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arXiv · 2005.09677

Principle of Equivalence at Planck scales, QG in locally inertial frames and the zero-point-length of spacetime

T. Padmanabhan
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Abstract

Principle of Equivalence makes effects of classical gravity vanish in local inertial frames. What role does the Principle of Equivalence play as regards quantum gravitational effects in the local inertial frames? I address this question here from a specific perspective. At mesoscopic scales close to, but somewhat larger than, Planck length one could describe quantum spacetime and matter in terms of an effective geometry. The key feature of such an effective quantum geometry is the existence of a zero-point-length. When we proceed from quantum geometry to quantum matter, the zero-point-length will introduce corrections in the propagator for matter fields in a specific manner. On the other hand, one cannot ignore the self-gravity of matter fields at the mesoscopic scales and this will also modify the form of the propagator. Consistency demands that, these two modifications - coming from two different directions - are the same. I show that this non-trivial demand is actually satisfied. Surprisingly, the Principle of Equivalence, operating at sub-Planck scales, ensures this consistency in a subtle manner.

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T. Padmanabhan. 2020-05-19. Principle of Equivalence at Planck scales, QG in locally inertial frames and the zero-point-length of spacetime. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10714-020-02745-4

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