Related papers: Synge's World function and the quantum spacetime
It has recently been argued that if spacetime $\mathcal M$ possesses non-trivial structure at small scales, an appropriate semi-classical description of it should be based on non-local bi-tensors instead of local tensors such as the metric…
Geodesic flows emanating from an arbitrary point $\mathscr{P}$ in a manifold $\mathscr{M}$ carry important information about the geometric properties of $\mathscr{M}$. These flows are characterized by Synge's world function and van Vleck…
Many generic arguments support the existence of a minimum spacetime interval $L_0$. Such a "zero-point" length can be naturally introduced in a locally Lorentz invariant manner via Synge's world function bi-scalar $\Omega(p,P)$ which…
Classical geometry can be described either in terms of a metric tensor $g_{ab}(x)$ or in terms of the geodesic distance $\sigma^2(x,x')$. Recent work, however, has shown that the geodesic distance is better suited to describe the quantum…
It is generally believed that any quantum theory of gravity should have a generic feature --- a quantum of length. We provide a physical ansatz to obtain an effective non-local metric tensor starting from the standard metric tensor such…
We investigate the quantum structure of spacetime at fundamental scales via a novel, Lorentz-invariant noncommutative coordinate framework. Building on insights from noncommutative geometry, spectral theory, and algebraic quantum field…
A recently-introduced function $\rho$ of spacetime event $P$ expressing spacetime as made of 'spacetime atoms' of quantum origin is considered. Using its defining relation, we provide an exact expression for $\rho$ involving the van Vleck…
A generic implication of incorporating gravitational effects in the analysis of quantum measurements is the existence of a zero-point length of spacetime. This requires an inherently non-local description of spacetime, beyond the usual one…
The study of physics at the Planck scale has garnered significant attention due to its implications for understanding the fundamental nature of the universe. At the Planck scale, quantum fluctuations challenge the classical notion of…
A recently developed tool allows for a description of spacetime as a manifold with a Lorentz-invariant (lower) limit length built-in. This is accomplished in terms of geometric quantities depending on two spacetime events (bitensors) and…
We explain how quantum gravity can be defined by quantizing spacetime itself. A pinpoint is that the gravitational constant G = L_P^2 whose physical dimension is of (length)^2 in natural unit introduces a symplectic structure of spacetime…
We present a new geometry of spacetime where events may be positive dimensional. This geometry is obtained by applying the identity of indiscernibles, which is a fundamental principle of quantum statistics, to time. Quantum nonlocality…
We explore the symmetry reduced form of a non-perturbative solution to the constraints of quantum gravity corresponding to quantum de Sitter space. The system has a remarkably precise analogy with the non-relativistic formulation of a…
We construct a model of quantum gravity in which dimension, topology and geometry of spacetime are dynamical. The microscopic degree of freedom is a real rectangular matrix whose rows label internal flavours, and columns label spatial…
We provide detailed evidence for the claim that nonperturbative quantum gravity, defined through state sums of causal triangulated geometries, possesses a large-scale limit in which the dimension of spacetime is four and the dynamics of the…
A new path integral approach of quantum gravity based on relational variables and quantum test objects is presented. We take as a basic variables the squared invariant distance. This invariant quantity is technically simpler to work with…
A possible way to capture the effects of quantum gravity in spacetime at a mesoscopic scale, for relatively low energies, is through an energy dependent metric, such that particles with different energies probe different spacetimes. In this…
Classical mechanics, relativity, electrodynamics and quantum mechanics are often depicted as separate realms of physics, each with its own formalism and notion. This remains unsatisfactory with respect to the unity of nature and to the…
In the following we undertake to derive quantum theory as a stochastic low-energy and coarse-grained theory from a more primordial discrete and basically geometric theory living on the Planck scale and which (as we argue) possibly underlies…
The cosmological constant Lambda, which has seemingly dominated the primaeval Universe evolution and to which recent data attribute a significant present-time value, is shown to have an algebraic content: it is essentially an eigenvalue of…