Related papers: New ground state for quantum gravity
More than three decades ago quadratic gravity was found to present a perturbative, renormalizable and asymptotically free theory of quantum gravity. Unfortunately the theory appeared to have problems with a spin-2 ghost. In this essay we…
We explore the relationship between the quantum state of a compact matter source and of its asymptotic graviton field. For a matter source in an energy eigenstate, the graviton state is determined at leading order by the energy eigenvalue.…
We discuss the meaning of background independence in quantum theories of gravity where geometry and gravity are emergent and illustrate the possibilities using the framework of quantum causal histories.
We investigate tensor modes in inflationary scenarios from the point of view of Ashtekar variables and their generalizations labelled by Immirzi parameter \gamma, which we'll assume imaginary. By defining the classical perturbed…
This article reviews a recent work by a couple of colleagues and myself about the shortcomings of the standard explanations of the quantum origin of cosmic structure in the inflationary scenario, and a proposal to address them. The point it…
We discuss the birth of the non-perturbative approach to quantum gravity known as quantum Einstein gravity, in which the gravitational interactions are conjectured to be asymptotically safe. The interactions are assumed to be finite and…
We review a novel and authentic way to quantize gravity. This novel approach is based on the fact that Einstein gravity can be formulated in terms of a symplectic geometry rather than a Riemannian geometry in the context of emergent…
At second order in perturbation theory, we find the ground states of the $\phi^4$ double-well quantum field theory in 1+1 dimensions. The operators which create these ground states from the free vacuum are constructed explicitly at this…
We consider the quantum description of a toy model universe in which the Schwarzschild-de Sitter geometry emerges from the coherent state of a massless scalar field. Although highly idealised, this simple model allows us to find clear hints…
Atomic-like systems in which electronic motion is two dimensional are now realizable as ``quantum dots''. In place of the attraction of a nucleus there is a confining potential, usually assumed to be quadratic. Additionally, a perpendicular…
Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity in two-dimensional de Sitter space is an intriguing toy model for a quantum mechanical description of an inflationary phase of the universe, including initial conditions. Starting from exact solutions of the…
Quantum gravity is expected to contain descriptions of semiclassical spacetime geometries in quantum superpositions. To date, no framework for modelling such superpositions has been devised. Here, we provide a new phenomenological…
We construct perturbative quantum gravity in a generally covariant way. In particular our construction is background independent. It is based on the locally covariant approach to quantum field theory and the renormalized Batalin-Vilkovisky…
The recent formulation of locally covariant quantum field theory may open the way towards a background independent perturbative formulation of Quantum Gravity.
In string theory, even when there are ten to the thousand power vacuum states, does inflation produce overwhelmingly one preferred type of vacuum state? We respond affirmatively to questions whether existence of graviton production is…
We propose a new solution to the cosmological constant problem building on a nonperturbative quantum theory of gravity with torsional instantons. These pseudoparticles, which were recently found to exist in a first order formulation of…
A semiclassical cosmological model is considered which consists of a closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker in the presence of a cosmological constant, which mimics the effect of an inflaton field, and a massless, non-conformally coupled quantum…
We propose that the solution to the cosmological vacuum energy puzzle may come from the infrared sector of the effective theory of gravity, where the impact of the trace anomaly is of upmost relevance. We proceed by introducing two…
We present a reformulation of loop quantum gravity with a cosmological constant and no matter as a Fermi-liquid theory. When the topological sector is deformed and large gauge symmetry is broken, we show that the Chern-Simons state reduces…
As part of our program to develop a general theory of relativity for open systems, we introduce a covariant theory that incorporates the effects of classical and quantum spacetime alterations in a new metric tensor that effectively includes…