101. Gravity as the breakdown of conformal invariance
- Author
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Amelino-Camelia, Giovanni, Arzano, Michele, Gubitosi, Giulia, and Magueijo, Joao
- Subjects
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology ,High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We propose that at the beginning of the universe gravity existed in a limbo either because it was switched off or because it was only conformally coupled to all particles. This picture can be reverse-engineered from the requirement that the cosmological perturbations be (nearly) scale-invariant without the need for inflation. It also finds support in recent results in quantum gravity suggesting that spacetime becomes two-dimensional at super-Planckian energies. We advocate a novel top-down approach to cosmology based on the idea that gravity and the Big Bang Universe are relics from the mechanism responsible for breaking the fundamental conformal invariance. Such a mechanism should leave clear signatures in departures from scale-invariance in the primordial power spectrum and the level of gravity waves generated., Comment: Awarded Second Prize in the Gravity Research Foundation 2015 Awards for Essays on Gravitation
- Published
- 2015
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