Related papers: Vanishing dimensions: theory and phenomenology
Lower-dimensionality at higher energies has manifold theoretical advantages as recently pointed out. Moreover, it appears that experimental evidence may already exists for it - a statistically significant planar alignment of events with…
We review a growing theoretical motivation and evidence that the number of dimensions actually reduces at high energies. This reduction can happen near the Planck scale, or much before, the dimensions that are reduced can be effective,…
We propose that the effective dimensionality of the space we live in depends on the length scale we are probing. As the length scale increases, new dimensions open up. At short scales the space is lower dimensional; at the intermediate…
(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…
It has been recently claimed [arXiv:1102.3434] that quantum gravity models where the number of dimensions reduces at the ultraviolet exhibit a potentially observable cutoff in the primordial gravitational wave spectrum, and that this is a…
Changing the dimensionality of the space-time at the smallest and largest distances has manifold theoretical advantages. If the space is lower dimensional in the high energy regime, then there are no ultraviolet divergencies in field…
Some superstring theories have more than one effective low-energy limit, corresponding to classical spacetimes with different dimensionalities. We argue that all but the 3+1-dimensional one might correspond to ``dead worlds'', devoid of…
Lowering the string scale in the TeV region provides a theoretical framework for solving the mass hierarchy problem and unifying all interactions. The apparent weakness of gravity can then be accounted by the existence of large internal…
We discuss a few examples in 2+1 dimensions and 1+1 dimensions supporting a recent conjecture concerning the relation between the Planck scale and the coupling strength of a non-gravitional interaction, unlike those examples in 3+1…
The possibility that spacetime is extended beyond the familiar 3+1-dimensions has intrigued physicists for a century. Indeed, the consequences of a dimensionally richer spacetime would be profound. Recently, new theories with higher…
We consider various curious features of general relativity, and relativistic field theory, in two spacetime dimensions. In particular, we discuss: the vanishing of the Einstein tensor; the failure of an initial-value formulation for vacuum…
The introduction of extra space dimensions in the theory could be an elegant way tovsolve the hierarchy problem. There could even be one energy scale at which all interactions could unify. The limits coming from our knowledge of the…
The "Comment on: Detecting Vanishing Dimensions Via Primordial Gravitational Wave Astronomy" [arXiv:1104.1223] is misleading and premised on a misinterpretation of the main content of Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 101101 (2011) [arXiv:1102.3434].…
Higher-dimensional theories of the kind which may unify gravitation with particle physics can lead to significant modifications of general relativity. In five dimensions, the vacuum becomes non-standard, and the Weak Equivalence Principle…
Witten has presented an argument for the vanishing of the cosmological constant in 2+1 dimensions. This argument is crucially tied to the specific properties of (2+1)-dimensional gravity. We argue that this reasoning can be deconstructed to…
We present a simple gedanken experiment in which a compact object traverses a spacetime with three macroscopic spatial dimensions and $n$ compact dimensions. The compactification radius is allowed to vary, as a function of the object's…
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…
Recently, a scenario has been proposed in which the gravitational scale could be as low as the TeV scale, and extra dimensions could be large and detectable at the electroweak scale. Although supersymmetry is not a requirement of this…
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…
Planck scale physics represents a future challenge, located between particle physics and general relativity. The Planck scale marks a threshold beyond which the old description of spacetime breaks down and conceptually new phenomena must…