Quantum Gravity Seminar: Marc Schiffer

Speaker: Marc Schiffer (Radboud University)

Spacetime coordinates: Wed @ 14:30, Auditorium A

Zoom Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/9295289933?omn=67282578176

Title: Exploring Asymptotically Safe Quantum Gravity with Functional and Lattice Methods

Abstract: Asymptotically safe quantum gravity might provide a unified description of the fundamental dynamics of quantum gravity and matter. The realization of asymptotic safety—i.e., scale symmetry at high energies—constrains the possible interactions and dynamics of a system. In this talk, I will first motivate the scenario of asymptotic safety for gravity with matter and introduce functional and lattice methods as independent tools to explore it.

Focusing first on functional methods, I will show a few examples of how our observational knowledge of matter fields in nature can be used as consistency tests for asymptotically safe gravity-matter systems.

Finally, I will shift my focus to lattice methods, in particular to Euclidean dynamical triangulations. Here, I will highlight how non-dynamical scalar fields can be used to probe lattice geometries, and I will present indications that the lattice spacing can be reduced down to the Planck scale, showing that a continuum limit might be reached.