Related papers: Raiders of the lost spacetime
In an attempt to re-establish space-time as an essential frame for formulating quantum gravity - rather than an "emergent" one -, we find that exact invariance under scale transformations is an essential new ingredient for such a theory.…
GR and other theories have been obtained from 3-space rather than spacetime principles. I explore consequences of this as regards the Problem of Time.
The description of space-time in a quantum theoretical framework must be considered as a fundamental problem in physics. Most attempts start with an already given classical space-time - then the quantization is done. In contrast to this the…
In this essay based on 0907.2939, we argue that the emergence of classically connected spacetimes is intimately related to the quantum entanglement of degrees of freedom in a non-perturbative description of quantum gravity. Disentangling…
Quantum information can provide a lens for characterizing the operational implications of spacetime physics. A well-known result in this area is that quantum entanglement is degraded in the vicinity of a black hole. This result treats the…
In recent years several ideas for experimental searches of effects induced by quantum properties of space-time have been discussed. Some of these ideas concern the role in quantum spacetime of the ordinary Lorentz symmetry of classical flat…
In this paper, we address the nature of spacetime in quantum gravity in light of a new version of the holographic principle that has established a relationship between string theory and polymer holonomy structures similar to Loop Quantum…
The goal of this article is to present a broad perspective on quantum gravity for \emph{non-experts}. After a historical introduction, key physical problems of quantum gravity are illustrated. While there are a number of interesting and…
A major unsolved problem in theoretical physics is to reconcile the classical theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics. These lectures will deal with an attempt to describe quantum gravity as a path integral over geometries known…
I give a review of the conceptual issues that arise in theories of quantum cosmology. I start by emphasising some features of ordinary quantum theory that also play a crucial role in understanding quantum cosmology. I then give motivations…
In the last decade, progress on quantization of homogeneous cosmological spacetimes using techniques of loop quantum gravity has led to insights on various fundamental questions and has opened new avenues to explore Planck scale physics.…
Quantum gravity is known to be mostly a kind of metaphysical speculation. In this brief essay, we try to argue that, although still extremely difficult to reach, observational signatures can in fact be expected. The early universe is an…
Recent developments in holographic gravity suggest that spacetime structure may be deeply related to quantum mechanics. In this work, from a different perspective, we demonstrate that wave-particle duality can be interpreted as the…
Some reflections are presented on the state of the search for a quantum theory of gravity. I discuss diverse regimes of possible quantum gravitational phenomenon, some well explored, some novel.
We survey indications from different branches of Physics that the fine scale structure of spacetime is not adequately described by a manifold. Based on the hints we accumulate, we propose a new structure, which we call a quantum topos. In…
An outstanding open issue in our quest for physics beyond Einstein is the unification of general relativity (GR) and quantum physics. Loop quantum gravity (LQG) is a leading approach toward this goal. At its heart is the central lesson of…
I give a brief review of the recovery of semiclassical time from quantum gravity and discuss possible extrapolations of this concept to the full theory.
This paper reviews the histories approach to quantum mechanics. This discussion is then applied to theories of quantum gravity. It is argued that some of the quantum histories must approximate (in a suitable sense) to classical histories,…
Rather than an a priori arena in which events take place, space-time is a construction of our mind making possible a particular kind of ordering of events. As quantum entanglement is a property of states independent of classical distances,…
Numerous approaches to a quantum theory of gravity posit fundamental ontologies that exclude spacetime, either partially or wholly. This situation raises deep questions about how such theories could relate to the empirical realm, since…