Related papers: Spacetime Instability and Quantum Gravity as Low E…
Instabilities of equilibrium quantum mechanics are common and well-understood. They are manifested for example in phase transitions, where a quantum system becomes so sensitive to perturbations that a symmetry can be spontaneously broken.…
Quantized fields (e.g., the graviton itself) in de Sitter (dS) spacetime lead to particle production: specifically, we consider a thermal spectrum resulting from the dS (horizon) temperature. The energy required to excite these particles…
We develop a novel framework for describing quantum fluctuations in field theory, with a focus on cosmological applications. Our method uniquely circumvents the use of operator/Hilbert-space formalism, instead relying on a systematic…
Quantum gravitational corrections to the effective potential, at one-loop level and in the leading-log approximation, for scalar quantum electrodynamics with higher-derivative gravity ---which is taken as an effective theory for quantum…
In theories of gravity with a positive cosmological constant, we consider product solutions with flux, of the form (A)dS_p x S^q. Most solutions are shown to be perturbatively unstable, including all uncharged dS_p x S^q spacetimes. For…
General relativity is highly successful in explaining a wide range of gravitational phenomena including the gravitational waves emitted by binary systems and the shadows cast by supermassive black holes. From a modern perspective the theory…
This is a pedagogical introduction to the treatment of quantum general relativity as an effective field theory. It starts with an overview of the methods of effective field theory and includes an explicit example. Quantum general relativity…
It is found that de-Sitter spacetime, the constant-curvature matter-free solution of the Einstein equations with a positive cosmological constant, becomes classically unstable due to the dynamic effects of a certain type of vector field…
It is unclear whether an observable notion of time exists in quantum gravity even in principle because spacetime itself fluctuates. We propose a form of observable time in perturbative quantum gravity. First, we define an elapsed proper…
It is argued that quantum gravity has an interpretation as a topological field theory provided a certain constraint from the path intergral measure is respected. The constraint forces us to couple gauge and matter fields to gravity for…
General relativity promotes space-time to a physical, dynamical object subject to equations of motion. Quantum gravity, accordingly, must provide a quantum framework for space-time, applicable on the smallest distance scales. Just like…
We discuss some general properties of quantum gravity in De Sitter space. It has been argued that the Hilbert space is of finite dimension. This suggests a macroscopic argument that General Relativity cannot be quantized -- unless it is…
We argue that a consistent coupling of a quantum theory to gravity requires an extension of ordinary `first order' Riemannian geometry to second order Riemannian geometry, which incorporates both a line element and an area element. This…
The observed large-scale structure in our Universe is seen as a result of quantum fluctuations amplified by spacetime evolution. This, and related problems in cosmology, asks for an understanding of the quantum fields of the standard model…
The gravity is classically formulated as the geometric curvature of the space-time in general relativity which is completely different from the other well-known physical forces. Since seeking a quantum framework for the gravity is a great…
This introductory review is addressed to beginning researchers. Some of the distinguishing features of loop quantum gravity are illustrated through loop quantum cosmology of FRW models. In particular, these examples illustrate: i) how…
We recast the action principle of four dimensional General Relativity so that it becomes amenable for perturbation theory which doesn't break general covariance. The coupling constant becomes dimensionless (G_{Newton} \Lambda) and extremely…
In this paper we consider the degrees of freedom beyond the graviton present in the effective field theory for quantum gravity. We point out that the position of the poles due to $R^2$ and $R_{\mu\nu}R^{\mu\nu}$ cannot be affected by…
As a canonical and generally covariant gauge theory, loop quantum gravity requires special techniques to derive effective actions or equations. If the proper constructions are taken into account, the theory, in spite of considerable…
We show that the instabilities of higher derivative gravity models with quadratic curvature invariant $\alpha R^2+\beta R_{\mu\nu}R^{\mu\nu}$ can be removed by judicious addition of constraints at the quadratic level of metric fluctuations…