Related papers: Dark Matter, Quantum Gravity, Vacuum Energy, and L…
Various TeVeS-inspired and f(R)-inspired theories of gravity have added an interesting twist to the search for dark matter and vacuum energy, modifying the landscape of astrophysics day by day. These theories can be together called a {\bf…
The topic of Lorentz invariance violation is a fundamental question in physics that has taken on particular interest in theoretical explorations of quantum gravity scenarios. I discuss various gamma-ray observations that give limits on…
We give an overview of ongoing searches for effects motivated by the study of the quantum-gravity problem. We describe in greater detail approaches which have not been covered in recent ``Quantum Gravity Phenomenology'' reviews. In…
Contrary to what is often stated, a fundamental spacetime discreteness need not contradict Lorentz invariance. A causal set's discreteness is in fact locally Lorentz invariant, and we recall the reasons why. For illustration, we introduce a…
A very short, non-technical review of the main problems which are presently open in the context of the gravitational theory and of its cosmological applications, and which are currently under investigation and deep discussion. We will talk…
The assumption of Lorentz invariance is one of the founding principles of Modern Physics and violation of it would have profound implications to our understanding of the universe. For instance, certain theories attempting a unified theory…
The vacuum condensate due to neutrino and quark mixing behaves as a perfect fluid and, at the present epoch, as a cosmological constant. The very small breaking of the Lorentz invariance constrains today the value of the dark energy.
We describe a refined version of a previous proposal for the exploration of quantum gravity phenomenology. Unlike the original scheme, the one presented here is free from sign ambiguities while it shares with the previous one the essential…
A quantum gravity theory which becomes renormalizable at short distances due to a spontaneous symmetry breaking of Lorentz invariance and diffeomorphism invariance is studied. A breaking of Lorentz invariance with the breaking patterns…
The problem of finding the quantum theory of the gravitational field, and thus understanding what is quantum spacetime, is still open. One of the most active of the current approaches is loop quantum gravity. Loop quantum gravity is a…
We point out that the physics at the extreme IR---cosmology---might provide tests of the physics of the extreme UV---the Weak Gravity Conjecture. The current discrepancies in the determination of $H_0$ may hint at a modification of…
In this article we address the mystery of dark matter. We expound the various evidences, astrophysical and cosmological, leading to hypothesize the existence of an invisible form of matter, whose attempts at detecting it have so far all…
The mixing of neutrinos and quarks generate a vacuum condensate that, at the present epoch, behaves as a cosmological constant. The value of the dark energy is constrained today by the very small breaking of the Lorentz invariance.
It is suggested that the apparently disparate cosmological phenomena attributed to so-called 'dark matter' and 'dark energy' arise from the same fundamental physical process: the emergence, from the quantum level, of spacetime itself. This…
To the astrophysicist faced with the puzzle of dark matter, this one appears under two different aspects: on the one hand in cosmology, i.e. at very large scales, where it seems to be made of a bath of particles; on the other hand at the…
Relativity and quantum mechanics are generalized by considering a finite limit for the smallest measurable distance. The value a of this quantum of length is unknown, but it is a universal constant, like c and h. It depends on the total…
A great number of problems of relativistic position in quantum mechanics are due to the use of coordinates which are not inherent objects of spacetime, cause unnecessary complications and can lead to misconceptions. We apply a…
Consider the interior of a black hole or the very early universe: matter is so densely localized that neither the effects of gravity nor those of quantum theory can be ignored. But this entails that neither general relativity nor quantum…
The problem of cosmological constant and vacuum energy is usually thought of as the subject of general relativity. However, the vacuum energy is important for the Universe even in the absence of gravity, i.e. in the case when the Newton…
The suspicion that the existence of a minimal uncertainty in position measurements violates Lorentz invariance seems unfounded. It is shown that the existence of such a nonzero minimal uncertainty in position is not only consistent with…