1997/01/31 by S. Cacciatori, Sergio L. Cacciatori, G. Preparata +4 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/s0370-2693(98)00349-9
published as Phys.Lett. B427 (1998) 254-260 · 10 pages, LaTex, the version to appear in Physics Letters B
arxiv created 1998/04/13 · openalex publication_date 1998/05/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In order to gain insight into the possible Ground State of Quantized Einstein's Gravity, we have devised a variational calculation of the energy of the quantum gravitational field in an open space, as measured by an asymptotic observer living in an asymptotically flat space-time. We find that for Quantum Gravity (QG) it is energetically favourable to perform its quantum fluctuations not upon flat space-time but around a ``gas'' of wormholes, whose size is the Planck length ap (ap≃ 10-33cm). As a result, assuming such configuration to be a good approximation to the true Ground State of Quantum Gravity, space-time, the arena of physical reality, turns out to be well described by Wheeler's Quantum Foam and adequately modeled by a space-time lattice with lattice constant ap, the Planck lattice.