Dr. Ted Jacobson
University of Maryland at College Park
Project Title:
Growth of the Vacuum in Quantum Cosmology
Summary:
Space and time are assumed to be continuous in standard physics, but there are several reasons to suspect that this is only an approximation to a more basic level of description in which the world is discrete. This would be analogous to the fact that matter appears continuous, but is actually composed of discrete atoms. The expansion of the universe would presumably tend to spread out the "atoms of space-time" requiring that, unlike in ordinary matter, new atoms are created as time goes on. The research in this proposal is aimed at understanding possible observable consequences of such creation, and at the challenge to modify the laws of physics to allow for it.
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University of Maryland at College Park
Project Title:
Growth of the Vacuum in Quantum Cosmology
Summary:
Space and time are assumed to be continuous in standard physics, but there are several reasons to suspect that this is only an approximation to a more basic level of description in which the world is discrete. This would be analogous to the fact that matter appears continuous, but is actually composed of discrete atoms. The expansion of the universe would presumably tend to spread out the "atoms of space-time" requiring that, unlike in ordinary matter, new atoms are created as time goes on. The research in this proposal is aimed at understanding possible observable consequences of such creation, and at the challenge to modify the laws of physics to allow for it.
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