Saeed Rastgoo
York University, Physics and Astronomy, Faculty Member
- Quantum Gravity, Loop Quantum Gravity, Emergent Quantum Gravity, Modified Gravity, Lorentz violation, High Energy Physics, and 8 moreGravity(classical and Quantum), Gravity, Modified theories of Gravity, Black Holes, Symmetry Reduced Models, Discrete Spacetime, CGHS Model, and Spherically Symmetric Modeledit
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We present the first empirical constraints on the polymer scale describing polymer quantized GWs propagating on a classical background. These constraints are determined from the polymer-induced deviation from the classically predicted... more
We present the first empirical constraints on the polymer scale describing polymer quantized GWs propagating on a classical background. These constraints are determined from the polymer-induced deviation from the classically predicted propagation speed of GWs. We leverage posterior information on the propagation speed of GWs from two previously reported sources: 1) inter-detector arrival time delays for signals from the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration's first gravitational-wave transient catalog, GWTC1, and 2) from arrival time delays between GW signal GW170817 and its associated gamma-ray burst GRB170817A. For pure-GW constraints, we find relatively uninformative combined constraints of $\nu = 0.96\substack{+0.15 \\ -0.21} \times 10^{-53} \, \rm{kg}^{1/2}$ and $\mu = 0.94\substack{+0.75 \\ -0.20} \times 10^{-48} \, \rm{kg}^{1/2} \cdot s$ at the $90\%$ credible level for the two polymer quantization schemes, where $\nu$ and $\mu$ refer to polymer parameters associated to the polymer qu...
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We compute the expected response of detector arms of gravitational wave observatories to polymerized gravitational waves. The mathematical and theoretical features of these waves were discussed in our previous work. In the present... more
We compute the expected response of detector arms of gravitational wave observatories to polymerized gravitational waves. The mathematical and theoretical features of these waves were discussed in our previous work. In the present manuscript, we find both perturbative analytical, and full nonperturbative numerical solutions to the equations of motion of the detector arms using the method of geodesic deviations. These results show the modifications to both frequency and amplitude of the signal measured by the detector. Furthermore, we study the detectability of these signals in LISA by analyzing the modes in the frequency space.
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The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) has the potential to reveal wonders about the fundamental theory of nature at play in the extreme gravity regime, where the gravitational interaction is both strong and dynamical. In this... more
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) has the potential to reveal wonders about the fundamental theory of nature at play in the extreme gravity regime, where the gravitational interaction is both strong and dynamical. In this white paper, the Fundamental Physics Working Group of the LISA Consortium summarizes the current topics in fundamental physics where LISA observations of gravitational waves can be expected to provide key input. We provide the briefest of reviews to then delineate avenues for future research directions and to discuss connections between this working group, other working groups and the consortium work package teams. These connections must be developed for LISA to live up to its science potential in these areas.
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We derive Loop Quantum Gravity corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation in the interior of a Schwarzschild black hole and near the classical singularity for several schemes of quantization. We show that the resulting effective equation... more
We derive Loop Quantum Gravity corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation in the interior of a Schwarzschild black hole and near the classical singularity for several schemes of quantization. We show that the resulting effective equation implies defocusing of geodesics due to the appearance of repulsive terms. This prevents the formation of conjugate points, renders the singularity theorems inapplicable, and leads to the resolution of the singularity for this spacetime.
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We review, as well as provide some new results regarding the study of the structure of spacetime and the singularity in the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole in both loop quantum gravity and generalized uncertainty principle... more
We review, as well as provide some new results regarding the study of the structure of spacetime and the singularity in the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole in both loop quantum gravity and generalized uncertainty principle approaches, using congruences and their associated expansion scalar and the Raychaudhuri equation. We reaffirm previous results that in loop quantum gravity, in all three major schemes of polymer quantization, the expansion scalar, Raychaudhuri equation and the Kretschmann scalar remain finite everywhere in the interior. In the context of the eneralized uncertainty principle, we show that only two of the four models we study lead to similar results. These two models have the property that their algebra is modified by configuration variables rather than the momenta.
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We propose a polymer quantization scheme to derive the effective propagation of gravitational waves on a classical Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime. These waves, which may originate from a high energy source, are a... more
We propose a polymer quantization scheme to derive the effective propagation of gravitational waves on a classical Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime. These waves, which may originate from a high energy source, are a consequence of the dynamics of the gravitational field in a linearized low-energy regime. A novel method of deriving the effective Hamiltonian of the system is applied to overcome the challenge of polymer quantizing a time-dependent Hamiltonian. Using such a Hamiltonian, we derive the effective equations of motion and show that (i) the form of the waves is modified, (ii) the speed of the waves depends on their frequencies, and (iii) quantum effects become more apparent as waves traverse longer distances.
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Inspirals of an Intermediate Mass Black Hole (IMBH) and a solar mass type object will be observable by space based gravitational wave detectors such as The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). A dark matter overdensity around an... more
Inspirals of an Intermediate Mass Black Hole (IMBH) and a solar mass type object will be observable by space based gravitational wave detectors such as The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). A dark matter overdensity around an IMBH – a dark matter spike – can affect the orbital evolution of the system. We consider here such Intermediate Mass Ratio Inspirals on eccentric orbits, experiencing dynamical friction of the dark matter spike. We find that by including the phase space distribution of the dark matter, the dynamical friction tends to circularize the orbit, in contrast to previous inquiries. We derive a general condition for circularization or eccentrification for any given dissipative force. In addition to the dephasing, we suggest using the circularization rate as another probe of the dark matter spike. Observing these effects would be an indicator for the particle nature of dark matter.
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In a previous paper, we showed how to use the techniques of the group of loops to formulate the loop approach to gravity proposed by Mandelstam in the 1960's. Those techniques allow to overcome some of the difficulties that had been... more
In a previous paper, we showed how to use the techniques of the group of loops to formulate the loop approach to gravity proposed by Mandelstam in the 1960's. Those techniques allow to overcome some of the difficulties that had been encountered in the earlier treatment. In this approach, gravity is formulated entirely in terms of Dirac observables without constraints, opening attractive new possibilities for quantization. In this paper we discuss the Poisson algebra of the resulting Dirac observables, associated with the intrinsic components of the Riemann tensor. This provides an explicit realization of the non-local algebra of observables for gravity that several authors have conjectured.
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We recently studied gravity coupled to a scalar field in spherical symmetry using loop quantum gravity techniques. Since there are local degrees of freedom one faces the "problem of dynamics". We attack it using the... more
We recently studied gravity coupled to a scalar field in spherical symmetry using loop quantum gravity techniques. Since there are local degrees of freedom one faces the "problem of dynamics". We attack it using the "uniform discretization technique". We find the quantum state that minimizes the value of the master constraint for the case of weak fields and curvatures. The state has the form of a direct product of Gaussians for the gravitational variables times a modified Fock state for the scalar field. In this paper we do three things. First, we verify that the previous state also yields a small value of the master constraint when one polymerizes the scalar field in addition to the gravitational variables. We then study the propagators for the polymerized scalar field in flat space-time using the previously considered ground state in the low energy limit. We discuss the issue of the Lorentz invariance of the whole approach. We note that if one uses real clocks ...
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The saddle point approximation to the partition functions is an important way of deriving the thermodynamical properties of black holes. However, there are certain black hole models and some mathematically analog mechanical models for... more
The saddle point approximation to the partition functions is an important way of deriving the thermodynamical properties of black holes. However, there are certain black hole models and some mathematically analog mechanical models for which this method can not be applied directly. This is due to the fact that their action evaluated on a classical solution is not finite and its first variation does not vanish for all consistent boundary conditions. These problems can be dealt with by adding a counter-term to the classical action, which is a solution of the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi equation. In this work however, we seek an alternative solution to this problem via the polymer quantization which is motivated by the loop quantum gravity.
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We study here a complete quantization of a Callan-Giddings-Harvey-Strominger (CGHS) vacuum model following loop quantum gravity techniques. Concretely, we adopt a formulation of the model in terms of a set of new variables that resemble... more
We study here a complete quantization of a Callan-Giddings-Harvey-Strominger (CGHS) vacuum model following loop quantum gravity techniques. Concretely, we adopt a formulation of the model in terms of a set of new variables that resemble the ones commonly employed in spherically symmetric loop quantum gravity. The classical theory consists of two pairs of canonical variables plus a scalar and diffeomorphism (first class) constraints. We consider a suitable redefinition of the Hamiltonian constraint such that the new constraint algebra (with structure constants) is well adapted to the Dirac quantization approach. For it, we adopt a polymeric representation for both the geometry and the dilaton field. On the one hand, we find a suitable invariant domain of the scalar constraint operator, and we construct explicitly its solution space. There, the eigenvalues of the dilaton and the metric operators cannot vanish locally, allowing us to conclude that singular geometries are ruled out in t...
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This new approach, suggests that the nature and the mathematics that describe it, are discrete at and below the planck scale. Also it assumes that the physical world, has several levels and each level has its own structure, laws and... more
This new approach, suggests that the nature and the mathematics that describe it, are discrete at and below the planck scale. Also it assumes that the physical world, has several levels and each level has its own structure, laws and eective theories based on these laws. These laws, structures and theories, emerge from the ones of the previous level in a coarse-graining-like manner and so each of them ultimately emerges from the bottom-most level in which there is no space, time, fields and .... So every physical thing, among them space, is emergent fundamentally from the bottom-most level laws and processes. As for the space, it suggests that each space point has a rich dynamic internal structure.
Starting from the working hypothesis that both physics and the corresponding mathematics have to be described by means of discrete concepts on the Planck-scale, one of the many problems one has to face in this enterprise is to find the... more
Starting from the working hypothesis that both physics and the corresponding mathematics have to be described by means of discrete concepts on the Planck-scale, one of the many problems one has to face in this enterprise is to find the discrete protoforms of the building blocks of our ordinary continuum physics and mathematics. We regard these continuum concepts and continuum spacetime in particular as being emergent, coarse-grained and derived relative to an underlying erratic and disordered microscopic substratum which is expected to play by quite different rules. A central role in our analysis is played by a geometric renormalization group which creates (among other things) a kind of sparse translocal network of correlations between the points in classical continuous space-time and underlies, in our view, such mysterious phenomena as holography and the black hole entropy-area law. The same point of view holds for quantum theory which we also regard as a low-energy, coarse-grained...
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We show that loop quantum gravity effects leads to the finiteness of expansion and its rate of change in the effective regime in the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole. As a consequence the singularity is resolved.
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The classical Raychaudhuri equation predicts the formation of conjugate points for a congruence of geodesics, in a finite proper time. This in conjunction with the Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems predicts the incompleteness of... more
The classical Raychaudhuri equation predicts the formation of conjugate points for a congruence of geodesics, in a finite proper time. This in conjunction with the Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems predicts the incompleteness of geodesics and thereby the singular nature of practically all spacetimes. We compute the generic corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation in the interior of a Schwarzschild black hole, arising from modifications to the algebra inspired by the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) theories. Then we study four specific models of GUP, compute their effective dynamics as well as their expansion and its rate of change using the Raychaudhuri equation. We show that the modification from GUP in two of these models, where such modifications are dependent of the configuration variables, lead to finite Kretchmann scalar, expansion and its rate, hence implying the resolution of the singularity. However, the other two models for which the modifications depend on the ...
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Following our previous work, a complete classical solution of the CGHS model in Hamiltonian formulation in new variables is given. We preform a series of analyses and transformations to get to the CGHS Hamiltonian in new variables from a... more
Following our previous work, a complete classical solution of the CGHS model in Hamiltonian formulation in new variables is given. We preform a series of analyses and transformations to get to the CGHS Hamiltonian in new variables from a generic class of two dimensional dilatonic gravitational systems coupled to matter. This gives us a second class system, a total Hamiltonian consisting of a Hamiltonian constraint, a diffeomorphism constraint and two second class constraints. We calculate the Dirac brackets, bring them to a standard form similar to the Poisson brackets by introducing a new variable. Then by rescaling lapse and shift, the Hamiltonian constraint is transformed into a form where it has an strong Abelian algebra with itself. This property holds both in vacuum case and in case with matter coupling. Then for each of the vacuum and the coupled-to-matter cases, we preform two gauge fixings, one set for each case, and solve the classical system completely in both cases. The gauge fixing of the case coupled to matter is done by implementing a method based on canonical transformation to a new set of variables and leads to a true local Hamiltonian. We also show that our formalism is consistent with the original CGHS paper by showing that the equations of motion are the same in both cases. Finally we derive the relevant surface term of the model.
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We revisit the quantum theory of a massive, minimally coupled scalar field, propagating on the Planck-era isotropic cosmological quantum spacetime which transitions to a classical spacetime in later times. The quantum effects modify the... more
We revisit the quantum theory of a massive, minimally coupled scalar field, propagating on the Planck-era isotropic cosmological quantum spacetime which transitions to a classical spacetime in later times. The quantum effects modify the isotropic spacetime such that effectively it exhibits anisotropies. Thus, the interplay between this quantum background at the near-Planck era, and the massive modes of the field, when disregarding the backreactions, gives rise to a theory of a quantum field on an anisotropic, dressed spacetime. Different solutions are found, including a rainbow metric whose components depend on the field modes and the quantum fluctuations of the background geometry. The problem of particle production when transitioning from such an effective spacetime to a classical one is reexamined. It is shown that particles are created, and the expectation value of their number operator depends on the quantum geometry fluctuations.
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The study of the interior of black holes in the quantum regime is important, not only with regard to the singularity avoidance, but also to get more insight into their behavior in connection with quantum gravity. We introduce several... more
The study of the interior of black holes in the quantum regime is important, not only with regard to the singularity avoidance, but also to get more insight into their behavior in connection with quantum gravity. We introduce several extensions and new improvements regarding the previous works on the effective behavior of the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole using loop quantization, considered as a bouncing Kantowski-Sachs model. First, the path integral method is employed to systematically derive an effective Hamiltonian constraint for the model. As a direct consequence of this approach, further inverse triad corrections appear in the Hamiltonian. These corrections present well-known problems, among them the dependence of the physical quantities on the fiducial-volume parameters, or their rescalings. To cure these issues, we put forward two prescriptions, and further show how some physical quantities, including the " minimum radius at the bounce " , are modified due to the presence of these new corrections, in each of the two prescriptions. Our proposal may pave the way to incorporate these kinds of corrections systematically in other models and resolve the issues raised by them.
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Within Loop Quantum Gravity, the polymer representation has been suggested as a possible matter field quantization scheme. Here we apply a version of the polymer quantization to the electromagnetic field, in a reduced phase space setting,... more
Within Loop Quantum Gravity, the polymer representation has been suggested as a possible matter field quantization scheme. Here we apply a version of the polymer quantization to the electromagnetic field, in a reduced phase space setting, and derive the corresponding effective (i.e., semiclassical) Hamiltonian. In this limit the theory is nonlinear, deviating significantly from standard electromagnetism. In particular, we study the propagation of an electromagnetic pulse and compare our theoretical results with Gamma Ray Burst observations. This comparison reveals that the polymer scale must be 70 orders of magnitude below the expected scale, namely, the Planck scale, casting doubts on the viability of this quantization.
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We study here a complete quantization of a Callan-Giddings-Harvey-Strominger (CGHS) vacuum model following loop quantum gravity techniques. Concretely, we adopt a formulation of the model in terms of a set of new variables that resemble... more
We study here a complete quantization of a Callan-Giddings-Harvey-Strominger (CGHS) vacuum model following loop quantum gravity techniques. Concretely, we adopt a formulation of the model in terms of a set of new variables that resemble the ones commonly employed in spherically symmetric loop quantum gravity. The classical theory consists of two pairs of canonical variables plus a scalar and diffeomorphism (first class) constraints. We consider a suitable redefinition of the Hamiltonian constraint such that the new constraint algebra (with structure constants) is well adapted to the Dirac quantization approach. For it, we adopt a polymeric representation for both the geometry and the dilaton field. On the one hand, we find a suitable invariant domain of the scalar constraint operator, and we construct explicitly its solution space. There, the eigenvalues of the dilaton and the metric operators cannot vanish locally, allowing us to conclude that singular geometries are ruled out in the quantum theory. On the other hand, the physical Hilbert space is constructed out of them, after group averaging the previous states with the diffeomorphism constraint. In turn, we identify the standard observable corresponding to the mass of the black hole at the boundary, in agreement with the classical theory. We also construct an additional observable on the bulk associated with the square of the dilaton field, with no direct classical analog.
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A recent proposal to connect the loop quantization with the spin foam model for cosmology via the path integral is hereby adapted to the case of mechanical systems within the framework of the so called polymer quantum mechanics. The... more
A recent proposal to connect the loop quantization with the spin foam model for cosmology via the path integral is hereby adapted to the case of mechanical systems within the framework of the so called polymer quantum mechanics. The mechanical models we consider are deparametrized and thus the group averaging technique is used to deal with the corresponding constraints. The transition amplitudes are written in a vertex expansion form used in the spin foam models, where here a vertex is actually a jump in position. Polymer Propagators previously obtained by spectral methods for a nonrelativistic polymer particle, both free and in a box, are regained with this method. Remarkably, the approach is also shown to yield the polymer propagator of the relativistic particle. This reduces to the standard form in the continuum limit for which the length scale parameter of the polymer quantization is taken to be small. Some possible future developments are commented upon.
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We present a purely geometric renormalization scheme for metric spaces (including uncolored graphs), which consists of a coarse graining and a rescaling operation on such spaces. The coarse graining is based on the concept of... more
We present a purely geometric renormalization scheme for metric spaces (including uncolored graphs), which consists of a coarse graining and a rescaling operation on such spaces. The coarse graining is based on the concept of quasi-isometry, which yields a sequence of discrete coarse grained spaces each having a continuum limit under the rescaling operation. We provide criteria under which such sequences do converge within a superspace of metric spaces, or may constitute the basin of attraction of a common continuum limit, which hopefully, may represent our space-time continuum.
We discuss some of the properties of these coarse grained spaces as well as their continuum limits, such as scale invariance and metric similarity, and show that different layers of spacetime can carry different distance functions while being homeomorphic.
Important tools in this analysis are the Gromov-Hausdorff distance functional for general metric spaces and the growth degree of graphs or networks. The whole construction is in the spirit of the Wilsonian renormalization group.
Furthermore we introduce a physically relevant notion of dimension on the spaces of interest in our analysis, which e.g. for regular lattices reduces to the ordinary lattice dimension. We show that this dimension is stable under the proposed coarse graining procedure as long as the latter is sufficiently local, i.e. quasi-isometric, and discuss the conditions under which this dimension is an integer. We comment on the possibility that the limit space may turn out to be fractal in case the dimension is non-integer. At the end of the paper we briefly mention the possibility that our network carries a translocal far-order which leads to the concept of wormhole spaces and a scale dependent dimension if the coarse graining procedure is no longer local.
We discuss some of the properties of these coarse grained spaces as well as their continuum limits, such as scale invariance and metric similarity, and show that different layers of spacetime can carry different distance functions while being homeomorphic.
Important tools in this analysis are the Gromov-Hausdorff distance functional for general metric spaces and the growth degree of graphs or networks. The whole construction is in the spirit of the Wilsonian renormalization group.
Furthermore we introduce a physically relevant notion of dimension on the spaces of interest in our analysis, which e.g. for regular lattices reduces to the ordinary lattice dimension. We show that this dimension is stable under the proposed coarse graining procedure as long as the latter is sufficiently local, i.e. quasi-isometric, and discuss the conditions under which this dimension is an integer. We comment on the possibility that the limit space may turn out to be fractal in case the dimension is non-integer. At the end of the paper we briefly mention the possibility that our network carries a translocal far-order which leads to the concept of wormhole spaces and a scale dependent dimension if the coarse graining procedure is no longer local.
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The saddle point approximation to the partition functions is an important way of deriving the thermodynamical properties of black holes. However, there are certain black hole models and some mathematically analog mechanical models for... more
The saddle point approximation to the partition functions is an important way of deriving the thermodynamical properties of black holes. However, there are certain black hole models and some mathematically analog mechanical models for which this method can not be applied directly. This is due to the fact that their action evaluated on a classical solution is not finite and its first variation does not vanish for all consistent boundary conditions. These problems can be dealt with by adding a counter-term to the classical action, which is a solution of the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi equation. In this work however, we seek an alternative solution to this problem via the polymer quantization which is motivated by the loop quantum gravity.
Research Interests:
Following our previous work, a complete classical solution of the CGHS model in Hamiltonian formulation in new variables is given. We preform a series of analyses and transformations to get to the CGHS Hamiltonian in new variables from a... more
Following our previous work, a complete classical solution of the CGHS model in Hamiltonian formulation in new variables is given. We preform a series of analyses and transformations to get to the CGHS Hamiltonian in new variables from a generic class of two dimensional dilatonic gravitational systems coupled to matter. This gives us a second class system, a total Hamiltonian consisting of a Hamiltonian constraint, a diffeomorphism constraint and two second class constraints. We calculate the Dirac brackets, bring them to a standard form similar to the Poisson brackets by introducing a new variable. Then by rescaling lapse and shift, the Hamiltonian constraint is transformed into a form where it has an strong Abelian algebra with itself. This property holds both in vacuum case and in case with matter coupling. Then for each of the vacuum and the coupled-to-matter cases, we preform two gauge fixings, one set for each case, and solve the classical system completely in both cases. The ...
Starting from the working hypothesis that both physics and the corresponding mathematics and in particular geometry have to be described by means of discrete concepts on the Planck-scale, one of the many problems one has to face in this... more
Starting from the working hypothesis that both physics and the corresponding mathematics and in particular geometry have to be described by means of discrete concepts on the Planck-scale, one of the many problems one has to face in this enterprise is to find the discrete protoforms of the building blocks of our ordinary continuum physics and mathematics living on a smooth background, and perhaps more importantly find a way how this continuum limit emerges from the mentioned discrete structure. We model this underlying substratum as a structurally dynamic cellular network (basically a generalisation of a cellular automaton).
We regard these continuum concepts and continuum spacetime in particular as being emergent, coarse-grained and derived relative to this underlying erratic and disordered microscopic substratum, which we would like to call quantum geometry and which is expected to play by quite different rules, namely generalized cellular automaton rules. A central role in our analysis is played by a geometric renormalization group which creates (among other things) a kind of sparse translocal network of correlations between the points in classical continuous space-time and underlies, in our view, such mysterious phenomena as holography and the black hole entropy-area law. The same point of view holds for quantum theory which we also regard as a low-energy, coarse-grained continuum theory, being emergent from something more fundamental. In this paper we review our approach and compare it to the quantum graphity framework.
We regard these continuum concepts and continuum spacetime in particular as being emergent, coarse-grained and derived relative to this underlying erratic and disordered microscopic substratum, which we would like to call quantum geometry and which is expected to play by quite different rules, namely generalized cellular automaton rules. A central role in our analysis is played by a geometric renormalization group which creates (among other things) a kind of sparse translocal network of correlations between the points in classical continuous space-time and underlies, in our view, such mysterious phenomena as holography and the black hole entropy-area law. The same point of view holds for quantum theory which we also regard as a low-energy, coarse-grained continuum theory, being emergent from something more fundamental. In this paper we review our approach and compare it to the quantum graphity framework.