Local Conformal Symmetry: the Missing Symmetry Component for Space and Time

Abstract

Local conformal symmetry is usually considered to be an approximate symmetry of nature, which is explicitly and badly broken. Arguments are brought forward here why it has to be turned into an exact symmetry that is spontaneously broken. As in the B.E.H. mechanism in Yang-Mills theories, we then will have a mechanism for disclosing the small-distance structure of the gravitational force. The symmetry could be as fundamental as Lorentz invariance, and guide us towards a complete understanding of physics at the Planck scale.

4 pages + refs. Adjusted for submission as Essay written for the Gravity Research Foundation 2015 Awards for Essays on Gravitation

References in corpus (2)

• The Conformal Constraint in Canonical Quantum Gravity
• Probing the small distance structure of canonical quantum gravity using the conformal group

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Motion of massive particles around a charged Weyl black hole and the geodetic precession of orbiting gyroscopes
• Aspects of Conformal Supergravity
• On the thermodynamics of scale factor dual Universes
• Generally Covariant vs. Gauge Structure for Conformal Field Theories
• Classical and holographic aspects of conformal gravity in four dimensions
• Quantum Geometrodynamics of Higher Derivative Theories with and without Conformal Symmetry