Spectral dimensions and dimension spectra of quantum spacetimes

Abstract

Different approaches to quantum gravity generally predict that the dimension of spacetime at the fundamental level is not 4. The principal tool to measure how the dimension changes between the IR and UV scales of the theory is the spectral dimension. On the other hand, the noncommutative-geometric perspective suggests that quantum spacetimes ought to be characterised by a discrete complex set -- the dimension spectrum. Here we show that these two notions complement each other and the dimension spectrum is very useful in unravelling the UV behaviour of the spectral dimension. We perform an extended analysis highlighting the trouble spots and illustrate the general results with two concrete examples: the quantum sphere and the $\kappa$-Minkowski spacetime, for a few different Laplacians. In particular, we find out that the spectral dimensions of the former exhibit log-periodic oscillations, the amplitude of which decays rapidly as the deformation parameter tends to the classical value. In contrast, no such oscillations occur for either of the three considered Laplacians on the $\kappa$-Minkowski spacetime.

35 pages, 7 figures, v2 some comments and references added, summary extended, title changed

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• Ultraviolet dimensional reduction of spacetime with zero-point length
• Curvature effects in the spectral dimension of spin foams
• Quantum Field Theory on Multifractal Spacetime: Varying Dimension and Ultraviolet Completeness
• Minimal Proper-time in Quantum Field Theory
• Newtonian approximation in (1 + 1) dimensions