Quantum Gravity: From Theory to Experimental Search

Claus Kiefer (auth.), Domenico J. W. Giulini, Claus Kiefer, Claus Lämmerzahl (eds.)9783540408109, 3-540-40810-X, 354040810X

The relation between quantum theory and the theory of gravitation remains one of the most outstanding unresolved issues of modern physics. According to general expectation, general relativity as well as quantum (field) theory in a fixed background spacetime cannot be fundamentally correct. Hence there should exist a broader theory comprising both in appropriate limits, i.e., quantum gravity. This book gives readers a comprehensive introduction accessible to interested non-experts to the main issues surrounding the search for quantum gravity. These issues relate to fundamental questions concerning the various formalisms of quantization; specific questions concerning concrete processes, like gravitational collapse or black-hole evaporation; and the all important question concerning the possibility of experimental tests of quantum-gravity effects.

Table of contents :
Quantum Gravity — A General Introduction….Pages 3-13
That Strange Procedure Called Quantisation….Pages 17-40
Lectures on Loop Quantum Gravity….Pages 41-135
A Discrete History of the Lorentzian Path Integral….Pages 137-171
Introduction to String Theory….Pages 173-251
Quantum Theory of Gravitational Collapse (Lecture Notes on Quantum Conchology)….Pages 255-299
Primordial Black Holes as a Probe of Cosmology and High Energy Physics….Pages 301-321
On the Assignment of Entropy to Black Holes….Pages 323-334
Physics with Large Extra Dimensions and Non-Newtonian Gravity at Sub-mm Distances….Pages 337-354
Quantum States of Neutrons in the Gravitational Field and Limits for Non-Newtonian Interaction in the Range between 1 μ m and 10 μ m….Pages 355-366
The Einstein Equivalence Principle and the Search for New Physics….Pages 367-394