International Journal of Modern Physics D

We may call “alien particles” those particles belonging to the matter/field content of a $d$-dimensional brane other than the $3$-brane (or stack of branes) sweeping the spacetime in which we live. They can appear in our spacetime at the regions of intersection between our and their brane. They can be identified (or not) as alien matter depending on their properties, on the physical laws governing their evolution in the “homeland” brane, and on the details of our detection techniques.

We briefly review the problems and prospects of the standard lore of dark energy. We have shown that scalar fields, in principle, cannot address the cosmological constant problem. Indeed, a fundamental scalar field is faced with a similar problem dubbed naturalness. In order to keep the discussion pedagogical, aimed at a wider audience, we have avoided technical complications in several places and resorted to heuristic arguments based on physical perceptions. We presented underlying ideas of modified theories based upon chameleon mechanism and Vainshtein screening. We have given a lucid illustration of recently investigated ghost-free nonlinear massive gravity. Again, we have sacrificed rigor and confined to the basic ideas that led to the formulation of the theory. The review ends with a brief discussion on the difficulties of the theory applied to cosmology.

A frame-dependent effective action motivated by the postulates of three-space general coordinate invariance and Weyl scaling invariance exactly mimics a cosmological constant in Robertson–Walker spacetimes. However, in a static spherically symmetric Schwarzschild-like geometry it modifies the black hole horizon structure within microscopic distances of the nominal horizon, in such a way that $g_{00}$ never vanishes. This could have important implications for the black hole “information paradox”.

Using gauge/gravity duality, we deduce several nontrivial consequences of quantum gravity from simple properties of the dual field theory. These include: (1) a version of cosmic censorship, (2) restrictions on evolution through black hole singularities, and (3) the exclusion of certain cosmological bounces. In the classical limit, the latter implies a new singularity theorem.

Hints from a number of different approaches to quantum gravity point to a phenomenon of “spontaneous dimensional reduction” to two spacetime dimensions near the Planck scale. I examine the physical meaning of the term “dimension” in this context, summarize the evidence for dimensional reduction, and discuss possible physical explanations.

More than three decades ago quadratic gravity was found to present a perturbative, renormalizable and asymptotically free theory of quantum gravity. Unfortunately, the theory appeared to have problems with a spin-2 ghost. In this essay, we revisit quadratic gravity in a different light by considering the case that the asymptotically free interaction flows to a strongly interacting regime. This occurs when the coefficient of the Einstein–Hilbert term is smaller than the scale ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_{\mathrm{\text{QG}}}$ where the quadratic couplings grow strong. Here quantum chromodynamics (QCD) provides some useful insights. By pushing the analogy with QCD, we conjecture that the nonperturbative effects can remove the naive spin-2 ghost and lead to the emergence of general relativity (GR) in the IR.

Common features of known quantum gravity theories may hint at the general nature of quantum gravity. The absence of continuous global symmetries is one such feature. This inspired the Weak Gravity Conjecture, which bounds masses of charged particles. We propose the Lattice Weak Gravity Conjecture, which further requires the existence of an infinite tower of particles of all possible charges under both abelian and nonabelian gauge groups and directly implies a cutoff for quantum field theory. It holds in a wide variety of string theory examples and has testable consequences for the real world and for pure mathematics. We sketch some implications of these ideas for models of inflation, for the QCD axion (and LIGO), for conformal field theory, and for algebraic geometry.

We show from theoretical considerations, that if the graviton is massive, its mass is constrained to be about $10^{-32}{\mathrm{\text{eV/c}}}^2$. This estimate is consistent with those obtained from experiments, including the recent gravitational wave detection in advanced LIGO.

We propose a description of how a large, cold black hole (black zero-brane) in type IIA superstring theory evaporates into freely propagating $D$0-branes, by solving the dual gauge theory quantitatively. The energy spectrum of emitted $D$0-branes is parametrically close to thermal when the black hole is large. The black hole, while initially cold, gradually becomes an extremely hot and stringy object as it evaporates. As it emits $D$0-branes, its emission rate speeds up and it evaporates completely without leaving any remnant. Hence this system provides us with a concrete holographic description of black hole evaporation without information loss.

We revisit Weyl’s metrication (geometrization) of electromagnetism. We show that by making Weyl’s proposed geometric connection be pure imaginary, not only are we able to metricate electromagnetism, an underlying local conformal invariance makes the geometry be strictly Riemannian and prevents observational gravity from being complex. Via torsion, we achieve an analogous metrication for axial-vector fields. We generalize our procedure to Yang–Mills theories, and achieve a metrication of all the fundamental forces. Only in the gravity sector does our approach differ from the standard picture of fundamental forces, with our approach requiring that standard Einstein gravity be replaced by conformal gravity. We show that quantum conformal gravity is a consistent and unitary quantum gravitational theory, one that, unlike string theory, only requires four spacetime dimensions.

We argue that dark matter (DM)and dark energy phenomena associated with galactic rotation curves (RC’s), X-ray cluster mass profiles, and type Ia supernova data can be accounted for via small corrections to idealized general relativistic spacetime geometries due to disordered locality. Accordingly, we fit the HI nearby galaxy survey (THINGS) RC data rivaling modified Newtonian dynamics, Roentgen Satellite/Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ROSAT/ASCA) X-ray cluster mass profile data rivaling metric-skew-tensor gravity, and SCP Union2.1 SN Ia data rivaling $\mathrm{\Lambda }$CDM without nonbaryonic DM or a cosmological constant. In the case of DM, we geometrically modify proper mass interior to the Schwarzschild solution. In the case of dark energy, we modify proper distance in Einstein–de Sitter cosmology. Therefore, the phenomena of DM and dark energy may be chimeras created by an errant belief that spacetime is a differentiable manifold rather than a disordered graph.

Quantum nonlocal correlations and the acausal, spooky action at a distance suggest a discord between quantum theory and special relativity. We propose a resolution for this discord by first observing that there is a problem of time in quantum theory. There should exist a reformulation of quantum theory which does not refer to classical time. Such a reformulation is obtained by suggesting that spacetime is fundamentally noncommutative. Quantum theory without classical time is the equilibrium statistical thermodynamics of the underlying noncommutative relativity. Stochastic fluctuations about equilibrium give rise to the classical limit and ordinary spacetime geometry. However, measurement on an entangled state can be correctly described only in the underlying noncommutative spacetime, where there is no causality violation, nor a spooky action at a distance.

The memory effect is a prediction of general relativity on the same footing as the existence of gravitational waves. The memory effect is understood at future null infinity as a transition induced by null radiation from a Poincaré vacuum to another vacuum. Those are related by a supertranslation, which is a fundamental symmetry of asymptotically flat spacetimes. In this paper, I argue that finite supertranslation diffeomorphisms should be extended into the bulk spacetime consistently with canonical charge conservation. It then leads to fascinating geometrical features of gravitational Poincaré vacua. I then argue that in the process of black hole merger or gravitational collapse, dramatic but computable memory effects occur. They lead to a final stationary metric which qualitatively deviates from the Schwarzschild metric.

The equations of Hamiltonian gravity are often considered ugly cousins of the elegant and manifestly covariant versions found in the Lagrangian theory. However, both formulations are fundamental in their own rights because they make different statements about the nature of spacetime and its symmetries. These implications, along with the history of their derivation and an introduction of recent mathematical support, are the topic of this essay.

We consider a nonstandard model of gravity coupled to a neutral scalar “inflaton” as well as to $SU(2)\times U(1)$ iso-doublet scalar with positive mass squared and without self-interaction, and to $SU(2)\times U(1)$ gauge fields. The principal new ingredient is employing two alternative non-Riemannian spacetime volume-forms (covariant integration measure densities) independent of the metric. The latter have a remarkable impact — although not introducing any additional propagating degrees of freedom, their dynamics triggers a series of important features: appearance of infinitely large flat regions of the effective “inflaton” potential as well as dynamical generation of Higgs-like spontaneous symmetry breaking effective potential for the $SU(2)\times U(1)$ iso-doublet scalar.

The equivalence principle is the conceptual basis for general relativity. In contrast, Mach’s principle, although said to have been influential on Einstein in his formulation of general relativity, has not been shown to be central to the structure of general relativity. In this paper, we suggest that the quantum effects of Hawking and Unruh radiation are a manifestation of a thermal Mach’s principle, where the local thermodynamic properties of the system are determined by the nonlocal structure of the quantum fields which determine the vacuum of a given spacetime. By comparing Hawking and Unruh temperatures for the same local acceleration we find a violation of the Einstein elevator version of the equivalence principle, which vanishes in the limit that the horizon is approached.

We address the question of the uniqueness of the Schwarzschild black hole by considering the following question: How many meaningful solutions of the Einstein equations exist that agree with the Schwarzschild solution (with a fixed mass $m$) everywhere except maybe on a codimension one hypersurface? The perhaps surprising answer is that the solution is unique (and uniquely the Schwarzschild solution everywhere in spacetime) unless the hypersurface is the event horizon of the Schwarzschild black hole, in which case there are actually an infinite number of distinct solutions. We explain this result and comment on some of the possible implications for black hole physics.

Assuming that the early universe had (i) a description using perturbative string theory and its field theory limit, (ii) an epoch of slow-roll inflation within a four-dimensional effective field theory and a hierarchy of scales $M_{\mathrm{\text{inf}}}<m_{kk}<m_s\lesssim M_{\mathrm{\text{Pl}}}$ that keeps the latter under control, we derive an upper bound on the amplitude of primordial gravitational waves. The bound is very sensitive to mild changes in numerical coefficients and the expansion parameters. For example, allowing couplings and mass-squared hierarchies $\lesssim 0.2$ implies $r\lesssim 0.05$, but asking more safely for hierarchies $\lesssim 0.1$, the bound becomes $r\lesssim 10^{-6}$. Moreover, large volumes — typically used in string models to keep backreaction and moduli stabilization under control — drive $r$ down. Consequently, any detection of inflationary gravitational waves would present an interesting but difficult challenge for string theory.

In this paper, we argue that for classical configurations of gravity in the AdS/CFT setup, it is in general impossible to reconstruct the bulk geometry from the leading asymptotic behavior of the classical fields in gravity alone. This is possible sufficiently near the vacuum, but not more generally. We argue this by using a counter-example that utilizes the supersymmetric geometries constructed by Lin, Lunin, and Maldacena. In the dual quantum field theory, the additional data required to complete the geometry is encoded in modes that near the vacuum geometry lie beyond the Planck scale.

A hypothesis of general relativity (GR) is that spacetime torsion vanishes identically. This assumption has no empirical support; in fact, a nonvanishing torsion is compatible with all the experimental tests of GR. The first part of this essay specifies the framework that is suitable to test the vanishing-torsion hypothesis, and an interesting relation with the gravitational degrees of freedom is suggested. In the second part, some original empirical tests are proposed based on the observation that torsion induces new interactions between different spin-polarized particles.

Quantum considerations have led many theorists to believe that classical black hole (BH) physics is modified not just deep inside BHs but at horizon scales, or even further outward. The near-horizon regime has just begun to be observationally probed for astrophysical BHs — both by LIGO, and by the Event Horizon Telescope. This suggests exciting prospects for observational constraints on or discovery of new quantum BH structure. This paper overviews arguments for certain such structure and these prospects.

The fusion of two black holes — a signature phenomenon of General Relativity — is usually regarded as a process so complex that nothing short of a supercomputer simulation can accurately capture it. In this essay, we explain how the event horizon of the merger can be found in an exact analytic way in the limit where one of the black holes is much smaller than the other. Remarkably, the ideas and techniques involved are elementary: the equivalence principle, null geodesics in the Schwarzschild solution, and the notion of event horizon itself. With these, one can identify features such as the line of caustics at which light rays enter the horizon, and find indications of universal critical behavior when the two black holes touch.

We consider the possibility of creating a graviton laser. The lasing medium would be a system of contained, ultra cold neutrons. Ultra cold neutrons are a quantum mechanical system that interacts with gravitational fields and with the phonons of the container walls. It is possible to create a population inversion by pumping the system using the phonons. We compute the rate of spontaneous emission of gravitons and the rate of the subsequent stimulated emission of gravitons. The gain obtainable is directly proportional to the density of the lasing medium and the fraction of the population inversion. The applications of a graviton laser would be interesting.

While general relativity (GR) is our premier theory of gravity, galactic dynamics from the outset has been studied with Newtonian gravity (NG), guided by the long-held belief in the idea of the “Newtonian-limit” of GR. This maintains that when the gravitational field is weak and the velocities are nonrelativistic, NG is the appropriate theory, apart from small corrections at best (such as in GPS tracking). However, there are simple examples of phenomena where there is no NG counterpart. We present a particularly simple new example of the stark difference that NG and weak-field GR exhibit for a modified van Stockum source, which speaks to the flat galactic rotation curve problem. We note that the linear GR compatibility equation in the literature is incomplete. Its completion is vital for our case, leading to a stark contrast between GR and NG for totally flat van Stockum rotation curves.

It is conventionally believed that if a ball of matter of mass $M$ has a radius close to $2$GM then it must collapse to a black hole. But string theory microstates (fuzzballs) have no horizon or singularity, and they do not collapse. We consider two simple examples from classical gravity to illustrate how this violation of our intuition happens. In each case, the ‘matter’ arises from an extra compact dimension, but the topology of this extra dimension is not trivial. The pressure and density of this matter diverge at various points, but this is only an artifact of dimensional reduction; thus, we bypass results like Buchadahl’s theorem. Such microstates give the entropy of black holes, so these topologically nontrivial constructions dominate the state space of quantum gravity.

General covariance is the cornerstone of Einstein’s general relativity (GR) and implies that any two metrics related by diffeomorphisms are physically equivalent. There are, however, many examples pointing to the fact that this strict statement of general covariance needs refinement. There are a very special (measure-zero) subset of diffeomorphisms, the residual diffeomorphisms, to which one can associate well-defined conserved charges. This would hence render these diffeomorphic geometries physically distinct. We discuss that these symmetries may be appropriately called “symplectic symmetries”. Existence of residual diffeomorphisms and symplectic symmetries can be a quite general feature and not limited to the examples discussed so far in the literature. We propose that, in the context of black holes, these diffeomorphic, but distinct, geometries may be viewed as “symplectic soft hair” on black holes. We comment on how this may remedy black hole microstate problem, which in this context are dubbed as “horizon fluffs”.

Copious production of gravitational radiation requires a compact source that moves relativistically. Such sources are rare and are found only in extreme cases such as the formation of a black hole in either via a gravitational collapse or via a merger. Noncompact, nonrelativistic objects emit gravitational radiation, however, this emission is extremely weak due to very large value of the Planck energy. The quantum nature of gravitons, namely the fact that a single graviton carries energy of order $\hslash \omega$ implies that macroscopic objects whose kinetic energy is less than the Planck energy emit gravitons quantum mechanically, emitting a single graviton at a time. This is a unique situation in which a macroscopic object behaves quantum mechanically. While it is impossible to check experimentally this quantum gravitational effect, it might be possible to carry out analogous electromagnetic experiments that will shed light on this macroscopic quantum mechanical behavior.

Recent VLBI observations have resolved Sagittarius A* at horizon scales. The event horizon telescope is expected to provide increasingly good images of the region around the Schwarzschild radius $r_S$ of Sgr A* soon. A number of authors have recently pointed out the possibility that nonperturbative quantum gravitational phenomena could affect the space surrounding a black hole. Here, we point out that the existence of a region around $\frac{7}{6}{r}_S$, where these effects should be maximal.

We describe the effect of the gravitational $\mathrm{\Theta }$-parameter on the behavior of the stretched horizon of a black hole in $(3+1)$-dimensions. The gravitational $\mathrm{\Theta }$-term is a total derivative, however, it affects the transport properties of the horizon. In particular, the horizon acquires a third-order parity violating, dimensionless transport coefficient which affects the way localized perturbations scramble on the horizon. In the context of the gauge/gravity duality, the $\mathrm{\Theta }$-term induces a nontrivial contact term in the energy–momentum tensor of a $(2+1)$-dimensional large-N gauge theory, which admits a dual gravity description. As a consequence, the dual gauge theory in the presence of the $\mathrm{\Theta }$-term acquires the same third-order parity violating transport coefficient.

Leading order gravitational corrections to the Einstein–Hilbert action can lead to a consistent picture of the universe by unifying the epochs of inflation and dark energy in a single framework. While the leading local correction induces an inflationary phase in the early universe, the leading nonlocal term leads to an accelerated expansion of the universe at the present epoch. We argue that both the leading UV and IR terms can be obtained within the framework of a covariant effective field theory of gravity. The perturbative gravitational corrections therefore provide a fundamental basis for understanding a possible connection between the two epochs.

We show using simple arguments, that the conceptual triad of a classical black hole, semi-classical Hawking emission and geometry quantization is inherently, mutually incompatible. Presence of any two explicitly violates the third. We argue that geometry quantization, if realized in nature, magnifies the quantum gravity features hugely to catapult them into the realm of observational possibilities. We also explore a quantum route towards extremality of the black holes.

Stars that are collapsing towards forming a black hole but appear frozen near their Schwarzschild horizon are termed “black stars”. The collision of two black stars leads to gravitational radiation during the merging phase followed by a delayed gamma ray burst during coalescence. The recent observation of gravitational waves by LIGO, followed by a possible gamma ray counterpart by Fermi, suggests that the source may have been a merger of two black stars with profound implications for quantum gravity and the nature of black holes.