Combining general relativity and quantum theory: points of conflict and contact

Abstract

The issues related to bringing together the principles of general relativity and quantum theory are discussed. After briefly summarising the points of conflict between the two formalisms I focus on four specific themes in which some contact has been established in the past between GR and quantum field theory: (i) The role of planck length in the microstructure of spacetime (ii) The role of quantum effects in cosmology and origin of the universe (iii) The thermodynamics of spacetimes with horizons and especially the concept of entropy related to spacetime geometry (iv) The problem of the cosmological constant.

Invited Talk at "The Early Universe and Cosmological Observations: a Critical Review", UCT, Cape Town, 23-25 July,2001; to appear in Class.Quan.Grav

References in corpus (2)

• Entropy from Conformal Field Theory at Killing Horizons
• The Issue of Choosing Nothing: What Determines the Low Energy Vacuum State of Nature?

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• Holographic, new agegraphic and ghost dark energy models in fractal cosmology
• Dark energy due to effective quantum field theory
• A modification of Einstein-Schrodinger theory that contains both general relativity and electrodynamics
• Random versus holographic fluctuations of the background metric. II. Note on the dark energies arising due to microstructure of space-time