Related papers: Reconstructing the Universe
Here we discuss direct links of the number of fundamental dimensions to the fundamental natural constants using simple arguments of dimensional analysis \corr{based on Maxwell's dimensions length (L), time (T) and mass (M) as well as the…
It is shown that the cosmological singularity in isotropic minisuperspaces is naturally removed by quantum geometry. Already at the kinematical level, this is indicated by the fact that the inverse scale factor is represented by a bounded…
It is postulated that quantum gravity is a sum over causal structures coupled to matter via scale evolution. Quantized causal structures can be described by studying simple matrix models where matrices are replaced by an algebra of quantum…
We show that the quantization ambiguities of loop quantum cosmology, when considered in wider generality, can be used to produce discretionary dynamical behavior. There is an infinite dimensional space of ambiguities which parallels the…
Four-dimensional Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) is likely to be an asymptotically safe theory which is applicable at arbitrarily small distance scales. On sub-Planckian distances it predicts that spacetime is a fractal with an effective…
Several lines of evidence suggest that quantum gravity at very short distances may behave effectively as a two-dimensional theory. I summarize these hints, and offer an additional argument based on the strong-coupling limit of the…
We analyze two models of random geometries~: planar hyper-cubic random surfaces and four dimensional simplicial quantum gravity. We show for the hyper-cubic random surface model that a geometrical constraint does not change the critical…
We propose a mathematical structure, based on a noncommutative geometry, which combines essential aspects of general relativity and quantum mechanics, and leads to correct "limiting cases" of both these theories. We quantize a groupoid…
A key challenge for many quantum gravity approaches is to construct states that describe smooth geometries on large scales. Here we define a family of $(2+1)$-dimensional quantum gravity states which arise from curvature excitations…
In these lectures we describe how a theory of quantum gravity may be constructed in terms of a lattice formulation based on so-called causal dynamical triangulations (CDT). We discuss how the continuum limit can be obtained and how to…
Content: 1. Introduction 2. Regge calculus and dynamical triangulations Simplicial manifolds and piecewise linear spaces - dual complex and volume elements - curvature and Regge action - topological invariants - quantum Regge calculus -…
This is a self-contained introduction to quantum Riemannian geometry based on quantum groups as frame groups, and its proposed role in quantum gravity. Much of the article is about the generalisation of classical Riemannian geometry that…
A complete model of the universe needs at least three parts: (1) a complete set of physical variables and dynamical laws for them, (2) the correct solution of the dynamical laws, and (3) the connection with conscious experience. In quantum…
We consider the four-dimensional Euclidean dynamical triangulations lattice model of quantum gravity based on triangulations of $S^{4}$. We couple it minimally to a scalar field in the quenched approximation. Our results suggest a…
We use the mathematical framework of loop quantum gravity (LQG) to study the quantization of three dimensional (Riemannian) gravity with positive cosmological constant (Lambda>0). We show that the usual regularization techniques (successful…
A profound quantum-gravitational effect of space-time dimension running with respect to the size of space-time region has been discovered a few years ago through the numerical simulations of lattice quantum gravity in the framework of…
There exist several different proposals for a measure in Quantum Gravity theories. Although sometimes being labelled as non covariant, the measure derived in [7] for GR has the particularity that, in the extremal, the volume divergences…
I review the field-theoretic renomalization group approach to quantum gravity, built around the existence of a non-trivial ultraviolet fixed point in four dimensions. I discuss the implications of such a fixed point, found in three largely…
Planck scale physics represents a future challenge, located between particle physics and general relativity. The Planck scale marks a threshold beyond which the old description of spacetime breaks down and conceptually new phenomena must…
It has recently been shown via an equivalence of gravitational radius and Compton wavelength in four dimensions that the trans-Planckian regime of gravity may by semi-classical, and that this point is defined by a minimum horizon radius…