Dark Energy from Quantum Gravity Discreteness
Abstract
We argue that discreteness at the Planck scale (naturally expected to arise from quantum gravity) might manifest in the form of minute violations of energy-momentum conservation of the matter degrees of freedom when described in terms of (idealized) smooth fields on a smooth spacetime. In the context of applications to cosmology, such "energy diffusion" from the low energy matter degrees of freedom to the discrete structures underlying spacetime would lead to the emergence of an effective dark energy term in Einstein's equations. We estimate this effect using a (relational) hypothesis about the materialization of discreteness in quantum gravity which is motivated by the strict observational constraints supporting the validity of Lorentz invariance at low energies. Arguments based on a simple dimensional analysis lead to an estimate of an effective cosmological constant agreeing in order of magnitude with its observed value. If correct, this would constitute remarkable empirical evidence for a Planckian granular aspect of spacetime.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Chaos and quantum thermalization
- The Dalton quantum chemistry program system
- Cord Blood Leptin and Adiponectin as Predictors of Adiposity in Children at 3 Years of Age: A Prospective Cohort Study
- Quantitative metabolomics by H-NMR and LC-MS/MS confirms altered metabolic pathways in diabetes
- Stable adiabatic quantum batteries
- A novel self-lipid antigen targets human T cells against CD1c(+) leukemias
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.