Related papers: Quantum fluctuations of space-time
One aspect of the quantum nature of spacetime is its "foaminess" at very small scales. Many models for spacetime foam are defined by the accumulation power $\alpha$, which parameterizes the rate at which Planck-scale spatial uncertainties…
We critically discuss the measure of very short time intervals. By means of a "gedankenexperiment", we describe an ideal clock based on the occurrence of completely random events. We show that the minimum time interval Delta t that this…
In recent years, the breakdown of spacetime symmetries has been identified as a promising research field in the context of Planck-scale phenomenology. For example, various theoretical approaches to the quantum-gravity problem are known to…
We consider a possibility to construct a quantum-mechanical model of spacetime, where Planck size quantum black holes act as the fundamental constituents of space and time. Spacetime is assumed to be a graph, where black holes lie on the…
I briefly review some scenarios for the role of the Planck length in quantum gravity. In particular, I examine the differences between the schemes in which quantum gravity is expected to introduce a maximum acceleration and the schemes in…
Planck-scale physics challenges the classical smooth-spacetime picture by introducing quantum fluctuations that imply a nontrivial spacetime microstructure. We present a framework that encodes these fluctuations by promoting local scale…
It is shown that quantum uncertainty of motion in systems controlled mainly by gravity generally grows with orbital timescale $H^{-1}$, and dominates classical motion for trajectories separated by distances less than $\approx H^{-3/5}$ in…
It is generally argued that the combined effect of Heisenberg principle and general relativity leads to a minimum time uncertainty. Most of the analyses supporting this conclusion are based on a perturbative approach to quantization. We…
A model of Lorentz invariant random fluctuations in photon polarization is presented. The effects are frequency dependent and affect the polarization of photons as they propagate through space. We test for this effect by confronting the…
The quantum fluctuations of horizons in Robertson-Walker universes and in the Schwarzschild spacetime are discussed. The source of the metric fluctuations is taken to be quantum linear perturbations of the gravitational field. Lightcone…
A basic inconsistency arises when the Theory of Special Relativity meets with quantum phenomena at the Planck scale. Specifically, the Planck length is Lorentz invariant and should not be affected by a Lorentz boost. We argue that Planckian…
We propose that the observed value of the cosmological constant may be explained by a fundamental uncertainty in the spacetime metric, which arises when combining the principle that mass and energy curve spacetime with the quantum…
Nondifferentiable fluctuations in space-time on a Planck scale introduce stochastic terms into the equations for quantum states, resulting in a proposed new foundation for an existing alternative quantum theory, primary state diffusion…
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…
A possibility to describe quantum gravitational fluctuations of the spacetime background is provided by virtual $D$-branes. These effects may induce a tiny violation of the Lorentz invariance (as well as a possible violation of the…
We show that the fluctuations of quantum fields as seen by late comoving observers are significantly influenced by the history of the early Universe, and therefore they transmit information about the nature of spacetime in timescales when…
By analyzing a gedanken experiment designed to measure the distance $l$ between two spatially separated points, we find that this distance cannot be measured with uncertainty less than $(ll_P^2)^{1/3}$, considerably larger than the Planck…
We argue that massive quantum fields source low-frequency long-wavelength metric fluctuations through the quantum fluctuations of their stress-energy, given reasonable assumptions about the analytic structure of its correlators. This can be…
This paper considers the effects of gravitational induced uncertainty on some well-known quantum optics issues. First we will show that gravitational effects at quantum level destroy the notion of harmonic oscillations. Then it will be…
The effect of Planck scale quantum geometrical effects on measurements with interferometers is estimated with standard physics, and with a variety of proposed extensions. It is shown that effects are negligible in standard field theory with…