Small-Scale Structure of Spacetime: Bounds and Conjectures
arXiv:0710.3075 · doi:10.1063/1.2902784
Abstract
This review consists of two parts. The first part establishes certain astrophysical bounds on the smoothness of classical spacetime. Some of the best bounds to date are based on the absence of vacuum Cherenkov radiation in ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. The second part discusses possible implications of these bounds for the quantum structure of spacetime. One conjecture is that the fundamental length scale of quantum spacetime may be different from the Planck length.
20 pages; invited talk at the Third Mexican Meeting on Mathematical and Experimental Physics, September 10-14, 2007, El Colegio Nacional, Mexico City; v3: final version
References in corpus (6)
- Relativity tests by complementary rotating Michelson-Morley experiments
- Ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray bounds on nonbirefringent modified-Maxwell theory
- Vacuum Cherenkov radiation in spacelike Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory
- Fundamental length scale of quantum spacetime foam
- From Quantum Hydrodynamics to Quantum Gravity
- Fermi-point scenario for emergent gravity