PIRSA:17050053

Through the Big Bang

Sloan, D. (2017). Through the Big Bang. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/17050053

Sloan, David. Through the Big Bang. Perimeter Institute, May. 17, 2017, https://pirsa.org/17050053 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:17050053,
            doi = {10.48660/17050053},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/17050053},
            author = {Sloan, David},
            keywords = {Quantum Gravity},
            language = {en},
            title = {Through the Big Bang},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2017},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:17050053 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

David Sloan University of Oxford

DOI 10.48660/17050053
Collection
Talk Type Conference
Subject

Abstract

I will show how the intrinsic definition of observables in relativity through dynamical similiarity (known as Shape Dynamics) leads to the continuation of Einstein's equations classically through the big bang singularity in simple cosmological scenarios. By appealing to general principles I argue that this is a generic feature, and that the singularity can be viewed as an artifact of the redundant description imposed by absolute length scales. I will then lay out some other welcome features of intrinsic relational systems, and discuss the broader questions raised by a theory of physics that is independent of physical dimensions such as mass and length.