Related papers: A Simple Model for Quantum Gravity: the one-dimens…
In this paper, we outline a new approach to quantum gravity; describing states for a bounded region of spacetime as eigenstates for two classes of physically plausible gedanken experiments. We end up with two complementary descriptions in…
Assuming that Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) is the correct theory of gravity on all length scales we use analytical results from nonperturbative renormalization group (RG) equations as well as experimental input in order to characterize…
General relativity describes the gravitational field geometrically and in a self-interacting way because it couples to all forms of energy, including its own. Both features make finding a quantum theory difficult, yet it is important in the…
One of the leading issues in quantum field theory and cosmology is the mismatch between the observed and calculated values for the cosmological constant in Einstein's field equations of up to 120 orders of magnitude. In this paper, we…
A novel theory of Quantum Gravity is presented in which the real gravitons manifest themselves as holes in space. In general, these holes propagate at the speed of light through an expanding universe with boundary denoted by U, which is…
Quantum gravity is expected to be necessary in order to understand situations where classical general relativity breaks down. In particular in cosmology one has to deal with initial singularities, i.e. the fact that the backward evolution…
It is well known that a closed universe with a minimally coupled massive scalar field always collapses to a singularity unless the initial conditions are extremely fine tuned. We show that the corrections to the equations of motion for the…
We study a type of geometric theory with a non-dynamical one-form field. Its dynamical variables are an $su(2)$ gauge field and a triad of $su(2)$ valued one-forms. Hamiltonian decomposition reveals that the theory has a true Hamiltonian,…
Loop quantum cosmology is an application of recent developments for a non-perturbative and background independent quantization of gravity to a cosmological setting. Characteristic properties of the quantization such as discreteness of…
We show that the quantization ambiguities of loop quantum cosmology, when considered in wider generality, can be used to produce discretionary dynamical behavior. There is an infinite dimensional space of ambiguities which parallels the…
We consider a dynamical triangulation model of euclidean quantum gravity where the topology is not fixed. This model is equivalent to a tensor generalization of the matrix model of two dimensional quantum gravity. A set of moves is given…
The possible interpretations of a new continuum model for the two-dimensional quantum gravity for $d>1$ ($d$=matter central charge), obtained by carefully treating both diffeomorphism and Weyl symmetries, are discussed. In particular we…
By regarding the vacuum as a perfect fluid with equation of state p=-rho, de Sitter's cosmological model is quantized. Our treatment differs from previous ones in that it endows the vacuum with dynamical degrees of freedom. Instead of being…
We present a quantization of unimodular gravity in the connection representation for a homogeneous, isotropic, and spatially flat cosmological model without matter. In this model, the wave function is governed by a Schr\"odinger-type…
The use of techniques from loop quantum gravity for cosmological models may solve some difficult problems in quantum cosmology. The solutions under a number of circumstances have been well studied. We will analyse the behaviour of solutions…
If the gravitational field is quantized, then a solution of Einstein's field equations is a valid cosmological model only if it corresponds to a classical limit of a quantum cosmology. To determine which solutions are valid requires looking…
The requirement that physical phenomena associated with gravitational collapse should be duly reconciled with the postulates of quantum mechanics implies that at a Planckian scale our world is not 3+1 dimensional. Rather, the observable…
We describe a non-perturbative approach to studying the gravitational collapse of a scalar field in spherical symmetry with quantum gravity corrections. Quantum effects are described by a phase space function that modifies the constraints…
New progress in loop gravity has lead to a simple model of `general-covariant quantum field theory'. I sum up the definition of the model in self-contained form, in terms accessible to those outside the subfield. I emphasize its formulation…
The idea of the quantum state of the Universe described by some density matrix, i.e mixture of at least two vacua, the trivial symmetric and the nontrivial one with spontaneously broken symmetry is discussed. Nonzero cosmological constant…