Quantum Gravity - General Introduction and Recent Developments

by Prof. Claus Kiefer (University of Cologne)

Tuesday 16 Feb 2016, 16:15 → 17:15 Europe/Berlin

Auditorium (MPI fuer Physik)

One of the biggest open problems in physics is the consistent unification of quantum theory with general relativity. The resulting quantum theory of gravity would have an important bearing upon the physics of the early universe, the understanding of black holes, and the structure of spacetime. In my talk, I start by giving a general introduction to the motivation for and the problems of a theory of quantum gravity. I then briefly describe the main approaches - quantum general relativity (including loop quantum gravity) and string theory - and some of their applications. I conclude with presenting some recent results that deal with the possible observation of primordial gravitons, the microstructure of space, black-hole entropy, and quantum cosmology.