Related papers: Recent Conceptual Consequences of Loop Quantum Gra…

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…

Quantum gravity has long been thought to be completely decoupled from experiments or observations. Although it is true that smoking guns are still missing, there are now serious hopes that quantum gravity phenomena might be tested. We…

Motivated by the question what it is that makes quantum mechanics a holistic theory (if so), I try to define for general physical theories what we mean by `holism'. For this purpose I propose an epistemological criterion to decide whether…

We discuss some conceptual issues that any approach to quantum gravity has to confront. In particular, it is argued that one has to find a theory that can be interpreted in a realist manner, because theories with an instrumentalist…

Loop quantum gravity, a non-perturbative and manifestly background free, quantum theory of gravity implies that at the kinematical level the spatial geometry is discrete in a specific sense. The spirit of background independence also…

One of the main challenges in theoretical physics over the last five decades has been to reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity into a theory of quantum gravity. However, such a theory has been proved to be hard to attain due…

The goal of this article is to present an introduction to loop quantum gravity -a background independent, non-perturbative approach to the problem of unification of general relativity and quantum physics, based on a quantum theory of…

We present a straightforward and self-contained introduction to the basics of the loop approach to quantum gravity, and a derivation of what is arguably its key result, namely the spectral analysis of the area operator. We also discuss the…

In this article we review the foundations and the present status of loop quantum gravity. It is short and relatively non-technical, the emphasis is on the ideas, and the flavor of the techniques. In particular, we describe the kinematical…

Canonical quantum gravity provides insights into the quantum dynamics as well as quantum geometry of space-time by its implications for constraints. Loop quantum gravity in particular requires specific corrections due to its quantization…

This essay presents an accessible introduction to the basic motivations to seek a quantum theory of gravity. It focuses on one approach- loop quantum gravity - as an example of the rich philosophical issues that arise when we try to combine…

A general, incomplete and partisan overview of various areas of the theoretical investigation is presented. Most of this activity stems from the search for physics beyond quantum field theory and general relativity, a titanic struggle that,…

Since the early days of search for a quantum theory of gravity the attempts have been mostly concentrated on the quantization of an otherwise classical system. The two most contentious candidate theories of gravity, sting theory and quantum…

The question of what ontological message (if any) is encoded in the formalism of contemporary physics is, to say the least, controversial. The reasons for this state of affairs are psychological and neurobiological. The processes by which…

A simple model is constructed which allows to compute modified dispersion relations with effects from loop quantum gravity. Different quantization choices can be realized and their effects on the order of corrections studied explicitly. A…

We portray the structure of quantum gravity emerging from recent progress in understanding the quantum mechanics of an evaporating black hole. Quantum gravity admits two different descriptions, based on Euclidean gravitational path integral…

The search for a consistent and empirically established quantum theory of gravity is among the biggest open problems of fundamental physics. The obstacles are of formal and of conceptual nature. Here, I address the main conceptual problems,…

We consider the implications of some simple assumptions about the nature of the quantum theory of gravity which are plausible for a class of possible theories I have been attempting to construct. The simple assumptions turn out to have…

The aim of this dissertation is to review `Loop Quantum Gravity', explaining the main structure of the theory and indicating its main open issues. We will develop the two main lines of research for the theory: the canonical quantization…

As a canonical and generally covariant gauge theory, loop quantum gravity requires special techniques to derive effective actions or equations. If the proper constructions are taken into account, the theory, in spite of considerable…