Related papers: Degenerate Configurations, Singularities and the N…
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…
Although there is general agreement that a removal of classical gravitational singularities is not only a crucial conceptual test of any approach to quantum gravity but also a prerequisite for any fundamental theory, the precise criteria…
General relativity successfully describes space-times at scales that we can observe and probe today, but it cannot be complete as a consequence of singularity theorems. For a long time there have been indications that quantum gravity will…
A fully consistent linear perturbation theory for cosmology is derived in the presence of quantum corrections as they are suggested by properties of inverse volume operators in loop quantum gravity. The underlying constraints present a…
Most of the potential physical effects of loop quantum gravity have been derived in effective models that modify the constraints of canonical general relativity in specific forms. Emergent modified gravity evaluates important conditions…
In loop quantum gravity, states of the gravitational field turn out to be excitations over a vacuum state that is sharply peaked on a degenerate spatial geometry. While this vacuum is singled out as fundamental due to its invariance…
Inhomogeneities are introduced in loop quantum cosmology using regular lattice states, with a kinematical arena similar to that in homogeneous models considered earlier. The framework is intended to encapsulate crucial features of…
Loop quantum gravity corrections, in the presence of inhomogeneities, can lead to a deformed constraint algebra. Such a deformation implies that the effective theory is no longer generally covariant. As a consequence, the geometrical…
Loop quantum gravity is a mature theory. To proceed to explicit calculations in cosmology, it is necessary to make assumptions and simplifications based on the symmetries of the cosmological setting. Symmetry reduction is especially…
Canonical methods allow the derivation of effective gravitational actions from the behavior of space-time deformations reflecting general covariance. With quantum effects, the deformations and correspondingly the effective actions change,…
Spherically symmetric models of loop quantum gravity have been studied recently by different methods that aim to deal with structure functions in the usual constraint algebra of gravitational systems. As noticed by Gambini and Pullin, a…
Inhomogeneous cosmological perturbation equations are derived in loop quantum gravity, taking into account corrections in particular in gravitational parts. This provides a framework for calculating the evolution of modes in structure…
In quantum models of gravity, it is surmized that configurations with degenerate coframes could occur during topology change of the underlying spacetime structure. However, the coframe is not the true Yang--Mills type gauge field of the…
Loop quantum gravity and cosmology are reviewed with an emphasis on evaluating the dynamics, rather than constructing it. The three crucial parts of such an analysis are (i) deriving effective equations, (ii) controlling the theory's…
Aspects of the full theory of loop quantum gravity can be studied in a simpler context by reducing to symmetric models like cosmological ones. This leads to several applications where loop effects play a significant role when one is…
We explore the extension of quantum cosmology outside the homogeneous approximation, using the formalism of loop quantum gravity. We introduce a model where some of the inhomogeneous degrees of freedom are present, providing a tool for…
Degenerate dynamical systems are characterized by symplectic structures whose rank is not constant throughout phase space. Their phase spaces are divided into causally disconnected, nonoverlapping regions such that there are no classical…
In the last 20 years, loop quantum gravity, a background independent approach to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics, has been widely investigated. The aim of loop quantum gravity is to construct a mathematically rigorous,…
A consistent implementation of quantum gravity is expected to change the familiar notions of space, time and the propagation of matter in drastic ways. This will have consequences on very small scales, but also gives rise to correction…
Loop quantum cosmology is a tentative approach to model the universe down to the Planck era where quantum gravity settings are needed. The quantization of the universe as a dynamical space-time is inspired by Loop Quantum Gravity ideas. In…