Quantum gravity is a research area in theoretical physics that seeks a consistent, predictive framework unifying general relativity with quantum mechanics by quantizing the gravitational field. It investigates regimes where spacetime curvature and quantum effects are simultaneously significant, such as near singularities and at the Planck scale, and aims to resolve conceptual tensions including the problem of time, the nature of spacetime microstructure, and black hole information dynamics. Major approaches include string theory, loop quantum gravity, asymptotic safety, causal dynamical triangulations, and emergent gravity scenarios, each proposing distinct mathematical formalisms and testable phenomenological implications for high-energy, cosmological, or precision-gravity experiments.
A team led by Stevens professor Igor Pikovski has just outlined how to detect single gravitons, thought to be the quantum building blocks of gravity—and making that experiment real should be possible with quantum technology, ...
General Physics
Aug 27, 2024
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In a development at the intersection of quantum mechanics and general relativity, researchers have made significant strides toward unraveling the mysteries of quantum gravity. This work sheds new light on future experiments ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 5, 2024
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Gravity is one of four fundamental interactions. The most precise description of this force is still provided by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published in 1915, an entirely classical theory. This description sets ...
General Physics
May 7, 2024
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Gravity is part of our everyday life. Still, the gravitational force remains mysterious: to this day we do not understand whether its ultimate nature is geometrical, as Einstein envisaged, or governed by the laws of quantum ...
General Physics
May 1, 2024
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Several thousand sensors distributed over a square kilometer near the South Pole are tasked with answering one of the large outstanding questions in physics: does quantum gravity exist? The sensors monitor neutrinos—particles ...
General Physics
Mar 26, 2024
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Scientists are a step closer to unraveling the mysterious forces of the universe after working out how to measure gravity on a microscopic level.
Quantum Physics
Feb 23, 2024
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One of the greatest challenges of modern physics is to find a coherent method for describing phenomena, on the cosmic and microscale. For over a hundred years, to describe reality on a cosmic scale we have been using general ...
Attempts to turn string theory into a workable theory of nature have led to the potential conclusion that our universe is a hologram—that what we perceive as three spatial dimensions is actually composed of only two. The ...
General Physics
Dec 21, 2023
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