Measurement Analysis and Quantum Gravity

dc.creatorAlbers, Mark
dc.creatorKiefer, Claus
dc.creatorReginatto, Marcel
dc.date2008-02-14
dc.date2008-08-20
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T12:44:31Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T12:44:31Z
dc.descriptionWe consider the question of whether consistency arguments based on measurement theory show that the gravitational field must be quantized. Motivated by the argument of Eppley and Hannah, we apply a DeWitt-type measurement analysis to a coupled system that consists of a gravitational wave interacting with a mass cube. We also review the arguments of Eppley and Hannah and of DeWitt, and investigate a second model in which a gravitational wave interacts with a quantized scalar field. We argue that one cannot conclude from the existing gedanken experiments that gravity has to be quantized. Despite the many physical arguments which speak in favor of a quantum theory of gravity, it appears that the justification for such a theory must be based on empirical tests and does not follow from logical arguments alone.
dc.description31 pages, many conceptual clarifications included, new appendix added, to appear in Phys. Rev. D
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0802.1978
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0802.1978
dc.identifierPhys.Rev.D78:064051,2008
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevD.78.064051
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/220796
dc.subjectGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
dc.subjectHigh Energy Physics - Theory
dc.titleMeasurement Analysis and Quantum Gravity
dc.typetext

Files

Collections