Quantum Foam and Quantum Gravity Phenomenology

2004/05/14 by Y. Jack Ng
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #astro-ph #gr-qc #hep-ph #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/11377306_9

29 pages, 4 figures, lectures given at the 40th Karpacz Winter School on Theoretical Physics (Poland, Feb. 2004), submitted to Lect. Notes Phys

arxiv created 2004/05/14 · openalex publication_date 2005/10/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Spacetime undergoes quantum fluctuations, giving rise to spacetime foam, a.k.a. quantum foam. We discuss some properties of spacetime foam, and point out the conceptual interconnections in the physics of quantum foam, black holes, and quantum computation. We also discuss the phenomenology of quantum foam, and conclude that it may be difficult, but by no means impossible, to detect its tiny effects in the not-too-distant future.

Citations

• Ultimate physical limits to computation
• Invariance Violation Extends the Cosmic-Ray Horizon?
• The Phase Coherence of Light from Extragalactic Sources: Direct Evidence against First-Order Planck-Scale Fluctuations in Time and Space
• Particle creation by black holes
• Black Holes and Entropy