scholarly journals QUANTUM GRAVITY, DYNAMICAL ENERGY–MOMENTUM SPACE AND VACUUM ENERGY

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (35) ◽  
pp. 2947-2954 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAY NAM CHANG ◽  
DJORDJE MINIC ◽  
TATSU TAKEUCHI

We argue that the combination of the principles of quantum theory and general relativity allow for a dynamical energy–momentum space. We discuss the freezing of vacuum energy in such a dynamical energy–momentum space and present a phenomenologically viable seesaw formula for the cosmological constant in this context.

Symmetry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephon Alexander ◽  
Joao Magueijo ◽  
Lee Smolin

We present an extension of general relativity in which the cosmological constant becomes dynamical and turns out to be conjugate to the Chern–Simons invariant of the Ashtekar connection on a spatial slicing. The latter has been proposed Soo and Smolin as a time variable for quantum gravity: the Chern–Simons time. In the quantum theory, the inverse cosmological constant and Chern–Simons time will then become conjugate operators. The “Kodama state” gets a new interpretation as a family of transition functions. These results imply an uncertainty relation between Λ and Chern–Simons time; the consequences of which will be discussed elsewhere.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lay Nam Chang ◽  
Zachary Lewis ◽  
Djordje Minic ◽  
Tatsu Takeuchi

We review our work on the minimal length uncertainty relation as suggested by perturbative string theory. We discuss simple phenomenological implications of the minimal length uncertainty relation and then argue that the combination of the principles of quantum theory and general relativity allow for a dynamical energy-momentum space. We discuss the implication of this for the problem of vacuum energy and the foundations of nonperturbative string theory.


2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 2265-2268 ◽  
Author(s):  
VIQAR HUSAIN

We describe a link between the cosmological constant problem and the problem of time in quantum gravity. This arises from examining the relationship between the cosmological constant and vacuum energy in light of nonperturbative formulations of quantum gravity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 1442006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Freidel ◽  
Robert G. Leigh ◽  
Djordje Minic

In a natural extension of the relativity principle, we speculate that a quantum theory of gravity involves two fundamental scales associated with both dynamical spacetime as well as dynamical momentum space. This view of quantum gravity is explicitly realized in a new formulation of string theory which involves dynamical phase-space and in which spacetime is a derived concept. This formulation naturally unifies symplectic geometry of Hamiltonian dynamics, complex geometry of quantum theory and real geometry of general relativity. The spacetime and momentum space dynamics, and thus dynamical phase-space, is governed by a new version of the renormalization group (RG).


2020 ◽  
pp. 41-70
Author(s):  
Dean Rickles

In this chapter we examine the very earliest work on the problem of quantum gravity (understood very liberally). We show that, even before the concept of the quantization of the gravitational field in 1929, there was a fairly lively investigation of the relationships between gravity and quantum stretching as far back as 1916, and certainly no suggestion that such a theory would not be forthcoming. Indeed, there are, rather, many suggestions explicitly advocating that an integration of quantum theory and general relativity (or gravitation, at least) is essential for future physics, in order to construct a satisfactory foundation. We also see how this belief was guided by a diverse family of underlying agendas and constraints, often of a highly philosophical nature.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 1797-1818 ◽  
Author(s):  
VISHNU JEJJALA ◽  
DJORDJE MINIC

The cosmological constant problem is turned around to argue for a new foundational physics postulate underlying a consistent quantum theory of gravity and matter, such as string theory. This postulate is a quantum equivalence principle which demands a consistent gauging of the geometric structure of canonical quantum theory. We argue that string theory can be formulated to accommodate such a principle, and that in such a theory the observed cosmological constant is a fluctuation about a zero value. This fluctuation arises from an uncertainty relation involving the cosmological constant and the effective volume of space–time. The measured, small vacuum energy is dynamically tied to the large "size" of the universe, thus violating naive decoupling between small and large scales. The numerical value is related to the scale of cosmological supersymmetry breaking, supersymmetry being needed for a nonperturbative stability of local Minkowski space–time regions in the classical regime.


Author(s):  
S. Majid

We consider Hilbert’s problem of the axioms of physics at a qualitative or conceptual level. This is more pressing than ever as we seek to understand how both general relativity and quantum theory could emerge from some deeper theory of quantum gravity, and in this regard I have previously proposed a principle of self-duality or quantum Born reciprocity as a key structure. Here, I outline some of my recent work around the idea of quantum space–time as motivated by this non-standard philosophy, including a new toy model of gravity on a space–time consisting of four points forming a square. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Hilbert’s sixth problem’.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (02) ◽  
pp. 1450012 ◽  
Author(s):  
ORLANDO LUONGO ◽  
HERNANDO QUEVEDO

The problem of the cosmic acceleration is here revisited by using the fact that the adiabatic speed of sound can be assumed to be negligible small. Within the context of general relativity, the total energy budget is recovered under the hypothesis of a vanishing speed of sound by assuming the existence of one fluid only. We find a cosmological model which reproduces the main results of the ΛCDM paradigm at late-times, showing an emergent cosmological constant, which is not at all related with the vacuum energy term. As a consequence, the model presented here behaves as a unified dark energy (DE) model.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (08n09) ◽  
pp. 1545-1548 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. MAIA ◽  
A. J. S. CAPISTRANO ◽  
E. M. MONTE

General relativity postulates the Minkowski space-time as the standard (flat) geometry against which we compare all curved space-times and also as the gravitational ground state where particles, quantum fields and their vacua are defined. On the other hand, experimental evidences tell that there exists a non-zero cosmological constant, which implies in a deSitter ground state, which not compatible with the assumed Minkowski structure. Such inconsistency is an evidence of the missing standard of curvature in Riemann's geometry, which in general relativity manifests itself in the form of the cosmological constant problem. We show how the lack of a curvature standard in Riemann's geometry can be fixed by Nash's theorem on metric perturbations. The resulting higher dimensional gravitational theory is more general than general relativity, similar to brane-world gravity, but where the propagation of the gravitational field along the extra dimensions is a mathematical necessity, rather than a postulate. After a brief introduction to Nash's theorem, we show that the vacuum energy density must remain confined to four-dimensional space-times, but the cosmological constant resulting from the contracted Bianchi identity represents a gravitational term which is not confined. In this case, the comparison between the vacuum energy and the cosmological constant in general relativity does not make sense. Instead, the geometrical fix provided by Nash's theorem suggests that the vacuum energy density contributes to the perturbations of the gravitational field.


Author(s):  
S. A. Larin

We analyze the R + R2 model of quantum gravity where terms quadratic in the curvature tensor are added to the General Relativity action. This model was recently proved to be a self-consistent quantum theory of gravitation, being both renormalizable and unitary. The model can be made practically indistinguishable from General Relativity at astrophysical and cosmological scales by the proper choice of parameters.


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