Related papers: The quantum swampland
If one tries to view de Sitter as a true (as opposed to a meta-stable) vacuum, there is a tension between the finiteness of its entropy and the infinite-dimensionality of its Hilbert space. We invetsigate the viability of one proposal to…
Consistency of the unconventional view of de Sitter space as a quantum theory of gravity with a finite number of degrees of freedom requires that Coleman-De Luccia tunneling rates to vacua with negative cosmological constant should be…
This paper tentatively conjectures a possible physical picture that may help explain links between quantum field theories and string theories. A correspondence might occur if the stringy parameters $\tau $ and $\sigma_i $ are interpreted as…
The weak field approximation in a model of de Sitter gravity is investigated in the static and spherically symmetric case, under the assumption that the vacuum spacetime without perturbations from matter fields is a torsion-free de Sitter…
The paper concerns the fictitious entanglement of the so-called ``singularities'' in problems, pertaining to quantum gravity, due, in point of fact, to the way we try to employ, in that context, differential geometry, the latter being…
We analyze a simple extension of the Schwinger model, which we refer to as the $p$-Schwinger model, on a de Sitter background. In this theory, the charged massless fermions carry non-unit integer charge $p$. In Minkowski space, the…
Real world quantum systems are open to perpetual influence from the wider environment. Quantum gravitational fluctuations provide a most fundamental source of the environmental influence through their universal interactions with all forms…
We propose an alternate cosmological model in which our observable universe is an island in a cosmological constant sea. Initially the universe is filled with cosmological constant of the currently observed value but is otherwise empty. In…
We describe how 4d de Sitter vacua might emerge from 11d heterotic M-theory. Non-perturbative effects and $G$-fluxes play a crucial role leading to vacua with F-term supersymmetry breaking and a positive energy density. Charged scalar…
The quantum fluctuations of a test scalar field on superhorizon scale in de Sitter spacetime can be described by an effective one-dimensional stochastic theory corresponding to a particular class of nonequilibrium dynamical systems known as…
This talk deals with the old problem of formulatingn a covariant quantum theory of superstrings, ``covariant'' here meaning having manifest Lorentz symmetry and supersymmetry. The advantages and disadvantages of several quantization methods…
We consider quintessence models within 4D effective descriptions of gravity coupled to two scalar fields. These theories are known to give rise to viable models of late-time cosmic acceleration without any need for flat potentials, and so…
One of the biggest problems faced by those attempting to combine quantum theory and general relativity is the experimental inaccessibility of the unification scale. In this paper we show how incoherent conformal waves in the gravitational…
Quantum field theory in the $4$-dimensional de Sitter space-time is constructed in the ambient space formalism in a rigorous mathematical framework. This work is based on the group representation theory and the analyticity of the…
We discuss some of the issues which we encounter when we try to invoke the scalar-tensor theories of gravitation as a theoretical basis of quintessence. One of the advantages of appealing to these theories is that they allow us to implement…
We explore in this work whether Slotheon model of Dark Energy obeys the Swampland criteria of string theory. Since de Sitter vacuum is very difficult to construct in string theory the cosmological constant as an explanation of Dark Energy…
Arguments are gived for the plausibility that quantum mechanics is a stochastic theory and that many quantum phenomena derive from the existence of a real noise consisting of vacuum fluctuations of all fundamental fields existing in nature.…
Based on the studies in Type IIB string theory phenomenology, we conjecture that a good fraction of the meta-stable de Sitter vacua in the cosmic stringy landscape tend to have a very small cosmological constant $\Lambda$ when compared to…
We review certain emergent notions on the nature of spacetime from noncommutative geometry and their radical implications. These ideas of spacetime are suggested from developments in fuzzy physics, string theory, and deformation…
In quantum gravity, fields may lose quantum coherence by scattering off vacuum fluctuations in which virtual black hole pairs appear and disappear. Although it is not possible to properly compute the scattering off such fluctuations, we…