Related papers: A microscopic realization of dS$_3$
We perform a non-perturbative sum over geometries in a (2+1)-dimensional quantum gravity model given in terms of Causal Dynamical Triangulations. Inspired by the concept of triangulations of product type introduced previously, we impose an…
String theory is the most promising candidate for the theory unifying all interactions including gravity. It has an extremely difficult dynamics. Therefore, it is useful to study some its simplifications. One of them is non-critical string…
Large-N matrix models coupled via multitrace operators are used to define, via appropriate double-scaling limits, solvable models of interacting multi-string theories. It is shown that although such theories are non-local at the world-sheet…
I investigate two discrete models of random geometries, namely simplicial quantum gravity and quantum string theory. In four-dimensional simplicial quantum gravity, I show that the addition of matter gauge fields to the model is capable of…
Using the dS/QFT correspondence in the context of inflation allows for the study of interesting, otherwise inaccessible physics. In particular, by studying inflation via its dual field theory at the boundary of the de Sitter space, it may…
The generalized kinetic term of a dilaton gives the classical superinflation without recourse to any potential, and the quantum version of the dilaton gravity exhibits the finite curvature and graceful exit. For $p=2$ case, the model…
We argue that the notion of entanglement in de Sitter space arises naturally from the non-trivial Lorentzian geometry of the spacetime manifold, which consists of two disconnected boundaries and a causally disconnected interior. In four…
The main principles of two-dimensional quantum field theories, in particular two-dimensional QCD and gravity are reviewed. We study non-perturbative aspects of these theories which make them particularly valuable for testing ideas of…
We show that Liouville gravity arises as the limit of pure Einstein gravity in 2+epsilon dimensions as epsilon goes to zero, provided Newton's constant scales with epsilon. Our procedure - spherical reduction, dualization, limit, dualizing…
We solve the Wheeler-DeWitt equation in the 'cosmological interior' (the past causal diamond of future infinity) of four dimensional dS-Schwarzschild spacetimes. Within minisuperspace there is a basis of solutions labelled by a constant…
Recent developments in string compactifications demonstrate obstructions to the simplest constructions of low energy cosmologies with positive vacuum energy. The existence of obstacles to creating scale-separated de Sitter solutions…
A large number of particle species allows to formulate quantum gravity in a special double-scaling limit, the species limit. In this regime, quantum gravitational amplitudes simplify substantially. An infinite set of perturbative…
We determine the complex geometries dual to the semi-classical saddles in three-dimensional gravity with positive or negative cosmological constant. We examine the semi-classical saddles in Liouville field theory and interpret them in terms…
Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the Hilbert space of an isolated de Sitter universe is one dimensional but can appear larger when probed by a gravitating observer. To test this idea, we compute the von Neumann entropy of a field…
We compute the entanglement entropy for some quantum field theories on de Sitter space. We consider a superhorizon size spherical surface that divides the spatial slice into two regions, with the field theory in the standard vacuum state.…
Spin networks, the quantum states of discrete geometry in loop quantum gravity, are directed graphs whose links are labeled by irreducible representations of SU(2), or spins. Cosmic strings are 1-dimensional topological defects carrying…
A review of some errors made by the author and others in their search for quantum models of gravity in cosmological space-times that asymptote to de Sitter (dS) space in the future. The "static de Sitter Hamiltonian", which measures the…
General Relativity is known to produce singularities in the potential generated by a point source. Our universe can be modelled as a de Sitter (dS) metric and we show that ghost-free Infinite Derivative Gravity (IDG) produces a non-singular…
We study two-dimensional string theory on a time-dependent background, whose worldsheet description consists of Liouville theory at central charge c = 1 and Liouville theory at central charge c = 25, together with the conformal ghosts. We…
The reduction of higher dimensional supergravities to low dimensional dilaton gravity theories is outlined. Then a recently proposed new class of integrable theories of 0+1 and 1+1 dimensional dilaton gravity coupled to any number of scalar…