Related papers: The Great Rift in Physics
Quantum gravity was born as that branch of modern theoretical physics that tries to unify its guiding principles, i.e., quantum mechanics and general relativity. Nowadays it is providing new insight into the unification of all fundamental…
This paper can be seen as an exercise in how to adapt quantum mechanics from a strict relativistic perspective while being respectful and critical towards the experimental achievements of the contemporary theory. The result is a fully…
We challenge the view that there is a basic conflict between the fundamental principles of Quantum Theory and General Relativity, and in particular the fact that a superposition of massive bodies would lead to a violation of the Equivalence…
We review different approaches to quantum gravity in which spacetime is emerging. We discuss in some detail the proposals by G. Volovik and S. Lloyd and show how they differ in the way they treat time. We further propose an approach to…
The major advances in physics have been through counterintuitive breakthroughs-- ideas that seemed to go against prevailing convictions. In the twentieth century the Special and General Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics have…
We explore the idea that the coupling between matter and spacetime is more complex than the one originally envisioned by Einstein. We propose that such coupling takes the form of a new fundamental tensor in the Einstein field equations. We…
The renaissance of General Relativity witnessed considerable progress regarding both understanding and justifying Einstein's equations. Both general relativists and historians of the subject tend to share a view, General Relativity…
The unification of quantum theory and the general theory of relativity - describing gravity, is one of the most important challenges in science. Einstein's general theory of relativity is based on the principle of equivalence, and has been…
General relativity can be recast as a theory of connections by performing a canonical transformation on its phase space. In this form, its (kinematical) structure is closely related to that of Yang-Mills theory and topological field…
I argue that Einstein overlooked an important aspect of the relativity of time in never quite realizing his quest to embody Mach's principle in his theory of gravity. As a step towards that goal, I broaden the Strong Equivalence Principle…
In view of the enormous difficulties we seem to face in quantizing general relativity, we should perhaps consider the possibility that gravity is a fundamentally classical interaction. Theoretical arguments against such mixed…
Although the standard viewpoint in theoretical physics is that the unification of quantum theory and general relativity requires the quantization of gravity and spacetime, there is not consensus about whether spacetime must fundamentally…
In light of a recent reformulation of Bell's theorem from causal principles by Howard Wiseman and the author, I argue that the conflict between quantum theory and relativity brought up by Bell's work can be softened by a revision of our…
Quantum field theory (QFT) based on the principles of special relativity (SR) and it is in fact the \emph{kinematic theory of fields}. The root assumption is that there is "relativistic description" of \emph{any} isolated quantum system in…
Time is absolute in standard quantum theory and dynamical in general relativity. The combination of both theories into a theory of quantum gravity leads therefore to a "problem of time". In my essay I shall investigate those consequences…
In general relativity, the picture of spacetime assigns an ideal clock to each worldline. Being ideal, gravitational effects due to these clocks are ignored and the flow of time according to one clock is not affected by the presence of…
It is generally believed that quantum gravity is necessary to resolve the known tensions between general relativity and the quantum field theories of the standard model. Since perturbatively quantized gravity is non-renormalizable, the…
The idea of gravity as an "emergent" phenomenon has gained popularity in recent years. I discuss some of the obstacles that any such model must overcome in order to agree with the observational underpinnings of general relativity.
It is argued that the standard quantum mechanical description of the Bell correlations between entangled subsystems is in conflict with relativistic space-time symmetry. Proposals to abandon relativistic symmetry, in the sense of explicitly…
Gravitation is the common underlying texture between General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. We take gravitation as the link that can make possible the marriage between these two sciences. We use here the duality of Nature for…