Quantum Gravity

I propose a quantum gravity model in which the fundamental degrees of freedom are pure information bits for both discrete space-time points and links connecting them. The Hamiltonian is a very simple network model consisting of a ferromagnetic Ising model for space-time vertices and an antiferromagnetic Ising model for the links. As a result of the frustration arising between these two terms, the ground state self-organizes as a new type of low-clustering graph with finite Hausdorff dimension. The model has three quantum phases: a mean field phase in which the spectral and Hausdorff dimensions coincide and are larger then 4. A fluctuations-dominated phase in which the Hausdorff dimension can only be 4 and the spectral dimension is lower than the Hausdorff dimension and a disordered phase in which there is no space-time interpretation. The large-scale dimension 4 of the universe is related to the upper critical dimension 4 of the Ising model. An ultraviolet fixed point at the lower critical dimension of the Ising model implies the absence of space-time at very small scales. At finite temperatures the universe emerges without big bang and without singularities from a ferromagnetic phase transition in which space-time itself forms out of a hot soup of information bits. When the temperature is lowered the universe unfolds and expands by lowering its connectivity, a mechanism I have called topological expansion. The model admits also macroscopic black hole configurations corresponding to graphs containing holes with no space time inside and around which there are "Schwarzschild-like horizons" with a lower spectral dimension and an entropy proportional to their surface. 

I will discuss a new duality between strongly coupled and weakly coupled condensed matter systems. It can be obtained by combining the gauge-gravity duality with analog gravity. In my talk I will explain how one arrives at the new duality, what it can be good for, and what questions this finding raises.

In an approach to quantum gravity where space-time arises from coarse graining of fundamentally discrete structures, black hole formation and subsequent evaporation could be described by a unitary evolution without the problems encountered by standard remnant scenarios or the schemes where information is assumed to come out with the radiation while semiclassical evaporation (firewalls and complementarity). I point out the possibility that the final state is purified by correlations with the fundamental pre-geometric structures (in the sense of Wheeler) which are available in such approaches, and, like defects in the underlying space-time weave, can carry zero energy.

We present a new description of discrete space-time in 1+1 dimensions in terms of a set of elementary geometrical units that represent its independent classical degrees of freedom. This is achieved by means of a binary encoding that is ergodic in the class of space-time manifolds respecting coordinate invariance of general relativity. Space-time fluctuations can be represented in a classical lattice gas model whose Boltzmann weights are constructed with the discretized form of the Einstein-Hilbert action. Within this framework, it is possible to compute basic quantities such as the Ricci curvature tensor and the Einstein equations, and to evaluate the path integral of discrete gravity. The description as a lattice gas model also provides a novel way of quantization and, at the same time, to quantum simulation of fluctuating space-time.

Modern physics rests on two basic frameworks, quantum theory and general relativity. Quantum gravity aims to unify these two frameworks into one consistent theory. One can expect that such a formulation delivers in particular a novel understanding of space and time as quantum objects.

I will give an introduction to some basic concepts in quantum gravity research and present possible models of quantum space time.

Thanks to the spectacular observational advances since the 1990s, a `standard model' of the early universe has now emerged. However, since it is based on quantum field theory in curved space-times, it is not applicable in the Planck era. Using techniques from loop quantum gravity, the theory can be extended over the 12 orders of magnitude in density and curvature from the onset of inflation all the way back to the Planck regime, providing us with a possible completion of the standard model.

Contrary to a wide-spread belief, the resulting pre-inflationary dynamics can have observational consequences for the longest wave length modes of cosmological perturbations. Thus, there is now an an interesting interplay between fundamental theory and observations. The talk will provide a broad overview of these results addressed to non-experts.

Web-links:

Viewpoint: A glance at the earliest universe; APS Physics Spotlighting Exceptional Research: http://physics.aps.org/articles/v5/142

U tube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFcQuEw0oY8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUtOgK

mAM4MeFu-jd-HB3_cg