Related papers: Singularities and Quantum Gravity
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…
The purpose of this work is to investigate the consequences of quantum gravity for the singularity problem. We study the higher-derivative terms that invariably appear in any quantum field theoretical model of gravity, handling them both…
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…
The occurrence of singularities where spacetime curvature becomes infinite and geodesic evolution breaks down are inevitable events in classical general relativity (GR) unless one chooses an exotic matter violating weak energy condition.…
Singularities in general relativity such as the big bang and big crunch, and exotic singularities such as the big rip are the boundaries of the classical spacetimes. These events are marked by a divergence in the curvature invariants and…
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…
Quantum gravity has matured over the last decade to a theory which can tell in a precise and explicit way how cosmological singularities of general relativity are removed. A branch of the universe "before" the classical big bang is obtained…
Degenerate geometrical configurations in quantum gravity are important to understand if the fate of classical singularities is to be revealed. However, not all degenerate configurations arise on an equal footing, and one must take into…
We will briefly review the definition and classification of classical and quantum singularities in general relativity. Examples of classically singular spacetimes that do not have quantum singularities will be given. We will present results…
Non-minimally coupling a scalar field to gravity introduces an additional curvature term into the action which can change the general behavior in strong curvature regimes, in particular close to classical singularities. While one can…
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,…
The definitions of classical and quantum singularities in general relativity are reviewed. The occurence of quantum mechanical singularities in certain spherically symmetric and cylindrically symmetric (including infinite line…
In recent years, Loop Quantum Gravity has emerged as a solid candidate for a nonperturbative quantum theory of General Relativity. It is a background independent theory based on a description of the gravitational field in terms of…
Singularities in general relativity and quantum field theory are often taken not only to motivate the search for a more-fundamental theory (quantum gravity, QG), but also to characterise this new theory and shape expectations of what it is…
The existence of spacetime singularities is one of the biggest problems of nowadays physics. According to Penrose, each physical singularity should be covered by a "cosmic censor" which prevents any external observer from perceiving their…
The singularity theorems of classical general relativity are briefly reviewed. The extent to which their conclusions might still apply when quantum theory is taken into account is discussed. There are two distinct quantum loopholes: quantum…
The incompatibility between GR and QM is generally seen as a sufficient motivation for the development of a theory of Quantum Gravity. If - so a typical argumentation - QM gives a universally valid basis for the description of all natural…
Black Holes have always played a central role in investigations of quantum gravity. This includes both conceptual issues such as the role of classical singularities and information loss, and technical ones to probe the consistency of…
The paper concerns the fictitious entanglement of the so-called ``singularities'' in problems, pertaining to quantum gravity, due, in point of fact, to the way we try to employ, in that context, differential geometry, the latter being…
Basis and limitations of singularity theorems for Gravity are examined. As singularity is a critical situation in course of time, study of time paths, in full generality of Equivalence principle, provides two mechanisms to prevent…