Related papers: Non-Cancellation of Quantum Geometry Fluctuations
At the level of the Planck scale, the spacetime metric has to be considered a quantum variable. Conformal quantum fluctuations of the metric tensor are studied here. They lead to an extra term in the Einstein equations which can be…
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…
We treat the gravitational effects of quantum stress tensor fluctuations. An operational approach is adopted in which these fluctuations produce fluctuations in the focusing of a bundle of geodesics. This can be calculated explicitly using…
A correspondence between fluctuations of non-minimally coupled scalar fields and that of an effective fluid with heat flux and anisotropic stresses, is shown. Though the correspondence between respective stress tensors of scalar fields and…
The existence of irreducible field fluctuations in vacuum is an important prediction of quantum theory. These fluctuations have many observable consequences, like the Casimir effect which is now measured with good accuracy and agreement…
All existing experimental results are currently interpreted using classical geometry. However, there are theoretical reasons to suspect that at a deeper level, geometry emerges as an approximate macroscopic behavior of a quantum system at…
Any quantum system interacting with a complex environment undergoes decoherence. Empty space is filled with vacuum energy due to matter fields in their ground state and represents an underlying environment that any quantum particle has to…
A correspondence between fluctuations of conformally invariant quantum fields and that of classical fields finally reducing to perfect fluid matter content is shown to exist. Previously a similar correspondence between the stress tensors…
The effects of compact extra dimensions upon quantum stress tensor fluctuations are discussed. It is argued that as the compactification volume decrease, these fluctuations increase in magnitude. In principle, this would have the potential…
A set of diverse but mutually consistent results obtained in different settings has spawned a new view of loop quantum gravity and its physical implications, based on the interplay of operator calculations and effective theory: Quantum…
The two-point function characterizing the stress tensor fluctuations of a massless minimally coupled field for an invariant vacuum state in de Sitter spacetime is discussed. This two-point function is explicitly computed for spacelike…
We discuss a limit for sensitivity of length measurements which is due to the effect of vacuum fluctuations of gravitational field. This limit is associated with irreducible quantum fluctuations of geodesic distances and it is characterized…
We review several related investigations of the effects of the quantum stress tensor of a conformal field in inflationary cosmology. Particular attention will be paid to the effects of quantum stress tensor fluctuations as a source of…
For non-equilibrium systems of interacting particles and for interacting diffusions in d dimensions, a novel fluctuation relation is derived. The theorem establishes a quantitative relation between the probabilities of observing two current…
If spacetime undergoes quantum fluctuations, an electromagnetic wavefront will acquire uncertainties in direction as well as phase as it propagates through spacetime. These uncertainties can show up in interferometric observations of…
We propose an analog model for quantum gravity effects using nonlinear dielectrics. Fluctuations of the spacetime lightcone are expected in quantum gravity, leading to variations in the flight times of pulses. This effect can also arise in…
Context: Strings and other alternative theories describing the quantum properties of space-time suggest that space-time could present a foamy structure and also that, in certain cases, quantum gravity (QG) may manifest at energies much…
We argue that quantum-gravitational fluctuations in the space-time background give the vacuum non-trivial optical properties that include diffusion and consequent uncertainties in the arrival times of photons, causing stochastic…
Using a \emph{gedanken} experiment providing presumably a minimal inaccuracy the uncertainty contributions to the space-time measurement are precisely evaluated for clock and mirror respectively. The resulting expression of minimal…
Vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields are altered in presence of a strong gravitational background, with important physical consequences. We argue that a non-trivial spacetime geometry can act as an optically active medium for quantum…