Theory and Phenomenology of Spacetime Defects

Abstract

Whether or not space-time is fundamentally discrete is of central importance for the development of the theory of quantum gravity. If the fundamental description of space-time is discrete, typically represented in terms of a graph or network, then the apparent smoothness of geometry on large scales should be imperfect -- it should have defects. Here, we review a model for space-time defects and summarize the constraints on the prevalence of these defects that can be derived from observation.

Summary of arXiv:1309.0311 and arXiv:1309.0314. Prepared for the AHEP Special Issue on "Experimental Tests of Quantum Gravity and Exotic Quantum Field Theory Effects"

References in corpus (6)

• Quantum Graphity: a model of emergent locality
• Discreteness without symmetry breaking: a theorem
• Disordered locality in loop quantum gravity states
• Disordered Locality as an Explanation for the Dark Energy
• Phenomenology of Space-time Imperfection II: Local Defects
• Phenomenology of Space-time Imperfection I: Nonlocal Defects

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