Related papers: A Microscopic Recoil Model for Light-Cone Fluctuat…
We argue that quantum-gravitational fluctuations in the space-time background give the vacuum non-trivial optical properties that include diffusion and consequent uncertainties in the arrival times of photons, causing stochastic…
We review the possibility that quantum fluctuations in the structure of space-time at the Planck scale might be subject to experimental probes. We study the effects of space-time foam in an approach inspired by string theory, in which…
It has been suggested that energetic photons propagating in vacuo should experience a non-trivial refractive index due to the foamy structure of space-time induced by quantum-gravitational fluctuations. The sensitivity of recent…
The quantum lightcone fluctuations in flat spacetimes with compactified spatial dimensions or with boundaries are examined. The discussion is based upon a model in which the source of the underlying metric fluctuations is taken to be…
We propose an analog model for quantum gravity effects using nonlinear dielectrics. Fluctuations of the spacetime lightcone are expected in quantum gravity, leading to variations in the flight times of pulses. This effect can also arise in…
The expectation that it should not be possible to gain experimental insight on the structure of space-time at Planckian distance scales has been recently challenged by several studies. With respect to space-time fluctuations, one of the…
Quantum gravitational effects may induce stochastic fluctuations in the structure of space-time, to produce a characteristic foamy structure. It has been known for some time now that these fluctuations may have observable consequences for…
Space--time can be understood as some kind of space--time foam of fluctuating bubbles or loops which are expected to be an outcome of a theory of quantum gravity. One recently discussed model for this kind of space--time fluctuations is the…
We propose a thought experiment to detect low-energy Quantum Gravity phenomena using Quantum Optical Information Technologies. Gravitational field perturbations, such as gravitational waves and quantum gravity fluctuations, decohere the…
Within the general framework of Liouville string theory, we construct a model for quantum D-brane fluctuations in the space-time background through which light closed-string states propagate. The model is based on monopole and vortex…
We revisit a supersymmetric string model for space-time foam, in which bosonic open-string states, such as photons, can possess quantum-gravity-induced velocity fluctuations in vacuum. We argue that the suggestion of light speed variation…
We describe space--time fluctuations by means of small fluctuations of the metric on a given background metric. From a minimally coupled Klein--Gordon equation we obtain within a weak-field approximation up to second order and an averaging…
A satisfactory theory of quantum gravity will very likely require modification of our classical perception of space-time, perhaps by giving it a 'foamy' structure at scales of order the Planck length. This is expected to modify the…
Quantum gravitational effects may induce stochastic fluctuations in the structure of space-time, to produce a characteristic foamy structure. It has been known for some time now that these fluctuations may have observable consequencies for…
We investigate the problem of metric fluctuations in the presence of the vacuum fluctuations of matter fields and critically assess the usual assertion that vacuum energy implies a Planckian cosmological constant. A new stochastic classical…
Quantum fluctuations in spacetime can, in some cases, lead to distortion in astronomical images of faraway objects. In particular, a stochastic model of quantum gravity predicts an accumulated fluctuation in the path length $\Delta L$ with…
We report on work in progress in quantum field theory about possible interactions between coherent matter, i.e. matter described by a macroscopic wave function or a classical field, and a certain class of vacuum fluctuations, called…
The operational meaning of spacetime fluctuations is discussed. Classical spacetime geometry can be viewed as encoding the relations between the motions of test particles in the geometry. By analogy, quantum fluctuations of spacetime…
Quantum fluctuations or other moments of a state contribute to energy expectation values and can imply interesting physical effects. In quantum cosmology, they turn out to be important for a discussion of density bounds and instabilities of…
We analyze the thermal fluctuations of a free, conformally invariant, Maxwell quantum field (photon) interacting with a cosmological background spacetime, in the framework of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes and semiclassical and…