Scale invariant gravity and the quasi-static universe

The fundamental laws of physics are required to be invariant under local spatial scale change. In 3-dimensional space, this leads to a variation in Planck constant \hbar and speed of light c. They vary as \hbar ~ a^(1/2) and c ~ a^(-1/2), a is the local scale. A direct consequence is that the expanding universe progressively alters the values of c which in turn affects the evolution of the universe itself. Friedmann eqns violate scale invariance and neglect to account for the...

The asymptotic safety program strives for a consistent description of gravity as a non-perturbatively renormalizable quantum field theory. In this framework the gravitational interactions are encoded in a renormalization group flow connecting the quantum gravity regime at trans-Planckian scales to observable low-energy physics. Our proceedings reviews the key elements underlying the predictive power of the construction and summarizes the state-of-the-art in determining its fr...

The nature of gravity is fundamental to understand the scaffolding of the Universe and its evolution. Einstein's general theory of relativity has been scrutinized for over ninety five years and shown to describe accurately all phenomena from the solar system to the Universe. However, this success is achieved in the case of the largest scales provided one admits contributions to energy-momentum tensor involving dark components such as dark energy and dark matter. Moreover, the...

In the quasistatic regime, generic modifications to gravity can give rise to novel scale-dependence of the gravitational field equations. Crucially, the detectability of the new scale-dependent terms hinges upon the existence of an effective mass scale or length scale at which corrections to General Relativity become relevant. Starting from only a few basic principles, we derive the general form of this scale-dependence. Our method recovers results previously known in the spe...

So far, none of attempts to quantize gravity has led to a satisfactory model that not only describe gravity in the realm of a quantum world, but also its relation to elementary particles and other fundamental forces. Here, we outline the preliminary results for a model of quantum universe, in which gravity is fundamentally and by construction quantic. The model is based on three well motivated assumptions with compelling observational and theoretical evidence: quantum mechani...

In this paper we shall show that, unless the affine geometrical structure of the underlying spacetime manifold is specified, there is an ambiguity in the understanding of the scale invariance -- also Weyl invariance -- of the given theory of gravity. In this regard we cast doubts on several well-known theories which are claimed to be scale-invariant setups. We shall show that in a consistent scale invariant theory not only the action but also the geometrical laws which govern...

We argue that a quantum aether is consistent with the principle of relativity and can provide an economical way of having an invariant quantum gravity or Planck scale. We also show that it may change the effective scale at which quantum gravity effects may be observable.

The mutual conceptual incompatibility between GR and QM/QFT is generally seen as the most essential motivation for the development of a theory of Quantum Gravity (QG). It leads to the insight that, if gravity is a fundamental interaction and QM is universally valid, the gravitational field will have to be quantized, not at least because of the inconsistency of semi-classical theories of gravity. If this means to quantize GR, its identification of the gravitational field with ...

The Planck scale is usually believed to be an unpassable wall. Putting a cutoff there and thinking of it as a quantized spacetime entity shows that. However, this is exactly the cause of many problems in quantum gravity. The cosmological constant problem also comes down to the problem of how to describe a trans-Planckian world by a continuum theory that shall be renormalizable and background free. Here, we show that when quantizing gravity in a diffeomorphism-invariant method...

We abandon the interpretation that time is a global parameter in quantum mechanics, replace it by a quantum dynamical variable playing the role of time. This operational re-interpretation of time provides a solution to the cosmological constant problem. The expectation value of the zero-point energy under the new time variable vanishes. The fluctuation of the vacuum energy as the leading contribution to the gravitational effect gives a correct order to the observed "dark ener...