Discrete to continuum transition in multifractal spacetimes

Abstract

We outline a field theory on a multifractal spacetime. The measure in the action is characterized by a varying Hausdorff dimension and logarithmic oscillations governed by a fundamental physical length. A fine hierarchy of length scales identifies different regimes, from a microscopic structure with discrete symmetries to an effectively continuum spacetime. Thanks to general arguments from fractal geometry, this scenario explicitly realizes two indirect or conjectured features of most quantum gravity models: a change of effective spacetime dimensionality with the probed scale, and the transition from a fundamentally discrete quantum spacetime to the continuum. It also allows us to probe ultramicroscopic scales where spectral methods based on ordinary geometry typically fail. Consequences for noncommutative field theories are discussed.

4 pages; v2: presentation clarified, typos corrected, results unchanged; v3: matches the published version; v4: hyperlinks activated

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• Spectral Dimension of the Universe in Quantum Gravity at a Lifshitz Point
• Fractal properties of quantum spacetime
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