Related papers: The Minimal Length and Large Extra Dimensions
We present a simple gedanken experiment in which a compact object traverses a spacetime with three macroscopic spatial dimensions and $n$ compact dimensions. The compactification radius is allowed to vary, as a function of the object's…
We show that no device or gedanken experiment is capable of measuring a distance less than the Planck length. By "measuring a distance less than the Planck length" we mean, technically, resolve the eigenvalues of the position operator to…
Some recent studies of the properties of D-particles suggest that in string theory a rather conventional description of spacetime might be available up to scales that are significantly smaller than the Planck length. We test this…
The starting point of this work is the axiomatic existence of a smallest measurable interval, viz. the Planck time $t_P$, set by quantum fluctuations in the vacuum metric tensor. By the Relativity Principle, the same limit must then apply…
We consider a model for an underpinning of the universe: there are oscillators at the Planck scale in the background dark energy. Starting from a coherent array of such oscillators it is possible to get a description from elementary…
We consider classically scale-invariant theories with non-minimally coupled scalar fields, where the Planck mass and the hierarchy of physical scales are dynamically generated. The classical theories possess a fixed point, where scale…
We show that quantum mechanics and general relativity imply the existence of a minimal length. To be more precise, we show that no operational device subject to quantum mechanics, general relativity and causality could exclude the…
We study some phenomenological implications of models where the scale of quantum gravity effects lies much below the four-dimensional Planck scale. These models arise from M-theory vacua where either the internal space volume is large or…
By combining swampland conjectures with observational data, it was recently suggested that the cosmological hierarchy problem (i.e. the smallness of the dark energy in Planck units) could be understood as an asymptotic limit in field space,…
Generic arguments lead to the idea that quantum gravity has a minimal length scale. A possible observational signal of such a minimal length scale is that photons should exhibit dispersion. In 2009 the observation of a short gamma ray burst…
Lower-dimensionality at higher energies has manifold theoretical advantages as recently pointed out. Moreover, it appears that experimental evidence may already exists for it - a statistically significant planar alignment of events with…
These four lectures, addressed to an audience of graduate students in experimental high energy physics, survey some of the basic concepts in string theory. The purpose is to convey a general sense of what string theory is and what it has…
The tension, if not outright inconsistency, between quantum physics and general relativity is one of the great problems facing physics at the turn of the millennium. Most often, the problems arising in merging Einstein gravity and quantum…
The Swampland program, which looks for low energy theories consistent with quantum gravity, has led to the introduction of a dark dimension stemming from the cosmological constant. We show that the same argument leads to the emergence of…
The search for a theory of quantum gravity faces two great challenges: the incredibly small scales of the Planck length and time, and the possibility that the observed constants of nature are in part the result of random processes. A…
String theory is the leading candidate for a unified theory of the standard model and gravity. In the last few years theorists have realized that there is a unique structure underlying string theory. In this unification a prominent role is…
The effects of a minimal length are investigated within an algebraically extended theory of General Relativity (GR). Former attempts, to include a minimal length in GR are first resumed, with a conformal factor of the metric as a…
This is the first part in a series of two papers, where we consider a specific microscopic model of spacetime. In our model Planck size quantum black holes are taken to be the fundamental building blocks of space and time. Spacetime is…
In this paper we first observe some interesting parallels between Planck scale considerations and elementary particle Compton wavelength scale considerations, particularly in the context of Wheeler's space time foam and a space time arising…
To connect supergravity with the real world, a highly non-trivial requirement is complete spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in an approximately flat four-dimensional space-time. In no-scale supergravity models, this naturally happens at…