmologies and spherically…
We show how, by considering the cumulative effect of tiny quantum gravitational fluctuations over very large distances, it may be possible to: ($a$) reconcile nucleosynthesis bounds on the density parameter of the Universe with the…
We here conjecture that two much-studied aspects of quantum gravity, dimensional flow and spacetime fuzziness, might be deeply connected. We illustrate the mechanism, providing first evidence in support of our conjecture, by working within…