Research

The research on Quantum Gravity touches on the following disciplines:

General Relativity
Quantum Field Theory
Gauge Field Theory
Cosmology
High Energy and Astroparticle Physics
Mathematical Physics

We will briefly sketch below what these disciplines are, how they connect to each other and why they are relevant for Quantum Gravity. See also the introductory text for more details. After that outline, we explain elements of the research currently conducted at the institute. That section just mentions the relevant physical and mathematical concepts. It is not meant as an introduction to these concepts but rather invites to further studies about them for the interested reader.

The main research topics in Erlangen

Dynamics of the Quantum Einstein Equations:
How do quantum effects influence the physics at the Planck scale?
Semiclassical aspects of Quantum Gravity:
Does the classical limit of Quantum Gravity reproduce QFT (on curved spacetimes) and GR?
Canonical and covariant approaches of Quantum Gravity:
How are these two approaches related?
Quantum cosmology:
What are the cosmological consequences of a theory of quantum gravity?
Quantum Gravity and black holes:
How can Quantum Gravity explain the entropy of black holes and Hawking radiation?
Representation theory for Quantum Gravity:
Are there other possible representations for the quantum theory and what are their properties and physical consequences?

A more technical and more detailed introduction about our research interests can be found here.