Symmetries,Singularities and the De-Emergence of Space

May, 2007
10 pages
Published in:
  • Int.J.Mod.Phys.D 17 (2008) 525-531
e-Print:
Report number:
  • AEI-2007-013

Citations per year

2007201120152019202302468
Abstract: (arXiv)
Recent work has revealed intriguing connections between a Belinsky-Khalatnikov-Lifshitz-type analysis of spacelike singularities in General Relativity and certain infinite dimensional Lie algebras, and in particular the `maximally extended' hyperbolic Kac--Moody algebra E10. In this essay we argue that these results may lead to an entirely new understanding of the (quantum) nature of space(-time) at the Planck scale, and hence -- via an effective `de-emergence' of space near a singularity -- to a novel mechanism for achieving background independence in quantum gravity.
  • Cosmology
  • singularities
  • quantum gravity
  • Kac-Moody algebras
  • algebra: Kac-Moody
  • space-time
  • boundary condition
  • gravitation
  • Hamiltonian formalism
  • quantum gravity