scholarly journals On the Emergence of Time in Quantum Gravity

Author(s):  
Jeremy Butterfield ◽  
Chris Isham

This chapter discusses the idea that the treatment of time in present-day physical theories, general relativity and quantum theory, might be an approximation to a very different treatment in the as yet unknown quantum theory of gravity. It considers the general idea that one theory could be emergent from another, emergence being a relation analogous to, but weaker than, intertheoretic reduction. It also gives a broad description of the search for a quantum theory of gravity and some of its interpretative problems. Thereafter, the discussion focuses on the emergence of time in two specific quantum gravity programmes: quantum geometrodynamics and the Euclidean programme. It also addresses the so-called ‘problem of time’. It is really a cluster of problems; technical and conceptual, arising from how time is treated very differently in general relativity and quantum theory.

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maithresh Palemkota ◽  
Tejinder P. Singh

AbstractWe present a new, falsifiable quantum theory of gravity, which we name non-commutative matter-gravity. The commutative limit of the theory is classical general relativity. In the first two papers of this series, we have introduced the concept of an atom of space-time-matter (STM), which is described by the spectral action in non-commutative geometry, corresponding to a classical theory of gravity. We used the Connes time parameter, along with the spectral action, to incorporate gravity into trace dynamics. We then derived the spectral equation of motion for the gravity part of the STM atom, which turns out to be the Dirac equation on a non-commutative space. In the present work, we propose how to include the matter (fermionic) part and give a simple action principle for the STM atom. This leads to the equations for a quantum theory of gravity, and also to an explanation for the origin of spontaneous localisation from quantum gravity. We use spontaneous localisation to arrive at the action for classical general relativity (including matter source) from the action for STM atoms.


Author(s):  
Karel Kuchař

This chapter describes the problem of time in quantum geometrodynamics in more detail. It first describes how the fundamental equation of general relativity can be written as an instantaneous law, indeed as a cousin of a beautiful geometric theorem of Gauss, which Gauss called ‘theoremaegregium’. Then, it describes how the quantization of general relativity leads to the disappearance of time from the formalism, and surveys three ways to respond to the problem. First, one can try to extract a notion of time that will not ‘disappear’ under quantization, from the formalism of classical general relativity. Second, one can try to find a time in the formalism of quantized general relativity. Third, one can conclude that time is only an approximate notion: quantum geometrodynamics, and perhaps quantum theory generally, are to be interpreted in a fundamentally timeless way.


2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-378
Author(s):  
Arundhati Dasgupta

Einstein’s theory of gravity, known as the general theory of relativity was established in 1915. The theory has survived many experimental tests, and the recent discovery of gravity waves announced in 2016 confirms yet another success. In this article we examine some results from quantum general relativity, and ask whether the new quantum theory can survive tests in the same way as its classical origins.


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.


Symmetry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1334
Author(s):  
S. A. Larin

We consider R + R 2 relativistic quantum gravity with the action where all possible terms quadratic in the curvature tensor are added to the Einstein-Hilbert term. This model was shown to be renormalizable in the work by K.S. Stelle. In this paper, we demonstrate that the R + R 2 model is also unitary contrary to the statements made in the literature, in particular in the work by Stelle. New expressions for the R + R 2 Lagrangian within dimensional regularization and the graviton propagator are derived. We demonstrate that the R + R 2 model is a good candidate for the fundamental quantum theory of gravity.


Universe ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislav Alexeyev ◽  
Maxim Sendyuk

We discuss black hole type solutions and wormhole type ones in the effective gravity models. Such models appear during the attempts to construct the quantum theory of gravity. The mentioned solutions, being, mostly, the perturbative generalisations of well-known ones in general relativity, carry out additional set of parameters and, therefore could help, for example, in the studying of the last stages of Hawking evaporation, in extracting the possibilities for the experimental or observational search and in helping to constrain by astrophysical data.


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.


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’.


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiner Georg Ziefle

Newtonian Quantum Gravity (NQG) unifies quantum physics with Newton's theory of gravity and calculates the so-called “general relativistic” phenomena more precisely and in a much simpler way than General Relativity, whose complicated theoretical construct is no longer needed. Newton's theory of gravity is less accurate than Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. Famous examples are the precise predictions of General Relativity at binary pulsars. This is the reason why relativistic physicists claim that there can be no doubt that Einstein's theory of relativity correctly describes our physical reality. With the example of the famous “Hulse-Taylor binary” (also known as PSR 1913 + 16 or PSR B1913 + 16), the author proves that the so-called “general relativistic phenomena” observed at this binary solar system can be calculated without having any knowledge on relativistic physics. According to philosophical and epistemological criteria, this should not be possible, if Einstein's theory of relativity indeed described our physical reality. Einstein obviously merely developed an alternative method to calculate these phenomena without quantum physics. The reason was that in those days quantum physics was not yet generally taken into account. It is not the first time that a lack of knowledge of the underlying physical phenomena has to be compensated by complicated mathematics. Einstein's theory of general relativity indirectly already includes additional quantum physical effects of gravitation. This is the reason why it cannot be possible to unite Einstein's theory of general relativity with quantum physics, unless one uses “mathematical tricks” that make the additional quantum physical effects disappear again in the end.


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