Related papers: Quantum gravity and the cosmological constant: les…
The method of four-dimensional Causal Dynamical Triangulations provides a background-independent definition of the sum over geometries in quantum gravity, in the presence of a positive cosmological constant. We present the evidence…
We study a class of theories in which space-time is treated classically, while interacting with quantum fields. These circumvent various no-go theorems and the pathologies of semi-classical gravity, by being linear in the density matrix and…
We make the cosmological constant, {\Lambda}, into a field and restrict the variations of the action with respect to it by causality. This creates an additional Einstein constraint equation. It restricts the solutions of the standard…
We study gravity coupled to a scalar field in spherical symmetry using loop quantum gravity techniques. Since this model has local degrees of freedom, one has to face ``the problem of dynamics'', that is, diffeomorphism and Hamiltonian…
We have examined a modified dilaton gravity whose action is separable into the kinetic and the cosmological terms for the sake of the quantization. The black hole solutions survive even in the quantized theory, but the ADM mass of the…
A nonlocal quantum gravity theory is presented which is finite and unitary to all orders of perturbation theory. Vertex form factors in Feynman diagrams involving gravitons suppress graviton and matter vacuum fluctuation loops by…
The effort to discover a quantum theory of gravity is motivated by the need to reconcile the incompatibility between quantum theory and general relativity. Here, we present an alternative approach by constructing a consistent theory of…
Quantum groups and non-commutative spaces have been repeatedly utilized in approaches to quantum gravity. They provide a mathematically elegant cut-off, often interpreted as related to the Planck-scale quantum uncertainty in position. We…
The bare bones of a theory of quantum gravity are exposed. It may have the potential to solve the cosmological constant problem. Less certain is its behavior in the Newtonian limit.
The degree of freedom of the scalar field in scalar-tensor gravity is employed as "time" to deparametrize the Hamiltonian constraint of the theory. The deparametrized system is then nonperturbatively quantized by the approach of loop…
Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) is an attempt to describe the quantum gravity regime. Introducing a non-zero cosmological constant $\Lambda$ in this context has been a withstanding problem. Other approaches, such as Chern-Simons gravity, suggest…
The possible interpretations of a new continuum model for the two-dimensional quantum gravity for $d>1$ ($d$=matter central charge), obtained by carefully treating both diffeomorphism and Weyl symmetries, are discussed. In particular we…
For almost a century, the cosmological constant has been a mysterious object, in relation to both its origin and its very small value. By using a Bose-Einstein condensate analogue model for gravitational dynamics, we address here the…
Path integral quantization of generic two-dimensional dilaton gravity non-minimally coupled to a Dirac fermion is performed. After integrating out geometry exactly, perturbation theory is employed in the matter sector to derive the lowest…
In this thesis special emphasis is put on the quantization of the spherically reduced Einstein-massless-Klein-Gordon model using a first order approach for geometric quantities, because phenomenologically it is probably the most relevant of…
In this work nonperturbative aspects of quantum gravity are investigated using the lattice formulation, and some new results are presented for critical exponents, amplitudes and invariant correlation functions. Values for the universal…
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…
Quantum gravity is expected to be necessary in order to understand situations where classical general relativity breaks down. In particular in cosmology one has to deal with initial singularities, i.e. the fact that the backward evolution…
One of the leading issues in quantum field theory and cosmology is the mismatch between the observed and calculated values for the cosmological constant in Einstein's field equations of up to 120 orders of magnitude. In this paper, we…
In this note, we attempt to provide some insights into the structure of non-perturbative descriptions of quantum gravity using known examples of gauge-theory / gravity duality. We argue that in familiar examples, a quantum description of…