Talk by Carlo Rovelli (Math Cooloquium)

Carlo Rovelli (Centre de Physique Theorique, Universite de Aix-Marseille)

Title: Loop Quantum Gravity: ideas, results and perspectives

Abstract: Loop Quantum Gravity is a widely studied mathematical description of the quantum properties of spacetime and its quantum dynamics. It reduces to classical General Relativity in a suitable classical limit and is free from ultraviolet divergences. It finds tentative applications in the physics of the early universe and black holes. I will illustrate its mathematical structure, the physical ideas on which it relies, and the current attempts to find empirical support for it.