English

Symmetry Reduced Loop Quantum Gravity: A Bird's Eye View

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2017-06-21 v2 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

This is a brief overview of the current status of symmetry reduced models in Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), focussing on the very early universe. Over the last 3 years or so the subject has matured sufficiently to make direct contact with observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). In particular, thanks to an unforeseen interplay between the ultraviolet features of quantum geometry and the infrared properties of quantum fields representing cosmological perturbations, \emph{Planck scale effects} of LQG can leave imprints on CMB \emph{at the largest angular scales}. In addition to a summary of these results, the article also contains a critical discussion of the symmetry reduction procedure used in discussions of quantum cosmology (and quantum black holes).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1605.02648,
  title  = {Symmetry Reduced Loop Quantum Gravity: A Bird's Eye View},
  author = {Abhay Ashtekar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1605.02648},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

25 pages, 2 figures. References updated; typos corrected. The abstract is expanded for readers who may not see the special volume of the journal in which this article will appear

R2 v1 2026-06-22T13:56:32.255Z