7 - Quantum gravity

Summary

Introduction

There have been many different attempts to provide a quantum description of gravitational phenomena. Although there is at present no immediate experimental evidence of quantum effects of the gravitational field, it is expected on general grounds that at sufficiently high energies quantum effects may be relevant. The fact that quantum field theories in general involve virtual processes of arbitrarily high energies may suggest that an understanding of quantum gravity may be needed to provide a complete picture of quantum fields. Ultraviolet divergences arise as a consequence of an idealization in which one expects the field theory in question to be applicable up to arbitrarily high energies. It is generally accepted that for high energies gravitational corrections could play a role. On the other hand, classical general relativity predicts in very general settings the appearance of singularities in which energies, fields and densities become intense enough to suggest the need for quantum gravitational corrections.

In spite of the many efforts invested over the years in trying to apply the rules of quantum mechanics to the gravitational field, most attempts have remained largely incomplete due to conceptual and technical difficulties. There are good reasons why the merger of quantum mechanics and gravity as we understand them at present is a difficult enterprise. We now present a brief and incomplete list of the issues involved.