Prof. Claire Zukowski

University of Minnesota Duluth

Gravity as a Hologram

Quantum gravity aims to combine the quantum physics relevant at scales below the size of an atom with Einstein’s theory of gravity, which applies at the largest scales. This is crucial for understanding regimes where a large amount of gravitating mass is compressed to a tiny distance scale, for instance near the singularity of a black hole or close to the Big Bang that populated our universe. Holography gives a realization of quantum gravity through explicit dualities between quantum physics and gravity. After giving an overview of this framework, I will show how several geometrical aspects of gravity are emergent from quantum physics. Importantly, my focus will be on a geometry called de Sitter spacetime, which closely resembles our actual universe.