Related papers: A Safe Beginning for the Universe?
The ordinary quantum theory points out that general relativity is negligible for spatial distances up to the Planck scale. Consistency in the foundations of the quantum theory requires a``soft'' spacetime structure of the general relativity…
The different roles and natures of spacetime appearing in a quantum field theory and in classical physics are analyzed implying that a quantum theory of gravitation is not necessarily a quantum theory of curved spacetime. Developing an…
4D Einstein gravity coupled to scalars and abelian gauge fields in its 2-Killing vector reduction is shown to be quasi-renormalizable to all loop orders at the expense of introducing infinitely many essential couplings. The latter can be…
We study cosmological solutions for the very early universe beginning at the Planck scale for a universe containing radiation, curvature and, as a simplification of a possible scalar field potential, a cosmological constant term. The…
Constraining quantum gravity from observations is a challenge. We expand on the idea that the interplay of quantum gravity with matter could be key to meeting this challenge. Thus, we set out to confront different potential candidates for…
The non-trivial ultraviolet fixed point in quantum gravity is calculated by means of the exact renormalization group equation in d-dimensions $(2\simeq d\leq4)$. It is shown that the ultraviolet non-Gaussian fixed point which is expected…
Asymptotic safety is a promising mechanism for obtaining a consistent and predictive quantum theory for gravity. The ADM formalism allows to introduce a (Euclidean) time-direction in this framework. It equips spacetime with a foliation…
This work investigates alternative theories of gravity, the solutions to their field equations and the constraints that can be imposed upon them from observation and experiment. Specifically, we consider the cosmologies and spherically…
The Maxwell extension of the conformal algebra is presented. With the help of gauging the Maxwell-conformal group, a conformally invariant theory of gravity is constructed. In contrast to the conventional conformally invariant actions, our…
Penrose proposed that the big bang singularity should be constrained by requiring that the Weyl curvature vanishes there. The idea behind this past hypothesis is attractive because it constrains the initial conditions for the universe in…
We discuss the hypothesis of a fixed point for quantum gravity coupled to a scalar, in the limit where the scalar field goes to infinity, accompanied by a suitable scaling of the metric. We propose that no scalar potential is present for…
We consider a cosmology in which the final stage of the Universe is neither accelerating nor decelerating, but approaches an asymptotic state where the scale factor becomes a constant value. In order to achieve this, we first bring in a…
Based on an earlier introduced new class of generalized gravity-matter models defined in terms of two independent non-Riemannian volume forms (alternative generally covariant integration measure densities) on the space-time manifold, we…
A new exact renormalization group equation for the effective average action of Euclidean quantum gravity is constructed. It is formulated in terms of the component fields appearing in the transverse-traceless decomposition of the metric. It…
One way the ultraviolet problem may be solved is explicit physical regularization. In this scenario, QFT is only the long distance limit of some unknown non-Poincare-invariant microscopic theory. One can ask how complex and contrived such…
Over the last years the Asymptotic Safety program has matured into a serious candidate for a quantum theory of gravity compatible with observations. The rapid technical progress in computing renormalisation group flows for gravity and…
We present an effective four-dimensional formulation of the laws of gravity that respects the main features of a higher (five)-dimensional scenario of Randall-Sundrum type. The geometrical structure of the theory is that of a…
In a foregoing paper, gravity has been interpreted as the pressure force exerted on matter at the scale of elementary particles by a perfect fluid. Under the condition that Newtonian gravity must be recovered in the incompressible case, a…
In this chapter we review the recent developments of realizing $R^2$-like inflation in the framework of a most general UV nonlocal extension of Einstein's general theory of relativity (GR). It is a well-motivated robust approach towards…
We study the renormalization group flow of non-local form factors in four-dimensional quantum gravity within the proper-time formalism at quadratic order in the curvature expansion. We show that the flow equations can be integrated down to…