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

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

Strong CP Violation in External Magnetic Fields

We study the response of the QCD vacuum to an external magnetic field, in the presence of strong CP violation. Using chiral perturbation theory and large N_c expansion, we show that the external field would polarize quantum fluctuations and induce an electric dipole moment of the vacuum, along the direction of the magnetic field. We estimate the magnitude of this effect in different physical scenarios. In particular, we find that the polarization induced by the magnetic field of a magnetar could accelerate electric charges up to energies of the order \theta 10^3 TeV. We also suggest a connection with the possible existence of "hot-spots" on the surface of neutron stars.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Major revision. Phenomenological analysis extende

Self-similar collapse and the structure of dark matter halos: A fluid approach

We explore the dynamical restrictions on the structure of dark matter halos through a study of cosmological self-similar gravitational collapse solutions. A fluid approach to the collisionless dynamics of dark matter is developed and the resulting closed set of moment equations are solved numerically including the effect of halo velocity dispersions (both radial and tangential), for a range of spherically averaged initial density profiles. Our results highlight the importance of tangential velocity dispersions to obtain density profiles shallower than $1/r^2$ in the core regions, and for retaining a memory of the initial density profile, in self-similar collapse. For an isotropic core velocity dispersion only a partial memory of the initial density profile is retained. If tangential velocity dispersions in the core are constrained to be less than the radial dispersion, a cuspy core density profile shallower than $1/r$ cannot obtain, in self-similar collapse.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Ap

Hawking radiation in different coordinate settings: Complex paths approach

We apply the technique of complex paths to obtain Hawking radiation in different coordinate representations of the Schwarzschild space-time. The coordinate representations we consider do not possess a singularity at the horizon unlike the standard Schwarzschild coordinate. However, the event horizon manifests itself as a singularity in the expression for the semiclassical action. This singularity is regularized by using the method of complex paths and we find that Hawking radiation is recovered in these coordinates indicating the covariance of Hawking radiation as far as these coordinates are concerned.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, Uses IOP style file; final version; accepted in Class. Quant. Gra

The hypothesis of path integral duality II: corrections to quantum field theoretic results

In the path integral expression for a Feynman propagator of a spinless particle of mass $m$, the path integral amplitude for a path of proper length ${\cal R}(x,x'| g_{\mu\nu})$ connecting events $x$ and $x'$ in a spacetime described by the metric tensor $g_{\mu\nu}$ is $\exp-[m {\cal R}(x,x'| g_{\mu\nu})]$. In a recent paper, assuming the path integral amplitude to be invariant under the duality transformation ${\cal R} \to (L_P^2/{\cal R})$, Padmanabhan has evaluated the modified Feynman propagator in an arbitrary curved spacetime. He finds that the essential feature of this `principle of path integral duality' is that the Euclidean proper distance $(\Delta x)^2$ between two infinitesimally separated spacetime events is replaced by $[(\Delta x)^2 + 4L_P^2 ]$. In other words, under the duality principle the spacetime behaves as though it has a `zero-point length' $L_P$, a feature that is expected to arise in a quantum theory of gravity. In the Schwinger's proper time description of the Feynman propagator, the weightage factor for a path with a proper time $s$ is $\exp-(m^2s)$. Invoking Padmanabhan's `principle of path integral duality' corresponds to modifying the weightage factor $\exp-(m^2s)$ to $\exp-[m^2s + (L_P^2/s)]$. In this paper, we use this modified weightage factor in Schwinger's proper time formalism to evaluate the quantum gravitational corrections to some of the standard quantum field theoretic results in flat and curved spacetimes. We find that the extra factor $\exp-(L_P^2/s)$ acts as a regulator at the Planck scale thereby `removing' the divergences that otherwise appear in the theory. Finally, we discuss the wider implications of our analysis.Comment: 26 pages, Revte

Dark Energy and Gravity

I review the problem of dark energy focusing on the cosmological constant as the candidate and discuss its implications for the nature of gravity. Part 1 briefly overviews the currently popular `concordance cosmology' and summarises the evidence for dark energy. It also provides the observational and theoretical arguments in favour of the cosmological constant as the candidate and emphasises why no other approach really solves the conceptual problems usually attributed to the cosmological constant. Part 2 describes some of the approaches to understand the nature of the cosmological constant and attempts to extract the key ingredients which must be present in any viable solution. I argue that (i)the cosmological constant problem cannot be satisfactorily solved until gravitational action is made invariant under the shift of the matter lagrangian by a constant and (ii) this cannot happen if the metric is the dynamical variable. Hence the cosmological constant problem essentially has to do with our (mis)understanding of the nature of gravity. Part 3 discusses an alternative perspective on gravity in which the action is explicitly invariant under the above transformation. Extremizing this action leads to an equation determining the background geometry which gives Einstein's theory at the lowest order with Lanczos-Lovelock type corrections. (Condensed abstract).Comment: Invited Review for a special Gen.Rel.Grav. issue on Dark Energy, edited by G.F.R.Ellis, R.Maartens and H.Nicolai; revtex; 22 pages; 2 figure

Noncommutative gravity, a `no strings attached' quantum-classical duality, and the cosmological constant puzzle

There ought to exist a reformulation of quantum mechanics which does not refer to an external classical spacetime manifold. Such a reformulation can be achieved using the language of noncommutative differential geometry. A consequence which follows is that the `weakly quantum, strongly gravitational' dynamics of a relativistic particle whose mass is much greater than Planck mass is dual to the `strongly quantum, weakly gravitational' dynamics of another particle whose mass is much less than Planck mass. The masses of the two particles are inversely related to each other, and the product of their masses is equal to the square of Planck mass. This duality explains the observed value of the cosmological constant, and also why this value is nonzero but extremely small in Planck units.Comment: 7 pages. Second Prize in Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competition, 2008. Two paragraphs added to original essay to enhance clarity. To appear in Gen. Rel. Gra