Related papers: Zero-point length from string fluctuations
It has recently been shown that the leading Wilson coefficient in type II string theory can take (almost) all values allowed by unitarity, crossing symmetry and maximal supersymmetry in D=10 and D=9 dimensions. This suggests that string…
The main obstacle in attempts to construct a consistent quantum gravity is the absence of independent flat time. This can in principle be cured by going out to higher dimensions. The modern paradigm assumes that the fundamental theory of…
If the graviton possesses an arbitrarily small (but nonvanishing) mass, perturbation theory implies that cosmic strings have a nonzero Newtonian potential. Nevertheless in Einstein gravity, where the graviton is strictly massless, the…
We here conjecture that two much-studied aspects of quantum gravity, dimensional flow and spacetime fuzziness, might be deeply connected. We illustrate the mechanism, providing first evidence in support of our conjecture, by working within…
This paper examines two cosmological models of quantum gravity (from string theory and loop quantum gravity) to investigate the foundational and conceptual issues arising from quantum treatments of the big bang. While the classical…
Changing the dimensionality of the space-time at the smallest and largest distances has manifold theoretical advantages. If the space is lower dimensional in the high energy regime, then there are no ultraviolet divergencies in field…
Implications of string-string dualities to cosmological string vacua are discussed. Cosmological vacua of classical string theories comprise of disjoint classses mapped one another by scale-factor T-duality. Each classes are, however,…
Fundamental theories, like strings, supergravity, Kaluza-Klein, lead after dimensional reduction and a suitable choice of field configurations, to an effective action in four dimensions where gravity is coupled non-mininally to one scalar…
We propose in this paper a new approach to the Kaluza-Klein idea of a five dimensional space-time unifying gravitation and electromagnetism, and extension to higher-dimensional space-time. By considering a natural geometric definition of a…
A quantum theory of gravity is described in the case of a positive cosmological constant in 3+1 dimensions. Both old and new results are described, which support the case that loop quantum gravity provides a satisfactory quantum theory of…
I briefly summarize a recent research program aiming to probe the landscape of low-energy phases of string theory from a global perspective. Borrowing conceptual lessons from the swampland program, I will discuss how the effective theories…
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…
We argue that the light particles in string theory obey an effective quantum mechanics modified by the inclusion of a quantum-gravitational friction term, induced by unavoidable couplings to unobserved massive string states in the…
It has been shown a specific Horndeski theory of gravity arises from a consistent Kaluza-Klein reduction of the gravi-dilaton sector of the low-energy effective heterotic string action with a first $\alpha'$ correction. Here we provide a…
We consider new cosmological solutions with a collapsing, an intermediate and an expanding phase. The boundary between the expanding (collapsing) phase and the intermediate phase is seen by comoving observers as a cosmological past (future)…
Alternatives to Einstein's theory of general relativity can be distinguished by measuring the parametrised post Newtonian parameters. Two such parameters $\beta$ and $\gamma$, equal to one in Einstein theory, can be obtained from static…
A free test particle in 5-dimensional Kaluza-Klein spacetime will show its electricity in the reduced 4-dimensional spacetime when it moves along the fifth dimension. In the light of this observation, we study the coupling of a…
We consider low energy, non-relativistic scattering of two Dirichlet zero-branes as an exercise in quantum mechanics. For weak string coupling and sufficiently small velocity, the dynamics is governed by an effective U(2) gauge theory in…
We study string field theory (third quantization) of the two-dimensional model of quantum geometry called generalized CDT ("causal dynamical triangulations"). Like in standard non-critical string theory the so-called string field…
The principles of quantum field theory in flat spacetime suggest that gravity is mediated by a massless particle with helicity $\pm2$, the so-called graviton. It is regarded as textbook knowledge that, when the self-coupling of a particle…