Related papers: Spacetime has a `thickness'
Quantum gravity (or quantum spacetime) is to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics into a single theoretical framework and presented as the most important open puzzle in fundamental physics. The development of a microscopic theory…
Nerd abstract: Observational constraints on spacetime are reviewed, focusing on how the underlying physics (dark matter, dark energy, gravity) can be tested rather than assumed. Popular abstract: Space is not a boring static stage on which…
It seems to be a common belief that the space in which we live is a space-time manifold of dimension at least four. In the present article we wish to draw attention to a slightly different possibility - a space-time pseudomanifold (or even…
We consider gravity in 3+1 spacetime dimensions coupled to $N$ scalar matter fields in a semiclassical limit where $N\to\infty$. The dynamical evolution of a black hole including the back-reaction of the Hawking radiation on the metric is…
We investigate the causal structure of $(1+1)$-dimensional spacetimes. For two sets of field equations we show that at least locally any spacetime is a solution for an appropriate choice of the matter fields. For the theories under…
We develop a framework that facilitates the study of the causal structure of spacetimes with a causally preferred foliation. Such spacetimes may arise as solutions of Lorentz-violating theories, e.g. Horava gravity. Our framework allows us…
The understanding of time and dynamics can be elucidated by examining the concept of entanglement in quantum theory. This particular perspective on time is referred to as the timeless approach, which posits that the universe exists in a…
A coherent picture of the quantum mechanics of a collapse-formed, evaporating black hole is presented. In a distant frame, semiclassical theory in the zone describes microscopic dynamics of only the "hard modes," the modes that are hard…
The low frequency part of the gravitational wave spectrum generated by local physics, such as a phase transition or parametric resonance, is largely fixed by causality, offering a clean window into the early Universe. In this work, this low…
The gap between a microscopic theory for quantum spacetime and the semiclassical physics of blackholes is bridged by treating the blackhole spacetimes as highly excited states of a class of nonlocal field theories. All the blackhole…
The spacetime inside the white hole is like an anisotropic cosmological background with the past singularity playing the role of a big bang singularity. The scale factor along the extended spatial direction is contracting while the scale…
Spacetime manifolds that are not time orientable play a key role in a gravitational explanation of quantum theory. Such manifolds allow topology change, but also have fascinating additional properties such as net charge from source-free…
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.…
It is well known that celestial bodies tend to be spherical due to gravity and that rotation produces deviations from this sphericity. We discuss what is known and expected about the shape of black holes' horizons from their formation to…
In usual quantum theory, the information available about a quantum system is defined in terms of the density matrix describing it on a spacelike surface. This definition must be generalized for extensions of quantum theory which do not have…
We consider a simple physical model for an evolving horizon that is strongly interacting with its environment, exchanging arbitrarily large quantities of matter with its environment in the form of both infalling material and outgoing…
Hawking particles emitted by a black hole are usually found to have thermal spectra, if not exactly, then by a very good approximation. Here, we argue differently. It was discovered that spherical partial waves of in-going and out-going…
The definition of matter states on spacelike hypersurfaces of a 1+1 dimensional black hole spacetime is considered. The effect of small quantum fluctuations of the mass of the black hole due to the quantum nature of the infalling matter is…
The Hawking-Penrose singularity theorem states that a singularity forms inside a black hole in general relativity. To remove this singularity one must resort to a more fundamental theory. Using a corrected dynamical equation arising in loop…
Gravitational tidal forces acting on the virtual e+ e- cloud surrounding a photon endow spacetime with a non-trivial refractive index. This has remarkable properties unique to gravitational theories including superluminal low-frequency…